We got a bit of a late start, and initially planned on taking the cable car to Fisherman’s Wharf, and then catching a bus to the Golden Gate Bridge.  However, the line forming for the cable car was already lengthy, and the girls were begging for pancakes.  Not wanting to waste a lot of time and money on breakfast, we found a Burger King on Powell Street and got pancakes for the girls.  After that, we walked a few blocks down Market to catch a bus to the bridge.  After just missing one, we waited 20 minutes for the next, only to learn that it was a $4/person charge to ride.  I then determined via Google Maps that we could take the 5 bus and transfer to the 28 to get to the bridge.  Unfortunately, this entire process, from the time we left the hotel to the time we got to the bridge, took almost two hours.  Luckily the girls were pretty patient.  During the bus rides, Laura told the story of how 11 years ago waiting for the same bus, she wrapped her arms around me and put her hands in my vest pocket, almost discovering the engagement ring I was hiding there.  After I pushed her away, she thought I was mad at her, and figured out the reason a few minutes later when I got down on one knee and proposed to her in a park at the base of the Golden Gate.

We only spent a short time at the bridge, as the girls weren’t too interested in it.  We walked a short ways across, but it was a bit much for the oldest, so we turned back.  We stopped for a few pictures, and got back on the bus after a short time.  The girls had been begging for hot dogs all day, so I found a place on the way back where they could get their fill.  Luckily, it was a few blocks from an Ike’s location.  Ike’s Place is a restaurant Laura and I first saw on Diner’s, Drive-ins, and Dives years ago, and which we visited on our first trip to the city.  They make a large variety of sandwiches with some pretty unique ingredients.  I made a run to Ike’s while the girls were eating their lunch, and then took a bus back to the hotel, where we enjoyed our sandwiches.  I had a sandwich (Alamo Elementary) that had fried chicken, mushrooms, BBQ sauce, and mozzarella sticks, which paired nicely with the bottle of an IPA that I pick up every time I’m in the area.

After spending some time in the room, with the goal of the girls getting a nap (which never happened), we gave up on that and headed back out to try to catch the sunset over the Pacific.  We hopped on the 5 bus again that took us all the way to Outer Richmond and to Sunset Beach.  The oldest sat by me on the bus, where I caught her yawning.  She told me she wasn’t tired and was just stretching her mouth, and was asleep in my arms within 2 minutes.  The other two also slept most of the 45 minute ride.

We reached the beach, which is very wide from the street to the water, and walked over to the water and watched the sunset.  It was the youngest girls first time seeing the Pacific, though at two and a half, it didn’t mean much to her.  I was jealous of those bundled up by fire pits enjoying the sounds and sites of the ocean.  It was fairly windy and somewhat chilly, so we didn’t stay too long before heading back up toward the street and looking for the next thing to do.

We couldn’t think of much else to do for the evening as it was getting dark and the girls didn’t get much in the way of rest, so we decided letting them play at a playground for a while would be good.  With the magic of Google Maps, I found a playground a few blocks inland called Cabrillo Park.  It had plenty for the girls to play on, and kept them busy until it was mostly dark.

As we had a large lunch, and no one was too hungry, so we decided to head back to the hotel, after which I went to a nearby Whole Foods to pick up some chips and guacamole, sausage, cheese, crackers, and other assorted snacks to serve as our dinner.  By the time I got back, it was just over an hour from the ball dropping in New York to signify the beginning of 2018, and the girls were pretty close to falling asleep already.  We snacked on the food and I had a nice stout I’d been gifted by my friend Nicholas.  The local TV stations were showing the NYE festivities delayed by three hours because of the time change, so at the last minute, I found the countdown on my phone.  We counted down the last thirty seconds, and fairly quickly afterward, were all asleep.