The first day...

Chinatown ~ San Francisco, CA

After checking into our hotel, the first thing we did was go to Chinatown.  It's kinda one of those things you have to do if you visit San Francisco, at least once.  

Chinatown is comprised of several city blocks lined with red lanterns above.  There is shop after shop after shop filled with imports from China.  

My kids of course had to have something, and they got these hats right away.  

It turned out they came in quite handy, and they wore them practically non stop the whole time we were in the Bay area.

Which is really the reason we went to San Fran in the first place.  We were trying to escape 110 degree weather back home, and we succeeded!  The temps were in the lower 60's the whole time.  It was fantabulous.  

I allowed the cool wind to embrace every fiber of my being.  My body drank it in, and it soothed my heat wrankled nerves.  Ahhhhh....... :-)

This was a painting on one of the buildings.  

And here is that quintessential icon of San Francisco, the trolley.

We didn't get a chance to ride the trolley.  Frankly, they made me nervous with the girls.

San Francisco is a great city, and my point of view has changed every time I've been there.

The first was when I was about 14.  We had gone to Northern Calif. for a family reunion, and stayed with family in Hayward.  We rode BART under the bay, visited Fisherman's wharf, Ghiradelli square, etc.  And I saw a homeless person for the first time.  I was filled with wonder, and had a new understanding of the world outside my little town.  

The second was after my husband and I first started dating.  My memories of that trip are ones of relaxation and enjoyment.  Seeing San Francisco through the eyes of a young adult, and more wonder at the people and the lives being lead in this famous city.

This time, I did enjoy visiting San Francisco.  But instead I began to see it through the eyes of children,  and while there is plenty of wonder, there are also things that you want to hurry on by as the kids gawk...

like when my youngest saw her first homeless person.  "Is that guy dead?" in an alarmed voice.  

It is a very hard thing to explain to a six year old.