Alcatraz Schmalcatraz. I’m Not The Only One Who Keeps Accidentally Calling It “Azkaban”…. R-r-right?

Our fourth day in San Francisco was cold. And windy. And foggy. And, apparently, so is my memory, because I have absolutely no recollection whatsoever of where Scope and I had breakfast that morning. (????)

We bundled up in layers (no, we’re not sissies; there were people out in scarves and gloves, for chocolate’s sake!) and made our way through the fog to Pier 39….


….where we bought tickets for a boat tour around the bay.

While we waited for our tour to begin, we amused ourselves by frisking the statues….


….and getting our Tacky Tourist on by having our picture taken on a green screen….


….which is actually one of my favorite photos of the whole trip, fake-iness and all, because we, frankly, don’t have many pictures of the two of us together.

*sniff*

Once aboard our boat, we set off out into the bay, passing dozens of barking sea lions….


….including this cutie, who gave us a wink!….


(Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.)

I, of course, was armed with my camera and shot—ohhhhhhh—roughly 200 pictures on the boat that day….


No exaggeration. (It’s sad, isn’t it?) (I know.)

We passed Ghirardelli Square….


….and headed towards the Golden Gate Bridge, all cloaked mysteriously in a curtain of fog….


A seagull kept pace with us, right overhead for awhile….


….(ACK!!) but eventually he got bored with us and flew off to terrorize someone else. Thank God. I hate birds.

*shudder*

We cruised under the Golden Gate Bridge….










….and then we set off for Azkaban Alcatraz, which I have a hard time remembering is actually called Alcatraz and not Azkaban (true story), and which has caused me much ridicule in many a conversation.

*pout*

(JK Rowling, I am hereby suing you. My lawyer will be contacting you soon. So there)….












We didn’t get to actually go inside Azkaban Alcatraz or anything. We’ll have to save that adventure for a future trip. But it was still absolutely incredible taking the boat tour all the way around the island.

Wow.

After Azkaban Alcatraz, I had to sit down and stop taking pictures for awhile because I started feeling worryingly seasick. Weird. I’ve never been seasick in my life.

Never.

I blame the Dementors. Clearly.

I was most relieved as we headed back to the pier. I definitely needed to be anywhere but on a swaying boat on the sloshing water. Like right away!!

The sea lions welcomed us back. And so did a couple of pelicans….


After lugging my queasy self off that boat, Scope and I stopped in Biscoff Coffee Corner for some hot chocolate (which came with free cookies!! WOOT!!)….


I don’t know if it was the hot chocolate or the cookies (maybe both) but after our stop at Biscoff’s, I was feeling much, much better.

We looked around Pier 39 for awhile and bought a couple of souvenirs and I made friends with this fella….


….while Scope found someone who made him feel runty for once….


….and then there was an impromptu meeting of the redheads….



We saw the famous Fisherman’s Wharf sign, of course….


….and then we hopped a bus to Golden Gate Park, where we snagged one more quick look at the bridge….


….then took a walk through the beautiful park to get to the California Academy of Sciences Museum, where we had our picture taken on a green screen yet again….


Ha! You can still see the green screen through my hair. I look like I’m molding! Or like I’m Beetlejuice! But I don’t care. I plunked down the $30 for the picture anyway because it is a picture of the two of us, and so I love it, darn it!

We had lunch inside the museum, then we checked out their Living Roof….


….which soooooooo reminded me of the Teletubbies!

*gag*

We also checked out the Extreme Mammals exhibit, which was so extreme (almost-unending standing, walking and reading) that we were both thrashed by the end of it and decided to bail.

*yawn*

We went back to our hotel and had a much-needed nap. Then we hit Cheesecake Factory for dinner. Mm-mm-mmmmm....

© Coracabana