Another lovely day in SF. It’s Sunday and my fab children had organised (I’m thinking Jen organised and Craig agreed) a lunchtime harbour cruise as my birthday present from them. It is run by the Hornblower company and leaves from Pier 3 which is not that far from the Omni.

We had a bit of a later start than intended so had a brisk walk down to the boat and joined the queue of mainly celebratory people. There was a hens party and lots of young couples and some ancients. You get the picture. We weren’t sure what to expect but it was totally fab and we recommend it.

The inside of the boat is quite grand. I don’t think either of us got a photo of the outside but it’s an old style 4 deck boat with the main dining room on the ‘ground’ floor. All of the tables are set out along the side so every table had a window and everything is beautifully presented. The mimosas start immediately and continue as desired until you get back two and a half hours later – except that you can skip the OJ and go with just the bubbles if preferred. There’s also plenty of water and coffee.

There is an MC who plays the piano and sings and was really excellent. He had exactly the right touch. The food was a buffet with brunch type food and salads at one long table, carved ham and turkey at another and desserts separate still. A number of people went straight to the desserts. There were not too many people so it all worked well and they start feeding you before the boat gets under way, so no dropped food disasters and you can get upstairs to enjoy the views. The food stays available for most of the trip also so people could graze.

We had a young couple from just across the Bay at the table next door. They’d never done the cruise before and were there just for fun. They made pleasant company and the room was happy with all the various birthdays, graduations and anniversaries which were all announced and applauded. Predictably the noise and happiness increased with the number of mimosas but no one got too out of control.

We went under both the Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge and along the city coast. Being a lovely blue sky day the views were great. At the Bay Bridge end we stopped just outside the AT & T stadium where there was a baseball game going on. The seating at the stadium is a bit like an amphitheater so anyone bored with the game can just look out at the water.

After the cruise we went for a walk and caught the cable car to Castro. We had this excellent driver who was friendly and announced all the stops and gave a commentary. He made the trip really enjoyable. The cable car has no cable and looks just like a tram. It goes on tracks down the road. We realised later that it looks so much like a tram because it was a tram. That’s also why it only cost us $1.35 each – you know you’re old when you are quite happy when the driver lets both of you have seniors tickets instead of just the one true senior!

The architecture here is varied and really interesting. That includes commercial buildings as well as residential. Castro is no exception and is a really pretty area. We had a nice chat with a guy from the real estate office and he said that the least expensive areas are near the coast where it can be foggy and damp. Castro’s main claim to fame is its large gay population and there are rainbow flags hanging along the streets throughout the District. Even the pedestrian crossings are rainbows. We walked along the streets a bit and then had a coffee at a cafe below a gym before heading back to the city centre on the tram.

The Omni doorman explained that the cable cars on California Street weren’t working today but directed us to Union Square to get the Powell/Market line which goes down to Fisherman’s Wharf. It’s a much more interesting journey as it doesn’t go just in a straight line. We managed to get on one going in the wrong direction that was only 2 stops from the terminus (I thought it might be a loop ?) but the conductor let us get off without paying and get on the right one. These ones are $7 each per ride and they didn’t seem to care whether we were seniors, juniors or dogs! It was a bit like a roller coaster and not at all what I expected. No obvious cable but the driver/conductor (it takes two to do the braking and change stuff on the track) seemed to know what they were doing and neither had a death wish so all was good.

We walked back along Columbus for about the third time and again marvelled at the buildings. The weather here is like Wellington in that you always need to take a jacket when you go out. Some streets seem to funnel the wind and it can be bitterly cold, then in sheltered spots while the sun is out it’s warm to hot. We were well prepared with extra clothing in our backpacks but were still happy to get back to the Omni just after 7pm and well before sundown.

Thanks go to my friend Niels who alerted me that the photos aren’t displaying properly on the blog. Mike has been going through and fixing them on his iPad but the internet connection has been a bit slow ( he’s using personal hotspot rather than paying for data at the hotel as Vodafone offered a $5 extra per day deal) and it’s been a painful process. Hopefully we can work out how to ensure the images display properly when I insert them in the first place.

A snack and a glass of wine in the bar was perfect to end the day. Like the rest of the Omni, the bar is wood panelled with lovely old lights and grand yet cosy at the same time. I’d thoroughly recommend it to stay for its comfort and location – and from memory it wasn’t too pricey either.