Año Nuevo, Top of the Mark and Angel Island
Friday was our fifth wedding anniversary, and fortunately Jon was off work. It didn’t look like a very promising day, weather-wise, but we decided to take a trip I’d been wanting to do anyway: to Año Nuevo State Reserve, about fifty miles down the coast from here. The main reason to visit is to see the huge numbers of elephant seals that gather to breed on the beaches. The breeding season itself was over, but there were still plenty of blubbery bodies covering the sands, although Jon was disappointed that the enormous males (up to 16 feet long) had already departed. He was, however, consoled by the enormous deli sandwiches we’d purchased at Half Moon Bay on the way. Seriously though, the reserve actually has quite a lot more to offer than just the seals: it’s a stunning natural environment home to many other animals as well – we also saw a hummingbird, pelicans, lizards and a deer. Just off the coast is an island with a derelict lighthouse and homestead on it, which have been taken over by sealions and cormorants! We were lucky, because we managed to escape the fog and it was a lovely sunny day down there.
On our return to San Francisco we got dressed up and went out to dinner at the Top of the Mark, a restaurant/cocktail bar at the top of the Mark Hopkins Hotel on Nob Hill. This is famed for its views of the city, but frankly, we would have seen more from the Bottom of the Mark, as the fog had well and truly rolled in – alas! The food was, however, excellent. It’s a limited, but exquisite menu, which they offer with “wine pairing”, i.e. you get a different wine with every course. Afterwards, there was dancing to the jazz band to be done. We will have to go back on a clearer day to enjoy the views.
Yesterday we had a few chores to do – essential things like going to the Karen Millen sale (my favourite British shop actually has a branch in San Francisco!). In the evening we headed to the Mission district and had a swift burrito at a taqueria before heading to Randan’s apartment (a colleague of mine at Shanti) for drinks. We spent a pleasant evening chatting to her and her husband, as well as another couple, one of whom had a “murse” (this is new vocabulary – it’s a man’s handbag: man + purse = murse! Only in San Francisco…?!). The taxi driver took us back via the curly bit of Lombard Street and told us of the time when he made a $50 tip after some drunkards in his cab dared him to reverse back up it, which apparently he did!
Today has been a gorgeous day. We took the ferry over to Angel Island, the largest island in the bay and uninhabited bar a few National Park staff. We hiked up to the summit, where we were rewarded with 360° views of the city, Golden Gate Bridge, Marin County and the East Bay. We then descended via a different route and walked along the perimeter road past some abandoned army installations. Some of these were really spooky – a row of houses and a large brick mess hall surrounding a deserted parade ground (complete with a lonely flag pole) all boarded up and falling to pieces, yet sited in a stunning location. The Spring flowers were beautiful, the crickets were chirping and huge butterflies were fluttering around, plus we were lucky enough to see another hummingbird. The return ferry skirted Alcatraz closely before dropping us off at Pier 41, about a 12 minute walk from our apartment. I’m putting more photos up on the Fotki site (http://public.fotki.com/EllenHardwick/, password: moocow) so you can see what we’ve been up to.
On our return to San Francisco we got dressed up and went out to dinner at the Top of the Mark, a restaurant/cocktail bar at the top of the Mark Hopkins Hotel on Nob Hill. This is famed for its views of the city, but frankly, we would have seen more from the Bottom of the Mark, as the fog had well and truly rolled in – alas! The food was, however, excellent. It’s a limited, but exquisite menu, which they offer with “wine pairing”, i.e. you get a different wine with every course. Afterwards, there was dancing to the jazz band to be done. We will have to go back on a clearer day to enjoy the views.
Yesterday we had a few chores to do – essential things like going to the Karen Millen sale (my favourite British shop actually has a branch in San Francisco!). In the evening we headed to the Mission district and had a swift burrito at a taqueria before heading to Randan’s apartment (a colleague of mine at Shanti) for drinks. We spent a pleasant evening chatting to her and her husband, as well as another couple, one of whom had a “murse” (this is new vocabulary – it’s a man’s handbag: man + purse = murse! Only in San Francisco…?!). The taxi driver took us back via the curly bit of Lombard Street and told us of the time when he made a $50 tip after some drunkards in his cab dared him to reverse back up it, which apparently he did!
Today has been a gorgeous day. We took the ferry over to Angel Island, the largest island in the bay and uninhabited bar a few National Park staff. We hiked up to the summit, where we were rewarded with 360° views of the city, Golden Gate Bridge, Marin County and the East Bay. We then descended via a different route and walked along the perimeter road past some abandoned army installations. Some of these were really spooky – a row of houses and a large brick mess hall surrounding a deserted parade ground (complete with a lonely flag pole) all boarded up and falling to pieces, yet sited in a stunning location. The Spring flowers were beautiful, the crickets were chirping and huge butterflies were fluttering around, plus we were lucky enough to see another hummingbird. The return ferry skirted Alcatraz closely before dropping us off at Pier 41, about a 12 minute walk from our apartment. I’m putting more photos up on the Fotki site (http://public.fotki.com/EllenHardwick/, password: moocow) so you can see what we’ve been up to.
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