Today was spent mostly with things other than sightseeing, yet we got a better flavor of San Francisco than had we visited the usual tourist sites. Both of us wanted to buy sweatshirts, so that if we needed an extra layer to keep us warm in Alaska, that we'd have one.
Since it was a Sunday, neither of us wanted to get to Target too early. So I suggested that we use mass transit to reach San Francisco's Ferry Building at the end of Market Street. This where I expected we could get a reasonably priced bite to eat for Breakfast - and I was right. We had some stuffed croissants before trekking over to Target. RQS found the perfect sweatshirt to wear, while I found an acceptable one - but one size too small to use, except in case of an emergency.
Once done with Target, we stopped into Mel's Drive In (across the street) where we had milkshakes. (I also had some clam chowder, as I knew how good it was.) These were classic thick shakes that were served with the metal container in which the shake was prepared. Yum! Pleasure straight from the 1950's! From there, it was off to Japantown, so that RQS could visit a specialty stationery store. I didn't bother going inside. Instead, I waited nearby until she was ready to leave. And it was back to the hotel to rest for a while before going to dinner in Chinatown.
The bellman at the hotel recommended a place called Z&Y for some tasty Szechwan food. Boy was he right - this place served authentic Szechwan food, spicy hot! I ordered the Seafood hot pot, while RQS ordered the Mongolian Beef hot pot. Both were yummy, but both of us preferred the beef as it was easier to eat and was less spicy. If either of us had known how large the portions were, we'd have only ordered the beef - it was large enough to feed 2 people.
We left the restaurant as it was starting to get busy. I summoned a Waymo driverless car to bring us back to the hotel. RQS was a little hesitant at first, but she became more comfortable when she saw how smooth a ride it delivered, as it drove more calmly than most humans would drive. Would I summon one again? Yes. But only in San Francisco.
