USA road trip, Post 7: Sea lions and such

After arriving back on the mainland after our tour of Alcatraz Island, we walked from Pier 33 to Pier 39. The latter is full of interesting yet rather touristy shops, some catering to very specific niche markets. There was a sock shop, at least two magnet shops, a puppet shop, and a shop called "Lefty's" selling items specifically for left-handers (I got Roxy a backwards-opening notebook).



K-Dock at Pier 39 is the home of San Francisco's famous sea lions, aka "Sea Lebrities". Seeing them was one of the essential elements of our itinerary for me! These remarkable creatures are not pets, performers, or display animals - they are wild sea lions that have chosen to make a touristy pier their home for the last 20 years!!

Apparently the winter population can increase to up to 900 sea lions, mostly males. During the summer they migrate south, but in recent years a group of them have stayed year-round at Pier 39. I guess it was this group that was present during our visit. Check them out - gorgeous, aren't they?!













After Adrian picked us up, he took us on a drive to show us a few more local districts and sights. One was Lombard St, "San Francisco's crookedest street". (That title actually belongs to a different San Fran street, but Lombard St is the one everyone knows about! You'll see the real crookedest street in the next blog entry.) The ridiculously long line-up of cars waiting to drive down Lombard St (you can't drive up it) didn't appeal to us, so we just drove past for a look...





Here are some other photos I snapped through the window as we drove around...















That night Petrea cooked a delicious Thai meal, which was heartily tucked in to after our big day of sightseeing!

Note the Bundaberg Ginger Beer on the table... Adrian and Petrea took us to a World Market store that sold it!! (For those who don't know - Bundaberg was where I was living while Ben and I were dating... and BGB is the best!)