Day Trip to San Francisco

Prison cell at Alcatraz
see all photos »

We took a day trip to San Francisco from our "base" in Napa Valley.  We left at about 8:00 am and were able to avoid the crazy rush hour traffic.  We started our day with a tour of Alcatraz prison that was very interesting and even a little spooky!  After the short ferry ride to the island, we got our headsets and started the audio tour, which is narrated by actual former prison guards and prisoners. They even had little dramatizations intertwined into the commentary.  We highly recommend it!

The famous Lombard Street
see all photos »

Of course we had to do the other "touristy" things like walk around Fisherman's Wharf (too crowded) and drive down Lombard street (don't attempt if you are in a hurry).  We walked around Ghirardelli square (which is under construction right now -- don't bother) and attempted to get some ice cream at the Ghirardelli ice cream shop, but alas, it was also packed with tourists.  After we got tired of bumping into the millions of tourists around us, we got in the convertible and drove around some of the cute neighborhoods of San Francisco before we headed across the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito -- ahhhh, peace and quiet!