Impressions of San Francisco

San Francisco was a great place to visiit.  I checked out the Height/Ashbury part of town where the whole hippy scene  was big in the 1960's.The neighbourhood has a slightly grubby and eccentric edge to it.  I ate an ice cream at Ben and Gerry's and had to laugh that many of the ice cream flavors had chunks of chocolate "peace signs" in them! ha! I went to a Good Will store (used clothing)on the main drag and wow, what colorful and zany clothes can be found on the racks! I bought a designer handbag for $3.00 and imagined the hippies of old finding wonderful bargains in that very place back-in-day!

 I stayed at the Hotel Carlton on Sutter Street and it  was close too everything...including a "spirited" bar around the corner enthusiastically cheering on the San Francisco Giants baseball team (they are proud of their home team) The hotel was decorated in a world travel theme with pictures and items from all over the world.  It was a good place for a vagabond-at-heart like me.  I loved the free happy hour each night in the lobby where they served complimentary California  wine and the tourists chatted and  mingled.

 The big hills and wonderful old Victorian style homes were a colorful feast for the eyes.  The highlight for me was the day trip on a double decker bus over the Golden Gate bridge and a side trip to Saucalito.  It was so beautiful to look out at the bay and the mountains off in the distance...it is amazing how close the island of Alcatraz is to downtown...I pictured it further out.  All in all, it was a great trip, I saw some sights, met some new freinds and had some wonderful food!  Life is good!