SF -- day 2

On Thursday, Marc and I went to breakfast together (it was kind of lame), then we parted ways as he went back to the conference. My feet were killing me -- damn plantar fasciitis! -- and I feared I wouldn't be able to do the exploring I wanted to do. I was really bummed that I was having so much pain, especially since I have narrowed my footwear options down to a very few pair of "approved" shoes!

Anyway, I took my hot chocolate and caught a bus to go to Fillmore Street so I could finally see this store in person:

Paper Source! I've ordered from them online before, but this store was pure eye candy. I was there a long time, narrowing my choices, which was pretty difficult as I pretty much wanted everything I saw.

{Side note: I called Jill to get the exact address. Luckily, she had just gotten to my house to watch Eva and was able to look it up online and let me know that I was only a couple of blocks away. Thanks, Jill!}

When I came out of Paper Source, I met a very eccentric woman and hilarity ensued. But that will have to be a separate post...

I got another bus and went to the marina (I had found a walk online that purported to be the prettiest walk in SF). My map showed that the bus would take me all the way there, but when the driver told me we were at the last stop, I discovered I had to walk 5 more blocks to get there. By the time I walked the final distance, my feet were hurting to much to do the prettiest walk! So I sat on a bench, enjoyed the breeze, and took some photos.

I didn't tour Alcatraz, just viewed it from across the water.

I just love water. I am completely at peace when I'm by the ocean. I love the waves, the sound, everything.

I had wanted to walk across the Golden Gate Bridge, but my foot problems precluded that, so I had to content myself with viewing it from my bench. It sure was pretty!

After a little rest, I trekked back to the bus stop. If I had seen a cab, I would have taken it. As it was, I took my two buses back and was amazed that it was almost 5:00 by the time I made it back to the hotel! Marc was raring to go, so after stretching out on the bed for a few minutes and a change of clothes, we went out for a cable car ride.

We watched some street dancers for awhile -- so entertaining!

We rode the Powell Street cable car all the way to Fisherman's Wharf and got some great views.

We walked to Ghirardelli Square and found this cutest little cupcake shop. There was an employee packing up all the remaining cupcakes in preparation to close, and we dashed in and bought two. They all looked so good, but we chose fleur de sel: chocolate cupcakes with caramel filling, topped with chocolate ganache and a sprinkling of fleur de sel. Whoa. And that was before dinner!

We bought some chocolates for Marc's parents to thank them for staying with the kids, then we walked along the wharf. By this point, my feet were just killing, so we had clam chowder in sourdough bowls and caught a cab back to the hotel, where I had a long hot soak in the tub. Ahhhhhh.