A further day in San Francisco enjoying a Cruise around the Bay and walk around the Waterfront and Marina District, viewing the Historic Ships Collection. The girls played with another young girl from Liverpool, an only child with her parents and looking for company.
Then, viewing the work of the sand sculptor before back to the hotel by cable car, running the gauntlet of the beggars and pan-handlers.
Awake at 6.00am as part of our new routine and then we took breakfast at another Chinese-American bar close to the hotel and near to the one we used yesterday. Back to the hotel to get ready for a day that started sunny and continued so but with a stiff, cool breeze. We walked to Pier 39 and looked around there whilst we waited for the first Black and Gold trip boat which took us on an hour's cruise around the bay. We went by the Bay and Golden Gate Bridges and along the San Francisco waterfront.
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The tidal flows and breeze created large waves under the Golden Gate Bridge and the bows slammed up and down to the huge excitement of the girls, who danced and played on the ballroom floor in the for'd saloon. Another young girl from Liverpool, an only child with her parents and looking for company, introduced herself to us. She had been to L.A. at the same time as us and had lots to talk to Debbie about and she played with our girls for the duration of the cruise. We then took a long walk along the waterfront, past Fisherman's Wharf, took a look at the submarine in the Historic Ships Collection and then walked up to the Marina District for lunch in the Pizza place there.
We let the girls go into the Exploratorium at the old Exhibition Centre, whilst we sat and rested in the sunshine. The sand sculptor was working there, cadging change and dollar bills off of passers-by, who appreciated his mermaids and other figures and then an 85-year-old retired local chatted to us about San Francisco, California and its problems of earthquakes and immigration. True to its name, there are several marinas in this Marina District all full of yachts but most of them are kept in dock as entertainment bases which is a shame and waste of good sea and boats. We took a trolleybus back to the centre of town but were a bit put off by the graffiti that covered both the inside and outside of it.
After getting the kids their normal tea (fruit from the supermarket for Debbie and burghers for Della), I took Diana out for an evening meal at Brandy Ho's Chinese Restaurant. We enjoyed the meal but found the noise and general Pandemonium of dining close to the kitchen station quite disturbing. We are finding that few people understand us and communicate easily as more and more U.S. nationals speak little English. Back to the hotel by cable car, running the gauntlet of the beggars and pan-handlers. The latest trick for begging was to get your used two-hour cable car ticket at the cable car turn and then to sell it on to other passengers without too much concern about how much time (if any) was left on the ticket.