San Fransisco- Day 3

 Day three... By far my favorite day! Probably because we opted to not go to the conference since it was our last full day there. We crammed as much as we could into this day, and it was worth it!

We started our morning off... well more like mid morning with brunch at the Fog Horn Restaurant on Pier 39. This was our spectacular view from our seat...

This was the company.... well apart from each other.

 

 Who wouldn't want to eat brunch while watching a sea lion swim around?

I got the ever famous San Fransisco Clam Chowder in a Fresh Baked Sour Dough bread bowl. Oh man I can't even begin to explain how amazing this was. Sour dough+ clam chowder is a great combo!

Ron got fresh fish and chips! They were delicious. I snagged a teensy bite.

We enjoyed it can you tell?

Next stop on the agenda was the pearl factory. I wanted to check it out because I had a coupon, and I am absolutely in LOVE with pearls!!! They are just so classy. How convenient that is what my name means "priceless pearl" and its my favorite gem. My parents did very well.

Anyways this was my favorite part of the WHOLE trip. I got to pick an oyster, and we slit it open and dig out my pearl! It was awesome! It was like christmas! We didn't know what the size or what the color was going to be. 

It turned out to be a pretty big pearl, and it is a pinkish white. Then we put it in a necklace so I could actually enjoy wearing my pearl around. I was mostly excited because I have a whole huge set of pearls now. I have 3 pears of pearl earrings all different colors, a ring, a bracelet, and 3 necklaces. I told you I love them! I was actually shocked that Ron let me do it, but he later told me he had to just because of the look on my face when they told me the process. I love how my hubby spoils me rotten.

We ended up buying two more oysters and we took them home to our mom's to do the same process. Don't worry they were sealed so our luggage didn't stink of oyster.

Pier 39 is famous for the sea lions that live there. No they are not domesticated. In the winter they get up to 600-700 sea lions come stay at the pier. These ones here are just to lazy to migrate. hahaha I love that they were all out cold!

Aren't they so funny? I loved watching them. Some were playing king of the hill and knocking each other off the docks.

I think they are so cute!!! We ended up buying a souvenir stuffed sea lion for hayden. We named him Simon. He insists on sleeping with Lional his lion and Simon the sea lion now.

 

Our next stop was a bay cruise. This was freezing!!!! It was well worth it though. We went under the golden gate bridge, around Alcatraz, and by the bay bridge.

The views of the city were stunning!

It was freezing! We were going  towards the wind. I could not believe how cold it was.

Golden Gate Bridge

We were pretty bummed that we couldn't  go actually tour Alcatraz. All the cruise lines I checked were booked. This was definitely the next best thing.  Alcatraz was definitely eary and creepy.

One fact of Alcatraz. They said that it could hold over 1000 or so convicts, but because the convicts were the most dangerous in the U.S. they would never take or hold more than 300. Ya scary...

We just laughed at this sign.

 One of the other main things that was recommended by a lot of people was Sausalito, and the Muir Wood forest.  Which was perfect cause it took us across the Golden Gate Bridge. Seriously learning how they built this bridge made it even more cool.

 If this forest looks familiar to you.. It just might be. This is the very forest all the Star Wars movies were made in as well as the Movie Rise of the Planet of the Apes. I am sure there were lots more filmed here, but those were the two we were told about.

 Muir Wood Forest isn't just any forest either. It is a red wood forest. Everything I swear was quadrupled in size!!! These clovers look small in the picture but in real life they were bigger than the size of a half dollar.

 I can't even begin to explain how incredibly beautiful this forest was. It was so green! We loved hiking through the forest.

 See that tree above? Ya that tree was born in 909 a.d.  It finally fell over in 1932 or something. No big deal that is over a 1000 years old!!!!!

 This  Tree below is the Bicentennial Tree. Meaning it was born the very year that the 13 original colonies came to the U.S.  LOOK HOW TALL IT IS!!! It was pretty skinny too! This tree was a just a baby compared to some of the other trees we saw.

 Yeah... this is not a cave. Ron and I are standing in a hollowed tree trunk.

 On our way out of the forest we saw a sign for Stinsen Beach. It was 8 miles away. Ron and I thought "why not" So we drove to the beach. It was the most steep and curvy road I have ever seen. I thought we were going to die a couple of times. Lucky for us... again... the views were incredible!

 So while walking toward the beach this is the first thing that we see.... Great White Shark Advisory. Apparently Stinsen Beach is loaded with them, and have had attacks there as well. Not only that they are known to attack in as little as 6 feet of water... Yeah we didn't touch the water.. In fact with the waves the way they were, and the shark warnings; there was not a soul in that water. Talk about scary.

 The water may have been scary but again the view was like a seen from a movie Definitely thee most beautiful beach I have ever seen/ been too.

 We decided to take the cliff side drive back to San Fransisco. The view was so pretty. I kept making Ron stop and pull over just to take pictures and look at it. I want to live here! Ron and I are definitely Beach people... so we were pretty jealous of the cabins below. We are thinking some time we will go have a little get away again down here instead of San Fran.

 We decided to take my 32 week Pregnancy photo here.. instead of the original white wall. Way better back drop if you ask me.

We were wiped by the time we got back to our hotel, but Ron and I couldn't stop talking about everything we had done and seen that day. This day made the whole trip. I can't believe how beautiful the bay area is. It was absolutely breathe taking. The pictures don't even do it justice.