San Francisco Day 2 - Golden Gate Bridge, Marshall Beach, & Fisherman's Wharf

by Vicky - 4:00 AM

We started our first full day in San Francisco fairly early. Left the hotel around 9:30 or 10am. We hopped on the 30 bus towards the Marina District. It was a quick ride and once we got off on our stop, we headed over to Dynamo Donut and Coffee. A cute little kiosk right by the Marina. Lisa and I split the Maple Bacon Apple donut and the Peanut Butter Banana donut. So good! Especially the one with the bacon on it. We enjoyed our simple breakfast on the patio tables right by the water. Lovely way to start the day.

After, we started our walk on the beautiful San Francisco Bay Trail towards Torpedo Wharf.

The views of the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, the Bay, and of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (what's on the North end of the Bridge) are so breathtaking! We were so lucky and grateful for a clear and sunny day to enjoy our walk!

Here are the pictures from our trail walk and Torpedo Wharf:

After many pictures and selfies, we headed into the Warming Hut store and cafe to buy lunch for later. I bought the Presidio sandwich and a bag of chips. We also stocked up on water bottles! We walked up the stairs towards the Golden Gate Bridge (GGB) and its pavilion. The higher up you went, the better the view of the GGB and the Bay. Once we got to the GGB Pavilion, we snapped so many more photos!

After taking the view in, we walked under the tunnel next to the Pavilion, and made our trek towards Marshall Beach. This walk is pretty rough, involving a lot of stairs, inclines, and unpaved trails. Bring comfy shoes and water! I had somewhat of a tough time with my asthma but if you don't mind the intense trail (it's good exercise!) the views on top of the cliffs here are so worth it. We climbed on top of a concrete structure (warning: there's a steel ladder involved) to see this:

Our first peek of the Pacific Ocean!

Then followed the trail West.

There are some helpful signs along the way directing where to go, but not many. Google Maps on our phones became our best friend on this trip!

After a long walk, up and down many steps and paths, we arrived at Marshall Beach. Which was completely empty except for us. Words nor pictures will ever be able to do this place justice. I will never forget these moments.

After spending some time enjoying the beach, writing names in the sand, taking an unreal amount of pictures, we headed back towards a bench on the top of a cliff to enjoy our lunches we grabbed while at the Warming Hut. The serenity and peace that I found here is something I hope I can take with me back home.

We got done around 1pm (which was awesome to know we still had a whole day left to do whatever we wanted!) Walked back towards the GGB Pavilion and took the 28 bus towards Fort Mason to get to the 30 bus to Fisherman's Wharf.

The piers in the day time are SO much more fun. And also when it's not raining! So much fresh seafood everywhere, natch!

Seafood lover's dream.

Found our way back to Pier 39, to see the sea lions since we could barely see them yesterday.

We did more souvenir shopping and then stopped at this adorable cupcake shop for something to snack on and lattes. The balcony off the back of the store provided a lovely spot to take a break and people-watch.

Then decided on In-N-Out burger for dinner! Everyone is always raving about In-N-Out so we wanted to see what the hype was about. The place was so busy, we were lucky to score a table. The wait for the food was pretty long, the menu posted was super simple. It wasn't until after I ordered (and posted to Facebook) that there are many other options. You could get your fries extra crispy and "Animal Style" with their signature sauce on the fries. The regular fries were just meh, but the burger was good! (Not as great as Shake Shack in NYC though!)

After dinner we did a little more souvenir shopping and then walked back to the hotel. Today was perfect, unforgettable, and I am so thankful for that. San Francisco has been great to us thus far!

In case you missed it, read about our entire trip here!
San Francisco Day 1! - Lombard St, Piers, Seafood
San Francisco Day 2 - Golden Gate Bridge, Marshall Beach, Fisherman's Wharf
San Francisco Day 3 - Brunch, Westfield Centre, Tony's Pizza Napoletana
San Francisco Day 4 - Japantown, Golden Gate Park, Chinatown

Happy Travels!

- Vicky