Because of the three-hour time difference, everyone was up and going well before sunrise.  Laura needed a shower, so I decided to take the girls on a short walk to kill some time while she did so.  We headed a few blocks over to Union Square, which was pretty dead, as it was early on a Saturday morning.  A few weeks earlier, I showed them the huge Christmas tree and the skating rink there as I walked back to my hotel from my training class via FaceTime, and at the time, they loved it.  It was very cool for me to be able to show them all of this in person.

After everyone was ready to head out of the day, we all left the hotel and took the F streetcar down Market Street to the Ferry Building, where we checked out the Saturday Farmers Market.  The younger two were hungry and cranky, so we didn’t get to see as much of it as I would have liked.  We went inside the Ferry Building to find something quick that they could eat.  The first thing they found that they wanted was a container of six gluten-free chocolate sprinkle doughnuts.  The box cost about the same price as a decent lunch with a drink at a decent restaurant.  Yikes, California.  I got myself two each of two types of oysters and two clams for breakfast to hold me over until lunch, so I guess I can’t really talk.

After our breakfast, we hopped back on the F streetcar and headed to Pier 39.  It’s a busy, congested tourist destination that I love and hate at the same time, but if nothing else, I wanted the kids to see it.  There is a huge Christmas tree here also, and the views of the Bay Bridge and Alcatraz are nice.  The highlight was showing the girls the sea lions that hang out on wood docks in the bay adjacent to the pier.  The oldest was particularly fascinated by them.  We spent a few minutes at the small sea-lion museum.  There was an area where kids could write on a sticky-note heart what they like about the sea lions, and the oldest took part by adding “they are silly.”  Stole my heart.

After this, we headed to Fog Harbor Fish House, one of the few restaurants on the pier amongst dozens of crappy tourist traps that is actually pretty good.  I stopped in on my trip a few weeks back, and wanted to go again for an obligatory sourdough bread bowl filled with clam chowder.  We learned the first day that the girls can only handle so much before needing to go back to the calm and quiet of the room, so we headed back for a nap.

After our nap, we took a bus a few blocks north to the Stockton Street portion of Chinatown, one of my favorite areas of the city.  The middle girl lost her gloves, and I knew that Chinatown was the place to score a cheap replacement pair.  A quick search through a shop that sold tons of odds and ends led us to a pink pair that cost only one dollar.  Score!  We stopped by AA Bakery, where we got a pastry filled with hot dogs and a coconut custard bun for the girls to munch on.  Laura and I were still full from lunch.  The girls picked over their food before we headed out to check out the more touristy side of Chinatown on Grant Ave.  We walked past a band playing Chinese instruments, plenty of Chinese restaurants, and lots of shops full of cheap junk.  After stopping for a couple of pictures at the Chinatown Gate, we walked back toward the hotel.

We had to make a surprise stop at the Ghirardelli location on Market Street, as the oldest had been begging for ice cream.  After a huge brownie sundae that cost the same as the box of gluten-free doughnuts earlier in the day, we headed back to the hotel, where the girls were ready to sleep after an evening of walking.

I’d made plans to meet up with my buddy Nick, who lives in town, so I headed over to Cellarmaker Brewing to hang out with him.  I was able to meet his girlfriend and a couple of his other friends.  He and his girlfriend had to get up early to fly to Portland to visit friends for the New Year, but I made friends with his friends and hitched a ride to Liquid Gold, a beer bar where I visited during my last trip, where Nick bar tends once in a while.  Lo and behold, Nick’s friend Brandon, who we’d hung out with on my last trip, was there bar tending, so I got to hang out with him a bit while I had a beer.  A stop at an Indian joint for some carry out on the way home and I was back at the hotel and asleep quickly.