Labor Day the The City

Our tradition over Labor Day is usually going to Tahoe on Labor Day and hiking and exploring and/or biking. But we always get stuck in the traffic coming back from Burning Man and what should take is 90 minutes takes us 3 hours.. This year we decided to go the opposite direction and head the The City.

 

 

It was a BEAUTIFUL day!  It’s risky going to SF in the summer months because fog is the norm and it’s actually warmer and sunnier days during the Winter months.  Not today!  Temps in the low 70’s, slight breeze, no fog, it was an abnormal excellent day!

Our first stop was Golden Gate Park and the Japanese Tea Gardens, as we’ve never been.  We found out that there are over 70 FREE guided walking tours offered by locals around the city, and we picked one for the Gardens. 

Wow, this place is beautiful and hidden! You drive right by and don’t even notice.  We learned so much on the guided tour as well. EVERY single thing in this garden has a meaning. Every branch, every rock, every shadow even!  And the buildings and fences were all built without nails.  These photos are not touched up, or edited in any way! The colors were really this bright! These pics are straight from my phone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the wonderful gardens, walked around a bit before we went to one of the lakes in Golden Gate Park and rode the paddle boats.

 

 

Yep, the water really was that green! 

 

 

 

 

We saw some turtles sunning themselves and the kids wanted to bring one home for a pet.  Uh, no.

 

We found a little island with blackberries growing and there were tons of ripe ones. We couldn’t pass that up! They were yummy!

 

 

Then it was off to tour a working chocolate factory.

 

The Tcho Chocolate factory on Pier 17 is a gourmet chocolate maker. The stuff they sell isn’t in any store. It’s mail order and stores like Sprouts and Whole Foods. We got to taste 6 different kinds of chocolate and we learned how to savor and eat chocolate. You aren’t supposed to just bite it right away, especially with dark chocolate. The tannins in the chocolate are bitter and when you bite it, they are released all at once, which is why many people don’t like the taste of dark chocolate.  You are supposed to suck it slowly and let it melt on your tongue.  We did that and even the dark chocolate was good that way!

No photos were allowed inside, so you’ll just have to imagine us eating all that chocolate in our hair nets.

 

 

 

After that, it was off to Pier 39 where we walked to Pier 45 to the USS Pampanito Submarine where we had a tour.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This sub patrolled the seas during WW2.  It was very tight quarters!  Even the beds were three high!  I don’t think any overweight people served on this sub!

 

 

 

 

 

 

We then stopped into the Musee Mecanique which was on the same pier as the sub.  This “museum” is the largest collection of mechanical games from the beginning of the 20th century.  And the games all still work!  There are over 300 games and it’s fun to walk around  and play a few.

 

 

 

Then is was time to head for home.  And like the traffic earlier that morning, the traffic going home was almost non-existent!  We now know to go to San Fran on Labor Day for low crowds and low traffic! We had a great time and had a fun filled day!