Homepage

Mother and Daughter trip to the USA

In July 2017, my daughter and I embarked upon a 3 week trip to the USA where we travelled to San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles and Waikiki.

Day 1 - July 5 - San Francisco

Mason Street Cable Car

We arrived at LAX after a 14 hour flight and were corralled through endless queues and rope lanes to finally get the passport stamp of approval. After rechecking our luggage we made our way to the terminal for the San Francisco leg.

Poster

The flight was delayed but uneventful. Charlotte and I were separated and she had the good fortune to fall asleep. I sat next to a very lovely but chatty woman from LA and did not get any sleep.

Once at SFO, the carousel indicator failed to show our flight and we were monitoring the wrong carousel.

 Charlotte found her luggage and mine was in the unclaimed luggage office.

We finally got out of the airport and took a shuttle to the King George Hotel on Mason Street. See: www.kinggeorge.com

Macy's

Summer of Love at Macy's

The hotel was comfortable with twin beds and located near the cable car turnaround in Union Square.

We walked the local area, looked in on a few shops and took in the amazing architecture.

Charlotte made her second purchase of the trip which was a heavily discounted Kate Spade iphone cover at Macy's to complement her first purchase which was a new iphone 7 at Sydney Airport Duty Free.

Department store

We were adjusting to the new time zone so had a wakeful period around 3am but slept in until 11am the next day.

Day 2 - July 6 - San Francisco

Pinecrest diner

Pearl fishing - Fishermans Wharf

We had a late breakfast at the Pinecrest diner on Mason street. The family run Pinecrest breakfast consisted of 2 sausages, 2 eggs, 2 bacon rashers and 2 pancakes. We ordered one of these and toast, coffee and orange juice. This was plenty of food for two. How one person, other than a lumberjack, could eat this much, is a mystery.

After breakfast we caught a bus to Fishermans Wharf, saw the seals and walked around this very touristy area. Charlotte fished for a pearl which cost only $15US however was going to cost a bomb to set in a piece of jewellery.

We then caught a ferry to Sausalito with the intention of visiting the Muir Woods. The ferry was diverted to check out a capsized vessel.

The diversion gave us a great view of the Golden Gate bridge. Soon we were back on course as the coastguard was on the case.

The bridge cloaked in SFO fog

City view

Due to the diversion we missed the last shuttle to Muir Woods so took an Uber instead.

The Uber driver was very pleasant and chatty as we found most Americans.

The 40 minute drive took us into Marin County and to the Muir Woods National Monument to see the ancient Californian Redwoods.

After doing a circuit of the woods we patiently queued for an hour before boarding the second shuttle back to Sausalito after narrowly missing a seat in the first shuttle. https://youtu.be/5ldc-IDfnLk

Muir Woods

Californian Redwoods

Once in Sausalito we took a Lyft across the Golden Gate Bridge and got dropped at around the centre of the Golden Gate park.

The park is larger than New York's Central Park and has everything from a Dutch windmill gifted from Queen Wilhelmina, a bison enclosure, the brutalist style de Young museum, lakes, waterfalls and recreation areas for activities such as frisbee netball. 

From there we walked for over an hour encountering squirrels and a racoon family on the way.

Golden Gate Park

de Young museum

We walked from the Golden Gate Park to the Haight district where we had dinner. We chose a place that had burgers and South American food.

After a satisfying meal we bussed back to the hotel. We were both exhausted but slept badly as our body clocks were still adjusting.

Day 3 - July 7- San Francisco

Alcatraz -former inmate

We had an early start and headed straight down to Pier 39 via the famous cable car and walked to Pier 33 and had breakfast at the Alcatraz Landing Cafe.

The hot food was woeful and this place is ok if you are just having coffee and a croissant.

Downtown

Cell

Alcatraz Island is only 15 minutes by ferry. As with most tourist attractions there was a long queue to board.

Alcatraz operated as a high security prison from 1934 until 1963 and first person accounts through an audio tour makes this a worthwhile trip.


Alcatraz was not a first stop prison, rather a prison for the difficult ones. A reformed inmate was doing a book signing while we were there.

Tour Bus

Our Alcatraz tickets were combined with a 4 hour city highlights tour.

One of the first stops was the Beat Museum chronicling the history of the non conformist beat generation.

The tour took us to the Japanese Garden in Golden Gate Park, Lands End, the Presidio, Coit Tower, Chinatown and North Beach. The tour soundtrack was Summer of Love with lots of easy listening songs from the flower power era.

The tour dropped us at Fishermans Wharf where I had a clam chowder and Charlotte had fish and chips.

Japanese Gardens-Golden Gate Park

Coit Tower

Lands End

Day 4 - July 8 - San Francisco

July 8 Day 4

I booked us into two free walking tours. The first, 'Secrets, Scandals and Scoundrels' covered a large part of the financial district. The guide was superb and regaled us with stories of the lawlessness of the west. Stage coach robberies, con-men and shanghaiing all form part of the rich history and might account for the bravado and brashness which seems a part of the American make-up. The guide told us stories of  how the demand for ships labourers would be met by an unscrupulous inn owner who would treat unsuspecting newcomers to San Francisco to free (laced) whiskey. The next morning they would wake with a headache and be on board a ship as labourer en route to the Orient.

Free Tours by Foot Guide

Nude cyclists near the Ferry Blg

After the tour we headed down to the Ferry Building which houses a few waterfront resturants and food markets.

July 8 happened to be 'cycle in the nude day' in this anything goes city and a few male nude and very tanned cyclists we saw.

We had a Japanese meal in the Justin Herman Plaza nearby before heading to Chinatown for our second tour. San Francisco Chinatown is the largest Chinatown outside of China.

Chinatown murals

Communal living room

The collective bargaining power of the Chinese has meant that the area has been preserved and protected from the encroaching Financial district.

The rents for the Chinese flats are kept low at about $1200 US per month but the average size is only 8 x 10 metres with shared kitchen and bathroom facilities.

The Chinese thus use St Mary's Park as a communal living room as their apartments are too small to socialise in. see Free Tours.

The Painted Ladies

 After the tour we walked to Lombard Street in Russian Hill which has a famous crooked section. 

The speed limit is 5 miles per hour and the section is a series of curves and switchbacks.

See their website.

Nearby the Haight district

From there we walked back to the hotel for a rest before catching a bus to Alamo Square to see the famous painted ladies which is a row of pastel coloured houses.

We walked through a neighborhood of more beautiful houses and had a Mexican meal at Haight-Ashbury before catching the bus home. We clocked up 23,000 steps on that day.

Days 5-6 - July 9-10 San Francisco

Glide Memorial Church Ellis Street Tenerloin

We skipped breakfast and walked to the Glide Memorial Church in Tenderloin for the 11 am Sunday service.

The church was featured in scenes from the film The Pursuit of Happyness with Will Smith.

The service had exceptional music and choir with lots of personal stories, dancing, hallelujahs and 'right on's'.

It was a happy and uplifting experience and nothing like the masses of my childhood.

Streets of San Francisco

Pacific Heights

We had a delicious Italian lunch at North Beach (Little Italy) and walked back through Chinatown.

I joined the wine reception at the hotel and then we did a little shopping, the Yerba Buena gardens and enjoyed an Indian meal before turning in.http://www.sftodo.com/

Day 7 - July 11- New York

We arrived at JFK at 1am and Charlotte ordered a Lyft share which was immediately available. At that hour the ride to our hotel was about 45 minutes which was probably the only advantage of such a late arrival.

Grand Central Station

The Hotel Intercontinental Barclay located Midtown East on 111th and 48th streets has an impressive lobby, gin parlour and was playing New York classics when we arrived.

We slept badly due to construction noise on the floor below and because we had to share a bed.

We were promised a new room for the next day and were advised to leave our bags packed and they would be moved the next day whilst we were out.

Special Shake Shack Brew

We set out to explore and took in the city's architecture, magnitude and the bustle. We visited Times Square which is a busy mass of neon lights and advertising.

Times Square

We headed back to the hotel and were disappointed to learn that a new room was not possible could we could get a rollaway.  We were compensated by breakfast vouchers for the next two mornings.

That night, we had dinner at the Shake Shack at Grand Central Station.

Day 8- July 12 - New York

After a hearty American breakfast we bought metro cards and loaded them with $10 a piece.

Descending into the metro one was confronted with a mini heat wave.




New York was hot and the metro station was like a concentration of heat. Fortunately  most trains were air-conditioned.



The cost of the metro is the same whether you ride one stop or ride all day without exiting.

We caught the metro to do our first New York Free Tours by Foot of Lower East Side, Nolita and East Village.

We started the walk at Strauss Square and took in the Bowery, Little Italy and East Village.

Apartments

Papaya King

Street art

Mosaic Trail -St Marks

The tour included the once working class tenements, the famous Katz deli as well as a fuelling stop at Papaya King, which served, according to our guide, the best hot dogs in New York.

We both had one and thought they were pretty good.  Papaya King, features in a Seinfeld episode where Kramer can't resist dashing across the road to get a hotdog when he should be waiting for the others outside the cinema.

Best candy store in NYC

NYC streets

http://www.freetoursbyfoot.com/new-york-tours/walking-tours/lower-east-side-nolita-east-village/

We started our 9 day city pass at the iconic Empire State Building. The Empire State Building is 103 stories and was completed in 1931.

It offers a great view of the city and the beautiful Chrysler building which the tallest building for a short period until the Empire State was completed.


That night we had a delicious Italian meal at Nino's on 46th street before turning in for the night.

NYC views

NYC selfies

New York views

Day 9 - July 13 - New York

Broadway view from Columbia

A poor night sleep due to hotel construction noise and a pre set alarm on the phone was not the best start. Maintenance came by to check on a leak below that they thought was coming from our shower. I queried the noise and they confirmed it was construction below on the 2nd floor. We had breakfast and then proceeded to checkout.

Columbia University

I spoke to the reservations manager about the audacity of putting people directly above a noise zone. A deal of a partial refund was struck but not yet honoured.

Charlotte organised transport to our next hotel with a ride share called VIA which works from corner to corner.

Columbia University

Soon we settled into the Days Hotel at 94th and Broadway on the Upper West side. The hotel was less glamorous than the Intercontinental but very friendly and comfortable. Our only complaint was that the air-con units were noisy.


The Upper West Side is more residential and quieter than midtown and we preferred it. The hotel had an arrangement with the local Manhattan Diner which is where we took a few of our meals. The metro was across the road and Central Park a 15 minute walk.

Our first excursion was a self guided tour of  the Ivy League Columbia University. The university was established in 1754 and moved to Morningside Heights in 1897.

That evening we frocked up and went to see Jerry Seinfeld at the Beacon Theatre. The show was excellent. Charlotte tried a pretzel and after the show we shared an apple pie at the Manhattan diner before turning in.

Beacon Theatre 

Outside

Charlotte