Our last night in Honolulu was spent on the beach admiring the sunset and the pristine waters. It was an interesting visit to what is a pretty remote place although I think it suffered a little in comparison with our experiences in Japan - not so much the scenery - Hawaii is a beautiful place - but more in terms of the general ambience and the desire of the locals to make sure that you have a really good time.
The second stage of our hop across of the Pacific was from Honolulu to San Francisco - classified as an internal flight this time despite the distance so no ESTA issues (in fact the one that we had issued is good for 5 years apparently although I will definitely be checking this should I be venturing back to America).
We arrived to a foggy San Francisco and checked in to what was probably the swishiest accomodation on our trip - the Fairmont Hotel perched at the top of Mason Street with the City laid out below hiding in the late night gloom (see photo below).
I had visited SF some 25 years before on our Honeymoon (we had gone to Las Vegas first and then driven up through Death Valley and Yosemite) but I had forgotten how picturesque the CIty and the Bay area was.
On a bright and breezy first morning, A and I took a bike ride through the Golden Gate Bridge Park to Sausalito passing the site of the SF Expo (some of the buildings still standing from both the 1915 and the 1939 editions) and the over the bridge itself before heading down to the harbour where we had lunch before loading our bikes onto a ferry and heading back to Fisherman’s Wharf.
The views back towards the main conurbation highlighted the steep inclines rammed with houses and buildings that characterise the city and also the contrast between the surrounding green hills and escarpments and the sparkling blue waters of Bay.
We also passed Alcatraz Island and so decided that we would try to pay a visit. However, we arrived at the departure gate just in time to miss the last ferry of the day which was a bit annoying but it gave us time to explore Fisherman’s Wharf and choose a restaurant for our evening meal. This we spent at The Crab Shack - a great example of how good food could be in the US if it is done well!
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