The first thing we wanted to do today was a shore excursion to the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park. I’ve been there a couple of times before, and felt that would be a perfect place to take RQS on her first visit to the city. So, after a rushed breakfast, we were off to find the tour bus that would take us to the garden.
One thing I have noted about tour guides is that they will often use “filler site” descriptions to avoid moments of silence on bus trips to the sites that people want to see. For example, I can imagine a bus tour through Hartford Ct, where the tour guide says: “We are now passing the John Oliver Memorial Sewer Plant” when the guide has nothing else to say on a long ride, And this ride was no exception.
RQS was not disappointed by my choice of excursions. This 5-Acre site is well worth the visit, as one can not help but get a beautiful, serene view from anywhere in the garden. And after 90 minutes, it was back to the ship. I found it hard to believe that we had already walked 2.5 miles, and still had more to go today.
After lunch, it was off the ship, and on to the Musee Mechanique at Fisherman’s Wharf. There are many old time coin operated machines to enjoy there, as well as the more modern pinball and video arcade machines we grew up with. One of my favorites is an old Wurlitzer which is a work of art that still plays music as if it were brand new.
Our next stop was to have clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl. Yum! It was a little pricey, but not outside of reason. So we sat down in the cool San Francisco air and enjoyed some soup before getting on the Market Street Historic Trolley to the end of the line.
We had to wait a while for the trolley, and when it came, RQS and I were forced to sit in separate seats. This allowed me to get into a conversation with a SF local who told us how his city has changed since the pandemic. Most of the downtown storefronts and office towers seem unoccupied, as the technology elite are now working from home. Downtown office space is no longer needed, and the business depending on these workers have closed up shop. We saw evidence of this ourselves, and still wish we could afford to live in this city.
Eventually, the trolley landed us in The Castro, and we decided to walk around a little. We explored one of the local “general stores” (I don’t know how else to label it) and then walked back to the trolley stop. On the way back, both RQS and I got a glimpse of a man, who if painted in gold, would look like a walking Oscar statuette. The most notable thing about this man was that he was completely naked! This fellow is a fixture around The Castro, and RQS only wished she had her camera out at the time, as her friends might not believe this otherwise.
The trolley ride back from The Castro was uneventful. By the time we were back on the ship, we were too tired to do anything but have dinner and go to bed. Four and a half miles of walking will do that to us.
