Post spin, I walked back home, showered, and spoke to the concierge once again to figure out my day. As per me, I had a list of what I wanted to accomplish, but I just wanted to most efficient way to do that. His help was limited but I knew I'd figure it out one way or another. I wanted to walk over to see the Full House hill, also known as Alamo Square. The way he gave me to walk (down Market street) started out as a nice stretch of stores and then got super shady. Lots of homeless people again which of course scared me a bit but I just walked like I knew exactly what I was I was doing and I wasn't bothered. The shadiness only lasted a few blocks and it got nice again. Phew. My grand plan was to stop and get a sandwich or salad and eat it on the hill and enjoy the scenery but I didn't pass any places so just went straight there to get my photo and look around. I had to get a picture from the park of the houses that are shown in the opening scene of that show. And of course while I was there, I sang the theme song to myself like the huge loser that I am. I also wanted to see the Mrs. Doubtfire but it was much farther down the street and wasn't super important to me so I skipped it. It wasn't worth the hike. From there it was on to Golden Gate Park where I was hoping to get a great view of the bridge and walk it. Well guess what? You can't see the bridge from the park. It's pretty far from there. I realized that when I got there and couldn't see anything but grass and trees. I mean its a nice park and all, but not what I was looking for. The concierge had mentioned that to get to the bridge I could take a bus from there so I headed toward the bus stop. I was really frustrated that I wasted time going to that park because the bridge wasn't there and I was hungry, tired and annoyed that the bus stop wasn't closer to where I was. I was literally almost in tears out of frustration. (It happens sometimes.) I was almost at the point where I was just going to take a cab back to the hotel because I just felt so far from where I wanted to be.
Finally, ten miles into my morning (not counting my Soul ride), I found the bus stop and took the bus to the Golden Gate Bridge. It was awesome to see in person. I've seen so many pictures of it and they do no justice to how cool the bridge is. I knew I wanted to find the bridge today so tomorrow I could run it. But once I got ther, I knew that wasn't happening. Reason one is it's way to far from my hotel and reason two is its way too high and too scary for me to do again. I used to be very scared of heights when I was younger and as I got older the fear kind of dissapated. However, today on the bridge, it was back. About 1/3 of the way across the bridge, with the wind blowing and the clouds moving in, I almost just turned around. I was frightened. I felt the edge wasn't high enough and the sidewalk not wide enough and it just freaked me out. A lot. However, I also knew that I'd regret not walking the entire thing so I sucked it up and had a little chat with myself that I could do it and it would be fine and I made it across and back. By then the temperature had dropped a good 10-15 degrees and all I wanted to do was get back to the hotel, eat something (I still hadn't had lunch) and just relax for a few. I also realized I had zero desire to get back on the bridge, let alone run it so I could cross that off my to-do list for tomorrow. I had my fill of being on it. I could stare at it again for a while I'm sure, but it the mild terror it gave me was enough to last me. I Google-mapped how to get back to the hotel and two bus rides later, I was seamlessly there. I was very proud of myself for doing the public transportation by myself again and not getting lost. My direction and map reading skills have def improved since Europe last summer, but they still suck pretty bad.
Once back in Union Square I got a snack and began walking back to my hotel when I heard someone calling my name. At first I didn't think they were talking to me, but it ended up being a girl from my Israel trip like seven years ago. Small world. Her and her boyfriend were in town for her job and we just happened to be walking on the same street. Funny how that works. We made small talk and then I went back to the hotel to get my hoody and then head back out again. (It's amazing the temperature difference here and in Seattle, Portand, Vancouver. A solid 15-20 degrees cooler.) I wanted to check out Chinatown and it turns out it is super close to my hotel so I walked over there and walked around a bit. Chinatown in San Francisco and Chinatown in New York have that same ole fishy smell. Ick. Then I decided to just walk around Union Square and do a little shopping. The Nordstrom sale just started so I went in there hoping to pick up something cute. I tried on a few things but came up empty-handed. Hopefully when I head home to Chicago in a couple of weeks I will have better luck. By this time of the early evening I was really hungry. With no lunch and tons of walking, I knew I had to get something soon. I had looked up some suggested restaurants earlier but none of them were close and I had wanted to sit down to a meal. All I wanted was a big salad so I decided to bite the bullet and just go to Cheesecake Factory. It is one of my favorite chain restaurants and I haven't had it in probably three years. This was happening. No judgement please. When I got there, it was a zoo. Totally crowded but I was able to secure a seat at the bar and ordered my salad and read my book. I hate to sound depressing but sitting there eating dinner alone at the bar with a book really made me think of how my life is seeming to end up as I still remain single. This could be my life. Alone at the bar eating dinner. Kinda sad. As much as I love being able to have the flexibility to travel because of my singledom and I really do enjoy going at it alone, it does get lonely at night. And as I get older and people get married off and have kids, I don't want to be person always eating alone at the bar. Ugh. This makes me sad but I tried to just remind myself how lucky I am to have the experiences I am having now and if it happens, it will happen. Before all this wah-wah-wah (Debbie downer tone) thinking, I actually had the desire to go out tonight but with no one to go with and not knowing the area well, I didn't want to do it. If I am still feeling this way tomorrow, perhaps I will take a gamble. Maybe even set up a San Fran Tinder date if I can. Hehehe. Who knows?
Anyway, after my delicious and enormous salad I headed back to the hotel to hand wash some clothes one last time (I hate doing this!) and ice my legs. On top of my spin class this morning, my FitBit clocked me in at 18.3 miles for the day, so needless to say my body was tired. My shins and knees hurt and it was time to relax so I could do it all again tomorrow. I love walking around and exploring but it does take a toll on the body when you put in those miles day after day, which I have. I have a another big day coming up so want to be rejuvenated and ready to take on the city once again.
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