Life Without Poutine: San Fran: Day 3

Strolling through Muir Woods was like entering into a fairy tale. I was in such awe that the glorious site had me near tears.

Welcome to the magical kingdom of Muir Woods.

I'm inside a tree!

Following the woods, our tour guide took us to Sausalito, which is a quaint little tourist town just north of San Francisco on the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge. When our tour guide parked the bus, he offered up a bunch of suggestions for things we could do during our hour stay in Sausalito. The one that caught my attention was the gourmet burger and wine restaurant just down the street.

Now, ladies and gentlemen, I’ve eaten my fair share of burgers in my lifetime, but this one will forever be the love of my stomach’s life. My stomach will ache for the rest of its life, reminiscing about that one perfect afternoon. It was a Portobello mushroom, blue cheese, and bacon burger with a glass of Zinfandel wine from Napa Valley.

I spent my entire allotted hour in Sausalito just savouring every bite of that burger. If I close my eyes, I can still almost taste it.

With a few minutes left to spare, I headed back to the bus, only to find that the bus was no longer there. According to my phone, I’d made it with a minute to spare. The bus driver, however, thought otherwise, apparently.

Irate, I walked 20-25 minutes to the nearest payphone and called up Gray Line, the tour company. The woman on the other end clearly could not have cared less that my plans for my last day in San Francisco were potentially completely ruined. She just told me matter of factly that I could just take an $11 ferry ride to Fisherman’s Wharf, which is where I eventually expected to find myself. If I had more time left, I would’ve happily exploded on the bitch, but knowing that there was nothing they’d be able to do for me, I just cursed her under my breath and hoped a customer would spit in her face for me at some point.

Going directly to the wharf meant I would have no time to check out the cartoon art museum, but that’s life, so I made my peace with it, ate a delicious hot fudge sundae, and got my ass on the ferry.

First stop along the pier was the SS Jeremiah O’Brien, a US Liberty ship from World War II. It was used during the war to carry much needed supplies out to the boys in battle. Visitors can actually climb aboard and walk around, learning about life aboard the ship, as well as about the ship’s personal history. It was the most fascinating interactive museum I’ve ever visited.

Or at least, I thought it was, until I visited the Musee Mechanique right next door. It’s essentially an arcade museum, filled with awesome classic arcade games you can play. Personal favourites: