Slightly off the beaten path

So this morning we got up late after going out last night, and by the time we got town to Pier 33 to go to Alcatraz, the last tour had already left and we literally had "missed the boat". So with a nonchalant go-with-the-flow attitude we decided to book it for Monday morning. So you'll have to wait until then to see stuff about it. Instead we decided to try to walk to the Golden Gate Bridge, and attempt to walk across it. We didn't realize the true scale of San Francisco, and ended up not making it even TO the bridge by sunset. We did, however, have a lovely walk along the waterfront.

Pier 33

We walked through Pier 39 again and encountered much more lively sea lions and decided to sit and watch them for about a half an hour. This afternoon they were on the closest floating dock, and were packed in all trying to nap, but had a lot of drama trying to fall asleep. One sea lion would try to move, and the rest of them would wake up, freak out, and bark at the perpetrator to shut up or get out. There were others farther back who wanted their own dock, and would sumo wrestle any other sea lion who dared to jump up on HIS dock.

So much drama.

We continued to walk past Fisherman's Wharf, and on to the Marina district where we saw some amazing homes and boats, and lots of people out sailing on this balmy 65 degree January evening. In the distance we saw this dome building and decided to go explore. 2 blocks later we landed into this hidden gem of a park, the Palace of Fine Arts.

Just some normal single-family homes of the Marina District

All of us were amazed at this site, and couldn't believe it wasn't on any of the main tourist maps. It was one of the prettiest sites in all of San Francisco.

Palace of Fine Arts.

From here we walked down upper Lombard street to catch a bus back to the BART line, and called it a day. A day with a lot of hiking, and a bit of a spontaneous adventure.

Is this for real?

Tomorrow we are off to Marin county, north of San Francisco, for some great sites outside of the city.