We spent Sunday and Monday exploring all San Francisco had to offer. Dad's birthday was Sunday, so we told him he could make all the decisions for the day... :-) as long as he stayed with the general itinerary Mom & I had arranged of course! After breakfast at the hotel we took our first trolley ride to the Ferry Building/Pier 1. It was a great area to explore and there were lots of restaraunts, bakery's and shops inside the ferry building.
We walked along the Embarcadero and the Piers. Next, we started making our way to Coit tower - which is a 210 ft tower in the Telegraph Hill area. It has a great view point of the city, bridges, Alcatrez, etc. It was quite a climb to get there! But worth the trip. 
We discovered the city bus at the top and took it back down to Pier 39/Fisherman's Wharf. There weren't as many seals at the Wharf as I was expecting. Very touristy area, but nice. We were told to have the Clam Chowder in sourdough breadbowls at Boudin Bakery. So, we ate upstairs at the Bistro for lunch and ordered some soup for our appetizers. Well, it never came and after finishing our entrees we just told our waitress to cancel the orders! So sad!
We continued walking in the Wharf/marina area after lunch and found ourselves in Ghiradeli Square. Couldn't resist a little chocolate treat here...
We hopped on a city bus back to Pier 33 where we boarded the 4:30pm boat for Alcatraz. It was really a neat experience and I'm glad we took the evening boat, so that we could see the sunset and the night lights of San Francisco from the bay. Once we arrived on the island we walked through the facility with the audio tour. Sometimes it was a little difficult to see everything because of the many people in our group. I can understand how the prisioners there had a hard time seeing the city and being "so close, yet so far away."
Once back to the Pier, we made our way back to the Ferry Building for a birthday dinner for Dad at The Slanted Door - an upscale Vietnamese restaurant that was our favorite meal of the trip. I highly recommend it!! The dessert was especially yummy - apple bread pudding. Happy Birthday to the best Dad a girl could ask for!!
(not a great picture, but you get the idea)
The vineyards are obviously bare at this time of year, but it was still beautiful to see them. The mustards were in full bloom which definitely added some color to the landscape.
