My Trip to San Francisco
Introduction
From the picturesque Golden Gate to the trams rolling through the hilly neighborhood streets, San Francisco has always stood out to me as a unique icon of the west coast. Unlike Los Angeles, San Diego, or other major cities in the west, San Francisco has managed to preserve its rich history while still growing to become a major metropolis and tech hub. There are some streets downtown where there's more 19th and 20th century style buildings than modern glass skyscrapers. This is what has always made me enjoy Boston or New York City; there's a more European-like urban landscape where people, not cars, are prioritized.
So when my brother told me that he was heading to San Francisco for a conference and offered to bring me along, I just couldn't refuse.
Day 1: A trip to the city to escape the city
Taking off from Louisville early in the morning, I was lucky to be able to fly directly to San Francisco. We landed at around 12 PM, and Ubered to our hotel in Tenderloin. I wasn't overjoyed to hear that we'd be staying in the epicenter of the city’s opioid epidemic, but nevertheless when we arrived I was surprised at how nice the hotel was.
For my first day in San Francisco, I initially thought of visiting Alcatraz, but I wanted to take advantage of the free bicycles that were offered with our hotel stay. So instead, I went to Angel Island - a relatively secluded island that was a 15 minute ferry ride from the downtown port. The island, now a state park, was a former military base and immigration center.
The bike from the hotel was just a regular 3-gear commuter bike - definitely not fit for any off-road trails. So I had to stick to the paved “Perimeter Road,” which - as the name suggests - follows the perimeter of the island. Starting in the ferry dock on the north side of the island, I quickly learned how difficult it was to cycle on the mountainous island.
However, I pushed on, taking the occasional break to catch my breath. Even though it was breezy and 60 degrees, the sun was intense. As I pulled up towards the east side of the island, passing the abandoned Fort McDowell, I began to get some of the prettiest views of the bay.
It was surprisingly empty - there was almost no one else on the road, and all the abandoned World War 2-era buildings started giving me the creeps a little bit. This, on top of the 20 or so reminders of the 5 pm final departure of the ferry, left an uneasy feeling in my gut. I definitely did not want to spend a night stuck here.
Moving around to the west side, it got drastically easier to cycle. I was mainly descending in elevation now, and I luckily spotted a water filling station by the side of the road. If you're planning to visit this island, be wary of the ticks. I caught one on my leg after walking through some tall grass while going to the water fountain.
During the last mile of the trip, I saw a coyote watching me from the side of the road. I wasn't really familiar with coyotes or whether they attacked people or not so I started pedalling faster. Looking back, I probably overreacted. I pulled into the ferry dock and spent the last hour relaxing by the beach.
Despite some of the challenges, I definitely recommend visiting this island especially if you're an outdoorsy person. The views were amazing and I'm sure they're even better if you hike to the island’s summits. As for me, I wanted to quickly return to civilization to get a real taste of the city.
Speaking of taste, I went back and got my first In-N-Out burger. I can't say that I was blown away or anything. The prices were decent, especially being in downtown SF, but the fries were horrendous. Stale and undersalted, it reminded me of my middle school cafeteria. I highly recommend just getting two burgers and holding off on the fries.
Day 2: Park-hopping in the hills
In place of expensive touristy parts of the city, I wanted to experience the real day-to-day of the city’s residents. So, instead of travelling along the bayside, I opted to go further inland and use one of my favorite tactics while visiting cities: park-hopping.
Parks are amazing - they offer a place to rest and relax in relative quiet with free public restrooms and water refilling stations. Starting in the early morning, I first cycled from our hotel to Mission Dolores park and had a delicious pain au chocolat at the famous Tartine bakery.
I then cycled to Corona Heights park. Well, maybe cycling is not an appropriate verb here. It was at this point that I saw the steepest streets I had ever seen in my life. I didn't dare cycle down it nor up it. It was essentially a 45 degree incline, and there were signs posted everywhere reminding people to park orthogonally to the slope. I ended up walking my bike up the slopes. This was one of the few moments where I was thankful I didn't have a heavier e-bike.
Once I reached the park, I was surprised to walk into a small natural museum with a cafe inside. I decided to sit down and catch my breath after dragging my bicycle up so many slopes. However, after a short hike through the park, I realized that my struggles had been worth it. I was treated to a beautiful view of the entire city and beyond.
Heading back down, I realized I was pretty hungry so I cycled down to the Castro neighborhood to see the famous rainbow crosswalks and grab some pizza. I was so hungry that I forgot to grab a picture, but you'll have to trust me that the pizza looked and tasted delicious. To me, Castro definitely had a small town vibe to it. It reminded me a bit of Ann Arbor and walking down South State except a lot sunnier and warmer.
After Castro, I decided to cycle up to Alamo Square park to see the Painted Ladies. To be honest, if I wasn't told that the houses were special, I probably would've cycled right past them without a second thought. They were pretty and charming but I didn't think they stood out that much.
By now, after visiting a lot of parks, I started to notice the extremely high number of small dogs. I'm not sure if its a San Franciscan thing, or maybe a west coast thing, but I'd never seen so many small dogs in my life. I can't say I'm a fan of them - they tend to be the most aggressive despite being the least intimidating. I can't see the appeal but to each their own I suppose.
I decided to head back to the hotel to charge my phone and rest up. After a few hours, I went out again, this time visiting the Palace of Fine Arts. This was a really pretty area, and I highly recommend giving it a visit. I then cycled to the nearby Letterman digital arts center, where there was a nice lake with a stream. Shout out the the Starbucks there by the way. When I couldn't find any drinking fountains in the park there, one of the employees gave me a free iced water despite being in the middle of closing up.
While on the way back, I decided to stop at the east side of Chrissy Beach for some photos of the Golden Gate bridge. The weather wasn't ideal, but it does give a photos a whole new vibe that I think looks cool.
I finished up the day with some ramen from Hinodeya. There was quite a long wait but it did taste pretty good. Not that this restaurant has any crazy fees, but be careful visiting restaurants in downtown SF. Some of them can have fees and surcharges that can stack up, ranging anywhere from 5% to 40%. The city has a lot of regulations protecting the treatment, benefits, and compensation of service workers like restaurant employees, so the restaurants do a general price hike to cover the incurred expenses. I recommend checking out the restaurant at seefees.ca before deciding to eat there.
Day 3: To and through the Golden Gate
Waking up to a rather cloudy morning, I decided to visit Pier 39. I can't say that I really liked it too much. Everything was very expensive and obviously marketed towards tourists. I got some pancakes from Eagle Cafe, but they were mediocre. You can definitely get a lot better for the price.
I started my journey to the Golden Gate by cycling down through Fort Mason park and Marina Boulevard. There's a lot of bike friendly infrastructure here and its relatively flat so it was an enjoyable ride. I continued down Old Mason street, stopping for photos by Golden Gate beach and the Torpedo Wharf.
Even though I knew I wanted to cross the bridge, I decided to go underneath it and visit Fort Point, which was unfortunately closed that day. The waves at the mouth of the bay are massive, and the perspective from underneath really gives you a scale of the bridge.
Cycling back up the side of the cliff, I finally reached the information center, exhausted. There was a nice gift shop there, where I paid 12 dollars for a magnet and a sticker (if it wasn't going to the park service, I would've never paid that much). After getting some refreshments from the Equator coffee there, I decided that it's time to finally cross the bridge.
Cycling across the bridge was easier than I thought. There are blind corners when you reach the columns, but besides that its a wide shared pedestrian-bicycle path. The views are outstanding and there's little spots where you can stop and take photos.
At the other end, there's Vista point, which offers some really great views of the whole bay and downtown SF. There's a lot more activities on the other side of the bridge I could've done (specifically hiking-related) but by then I was fairly exhausted.
I cycled back across the bridge and visited some of the old artillery batteries that looked out to the Pacific. I also realized that this was my first time actually seeing the Pacific ocean; although honestly the naming and seperating of the oceans is just kind of arbitrary human decisions. In my opinion, the ocean is ultimately just one big thing.
By now I was pretty hungry for lunch so I stopped by to eat in Richmond. The road from the Golden Gate down to central Richmond was very windy, steep, and fun to ride down. I realized that I'd actually gotten pretty badly sunburnt on my neck, nose, and hands, so I had to cancel my plans of visiting Lands End and the Golden Gate park. My legs were also incredibly sore after cycling so much for the last few days.
I ultimately ended up taking the bus back to the hotel, since it passed through parts of the city I'd already seen. The city buses are great and easy to use, and the driver was super friendly. I highly recommend getting a Clipper card on your Google or Apple wallet to use the city's transit network.
Day 4: A Day Cruise to Santa Cruz
After a night of not-so-great sleep, I woke up with a slight headache, sore legs, and stinging sunburnt skin. After a quick trip to CVS for some relief, I mostly stayed in the hotel till noon and got some rest.
My brother was planning on grabbing a car rental, and he suggested that we take a trip down to Santa Cruz, going down the west half of the bay area and going back up via highway one. I accepted, since I couldn't really cycle anymore.
Driving down interstate 280, we didn't get many views of the bay area, but the mountains to the west were very pretty. However the traffic was really bad in this area and people drove extremely aggressively. If you're planning to rent a car in the bay area, be prepared to deal with some interesting driving conditions to say the least.
Once we reached Santa Cruz, I was surprised at how small the town was. It really gave college town vibes. We picked up some tacos from De La Hacienda (highly recommend) and went to the beach to enjoy. Despite filling my shoes with sand, the beach was very nice even though the water was much too cold to swim in. There was also a boardwalk, an arcade center, and an amusement park. Being someone who studies in Michigan, the idea of having a beach like this to go to on the weekends blows my mind. I don't think I could get any studying done.
On the way back, we drove up the famous highway one. This was honestly a highlight of the trip for me. The nature and scenery was incredible. Enormous waves coated sandy beaches and rocky cliff sides in sea foam as the sun set in the west. It felt like a whole different world than the east coast.
We finished the road trip with a quick stop on Ocean Beach to capture the sunset.
Closing Thoughts
I honestly loved my trip to San Francisco (and Santa Cruz). I think it gave me an excellent taste of the west coast. From the AI startup billboards on every block of the chaotic bustling city to the otherworldly flora within the quiet serene parks, the city is filled with so many contrasts. Even though I was constantly going around the city on my bike, I still felt that there was so much more for me to see.
All in all, I’m really glad I got the chance to go. If I could do it again, I’d wear more sunscreen, pack better hiking shoes, and definitely, DEFINITELY get an e-bike.