This week's outing was into the city. But, this trip was very different than any of our previous visits. Today's goal was to stay off the beaten path and avoid anything that we've seen and done before. So, no Pier 39 for us. No Golden Gate Bridge. No clam chowder, cable car rides, Painted Ladies or Union Square. Our GPS and sense of adventure got a workout as we hunted down and had a blast at these 7 random stops.
First, we found the "secret" slides. These are some crazy, 30 year old, concrete slides right in the middle of a neighborhood. They were built into a hill and have been delighting visitors adventurous enough to hunt them down for decades. Only one other family was there with us. We screamed with laughter as we raced down the steep slides on cardboard left by other visitors.
Stop #2 was at a place the girls are calling "The Enchanted Stairs". This is a cool community mosaic project I read about, found right in the middle of another neighborhood. And once again, two gals working out were the only ones there besides us. The beautiful mural on the steps progresses from water to land to sky to space.
The girls quickly raced up all those steps (with their young and perfect knees) and celebrated making it to the top of the sun. The view at the top was awesome. This neighborhood was near the ocean.
Our third stop was at the Wave Organ. This was strange, but definitely interesting to see. Some innovative sculptor made this monstrous instrument out of shattered tombstones. It has pipes running all over it that allow you to listen to the underwater moans and creaks of the waves and tide coming in.
The Wave Organ is found out on a jetty in the bay, so it's super windy, but the views of the bridges and Alcatraz were great.
Our fourth stop was not really a "secret", but it's one we've never been to with the girls before-- the Cable Car Museum. While hunting this place down is not hard, finding a parking place certainly is! But, we persevered and enjoyed a quick stop at this small and free museum where you can see the giant wheels that pull the underground cables and learn about the history of this SF icon.
My friend Amy tipped us off about about stop #5-- this great park right across from the Cable Car Museum. The girls dubbed it "The String Park" and gleefully explored all the super-unique climbing equipment.
All our stops were random, but stop #6 was totally off the beaten path-- it was one we had to find by walking through the back alleyways of Chinatown. The Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory is not a traditional "factory", but it was still completely worth the visit. This place was more of a long hallway where just a few people at a time could stop in and see 4 ladies making fortune cookies right there. With the hot cookie presses, it reminded us of Stroopwafels. The most interesting part was watching what happens by hand-- all the fortune stuffing and cookie folding. For $.50 we could take a picture in the place and were rewarded with some warm, unfolded cookie samples right off the press. We bought a few bags to take home too. The chocolates ones are especially good!
We walked several blocks around Chinatown. It was fun to so quickly be submerged in a foreign culture. We could read very few signs and passed lots of food places selling unfamiliar stuff to eat. The girls really liked it.
Our last stop may not have been such a "secret" either, but again, it was new to us. Friends recommended eating at The Stinking Rose, so we gave it a try. What a fun restaurant! With its pictures of crossed out vampires, its motto "We season our garlic with food" and its record holding 800+ pound garlic chain twisting all around the dinning rooms, this place sure had character! It had good food too.
Dave and I approached this day with the idea that the random list we put together would just be a guideline. We gave ourselves permission to skip stops if a neighborhood looked uncertain, parking was unavailable or we just couldn't find it. But that was not the case! Each stop was easy, safe and free and, except for the bridge tolls, fortune cookies and dinner, this was a free day! The girls really got into the spirit of hunting down "secret" places to visit, and being excited about what we found. So, I'd label this day as a success and one we're glad we attempted!
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