San Francisco

In the morning we got up and began our trip to San Francisco. After much discussion we had decided the best plan for attacking the city was to pull an Austin. Get in early head to the bars, grab some food, and get started on our 4 hour drive to Lake Tahoe. The idea of spending $150 dollars for only four hours of sleep was not very appealing after Vegas shenanigans. We than began our trip up to the next city along highway 1. The view of the ocean, the mountains, and beautiful houses sandwiched in-between was pretty impressive. The fact that just a few weeks ago we were swimming on the opposite coast of America in the Atlantic Ocean solidified the fact we had driven around 4,000 miles and seen how much the U.S. had to offer.Along the way we stopped at a little restaurant along the coast that was hosting Taco Tuesday, I was sold. Of course Brownbear instantly wanted to try the fish tacos that were almost as fresh as salmon on their way to spawn. We ate our small meal in the sun framed by a mountain which looked as if it belonged in Hawaii while watching surfers ride the waves of the Pacific.

Refreshed from our meal we decided that it would take much to long to ride the entire highway up the route and let our Garmin guide us from there. The highway we took was no less stunning as we heading up a mountain pass into the Los Pedros National Forest. Here was saw countless ranches, lakes, and rolling hills that make up northern California. On the new highway we quickly approached San Fran and began laying out a plan for the night.

First, we found a little hole in the wall, which served the best fish and chips in San Francisco. A Korean family that had refined the art of frying fish ran the small restaurant, Chelsea’s, they swear it’s the batter that makes the difference. We both got some fried fish and fried mushrooms leaving us ready to hit the bars throughout the city.

Driving around San Francisco taught us one valuable lesson, be careful about which bar you go into. Our first mishap almost happened when we came close to visiting a bar called Studs… I was thinking studs in the wall etc. but the two rainbow flags waving on their front door identified Studs other meaning. Our next stop, the Lion’s Den, sounded a little questionable and the reviews kept raving about “fresh juice squeezed by strong bartenders” but with a bar named after him the BC knew it would be ok. The bar was filled with a few graduating seniors from the local college were celebrating their release into the real world in a much less fun way than a great migration.

The girls were about to call it a night so they pointed us down a road that led to a lot of college bars that would be active during the week. At the first stop we met two older women, again… who talked with us a bit about the best bars to go for a Tuesday night. We shared a few drinks and after they swore they were not allowed to join us on our trip we moved on to the next bar. The night continued in this fashion as San Francisco on Tuesday night is pretty low key. Throughout the night we visited 7 bars and talked with the locals who were friendly enough. Despite all the stories about how crazy some local San Franciscans could be we did not see any that night. Either they usually take Tuesday off or I should have convinced Big Cat to go inside Studs for a couple beers. After a couple hours of water and a large pizza we decided to hop in the car to move back East towards Lake Tahoe.