After a reasonable night’s sleep (thank goodness for earplugs), we fuelled ourselves up on a breakfast of fresh fruit, pastries, cereal, bread and full English breakfast before catching the bus back to the airport.
Although BA were not our favourite people right now, credit where credit’s due - the flight was pretty good. We took off on time, were served drinks and pretzels soon after take-off, enjoyed 3 meals throughout the flight, plus the friendly and well presented flight attendants regularly walked down the aisles with trays of soft drinks. Those of us seated towards the back of the plane, also spotted a ‘help yourself’ tuck box in the galley - so the kids returned to their seats clutching chocolate and sweets.
We landed in San Francisco 25 minutes early, it then took a further 90 minutes to disembark, pass through customs, retrieve our luggage, pass through another queue to hand in our immigration form, then we were finally on our way.
To make our way from the airport to San Francisco city centre, we caught the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transport) - a train which covers the bay area, with stations at San Francisco International Airport and Oakland International Airport.
There are plenty of signs within the arrivals area of SFO directing you to the station, where you can purchase tickets using the ticket vending machines. The machines accept cash, debit cards and credit cards for payment. Our journey from SFO to Embarcadero cost $8.95 each (approximately £6). So, for the 4 of us, it was around £24.50.
At the time we travelled, the trains were running every 15 minutes and the journey took around half an hour. On exiting Embarcadero, we ordered an Uber taxi to take us to our hotel - the Argonaut.
The Argonaut Hotel was fabulous. It's in a super location - situated on the edge of Fisherman’s Wharf, overlooking the bay, right next to the Cable Car Turnaround. The distinctive red brick building used to be part of the Cannery complex, and the building's history is beautifully reflected in the interior decor of exposed brickwork and beams, plus the nautical theme really adds to the character and overall experience.
Check-in was quick and easy, we were given a friendly welcome, issued with our room keys and directed to the lifts. Our trip certainly took a turn for the better when we realised we’d been upgraded to a Deluxe Room. We were expecting, what was described as, an ‘interior view’ - a view overlooking the windows of other rooms. So, we were delighted when we opened the door to a view overlooking the bay, the cable car turnaround and, if you peered through the trees, the Golden Gate Bridge.
The room was spacious, spotlessly clean and we all loved the decor. A mixture of white and exposed brick walls, beams, shutters, an enormous wall mirror, plenty of lights and, very importantly to our family, plenty of device charging points.
Free Wi-fi and a 37” Flat Screen HDTV kept the kids happy, while the adults unpacked. Then, despite the long flight and the 8 hour time difference, we decided to explore some of Fisherman’s Wharf.
A leisurely 15 minute walk brought us to Pier 39, past the fun bread sculptures (and gorgeous smells) of Boudin’s Sourdough Bakery. Take a moment to watch the bakers at work, it’s amazing. A little further along, there’s a great vibe - and wonderful smells - surrounding the outdoor stands on Fisherman’s Wharf, where vendors sell clam chowder, Dungeness crab, hotdogs and even chocolate.
Dodging the variety of street performers and people on bikes, we reached the extremely busy and popular tourist area of Pier 39. Judging by the way some people were dressed, it had obviously been a warm day, but the wind was bitter. Fleeces and long trousers were an absolute necessity for the chilly April evenings.
Although we’d originally planned to eat on, or around, Pier 39, nothing really inspired us, so we made our way back towards the hotel and chose an Italian restaurant, Cioppino’s, to eat at. The food was good, the service was great, but as we’d all been awake for over 21 hours and it was 3.30am back home, we were exhausted, so we ate quickly before returning to the hotel and flopping in to bed.
