Sigo Journeys-- Where to Next?

Meet me down by the old Golden Gate
Out where the sun goes down about eight.
~ Down Among the Sheltering Palms, James Brockman, lyricist

If you read our Chicago to Ann Arbor (vs Michigan) entry, you saw that we went to Holy Mackerel, Harry Caray's new seafood restaurant. I had the most disappointing cioppino, and could not wait to head back to San Francisco for the real deal. So here we are.

Fri, 11/9: We arrived in San Francisco on Friday night. We headed to the Prescott Hotel in Union Square.

Sat, 11/10: We headed north towards Sausalito to a gorgeous vantage point of Golden Gate Bridge and the city.

I have wanted to take E to Sequoia National Park to see the GI-normous trees that dwarf even the largest of humans. Since we were in San Francisco, I decided to take him to Muir Woods. Located just 12 miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge, in an isolated canyon grows an ancient giant coast redwood forest.

It was a quiet sanctuary in a growing urban setting so close to the city, but seemed thousands of miles away. We arrived at the perfect time of the morning when it was still quiet and the air was crisp, with a light sprinkle of rain.

We headed to the adjacent coastal town of Sausalito. Horizons sits right on the bay and offered us the most amazing view. Since we were in San Francisco, we had to do an entire seafood affair for the weekend. We enjoyed Dungeness crab cakes and local mussels.

For dinner, we decided to try our luck at Tadich Grill. It claims to be the oldest restaurant in all of San Francisco, being in continuous operation since 1849. Most importantly, it's cioppino is legendary. For those reasons, they do not take reservations...

We were seated right away at a two top. Our waiter was a little.... whats the word? E best described him as squirly; me, "quirky." I can't even recall right now what made us think that. We continued with our seafood weekend by starting with the Dungeness crab cocktail. E decided on the Pacific Red Snapper topped with even more Dungeness crab. My heart was set on the seafood cioppino, so I barely looked at the menu.

The cioppino was filled with clams, prawns, scallops, bay shrimp, crabmeat, and white fish swimming in a wonderfully flavored tomato based broth. We saw the other diners wearing bibs when consuming cioppino. I was not offered a bib. I guess he recognized my skills and didn't require one...

Sat, 11/10: We spent the morning in Union Square, then headed to the Golden Gate Bridge. We stopped at the viewing area right before the bridge. We couldn't find a parking space, so we continued to the Presidio and found a little parking area to the left, where there was an amazing view of the bridge. We hiked down to the Presidio and sat on a bench to enjoy the view and the weather. I read about this little hot dog company that has stands all over the city: Let's Be Frank. There was one in the park and there was always a line. We wanted to see what the hub bub was all about! They offered corn fed beef dogs and pork brats, and basically all organic condiments. We got a dog sitting on some freshly grilled onions with some bottled root beer-- (ok, ok we broke stride for a "all seafood weekend"). It was definitely worth it!

There was so much more to do, but we didn't have any more time. We didn't even go to Fisherman's Wharf or Alcatraz. I guess that means we have to come back soon...