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What to Do if You Only Have One Day in San Francisco

10/27/2015

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Sea lions and Alcatraz Island at Pier 39 in San Francisco
The Pier 39 sea lions and Alcatraz Island, seen in the distance, are two of the top things to see at the Fisherman's Wharf and Embarcadero areas in San Francisco.
By John Roberts 

We arrived in San Francisco with just 24 hours to enjoy the city. That's not nearly enough, but we had a cruise ship to catch the next afternoon. With that in mind and so much available to see, we made sure we snagged a hotel by the Bay so we could take in all the Embarcadero and Fisherman's Wharf area neighborhoods offer.  

Plus, it was Mrs. In The Loop's birthday, and we had to pick an appropriate spot to celebrate. What better for a woman who loves seafood than to give her a prime pick from all the fabulous eateries stocked with fresh catches from the nearby waters. 

We had a good time, eating, exploring, snapping pictures of all the sights, and we even got in a long run on the pedestrian and runner-friendly Embarcadero along the water. We've outlined the best destinations if you're going to be passing through for one day in San Francisco at the waterfront. 

Visit Alcatraz. The famous now-closed prison for hardened criminals sits 1.5 miles offshore on Alcatraz Island, which can be viewed along the Embarcadero. Ferries by Alcatraz Cruises operate at Pier 33. Tours during the day are always crowded. Try a night tour instead. The 2.5-hour outings depart at 5:50 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Thursday through Monday. These slots are less crowded, allowing the guides to give more personal attention and detailed info to visitors. 

Dive into seafood. Head over to Fisherman's Wharf for fresh lobster, mussels, fish and crab pots. Colleen loved her cioppino (a seafood stew) for her birthday dinner at Alioto's, which has a wonderful view of the sunset from its spot near the harbor.
 
Visiting San Francisco and Fisherman's Wharf before eating dinner at Alioto's.
Someone's excited for her birthday dinner.
Explore the Wharf. The area is full of shops, bars and eateries along the wide boardwalk in constant view of the Bay and the Golden Gate Bridge. Check out Ghirardelli Square, the original home of the Ghirardelli Chocolate Co., and the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, which displays a fleet of historic vessels. 

Run the Embarcadero. You know how we love to stay active on our travels. The Embarcadero is a delight for runners, bikers and walkers. And we saw plenty in the early hours the morning we were there. The wide pathway follows the Bay for about five miles, heading south from Fisherman's Wharf to just past AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants major league baseball team. It's a pleasant route, and you'll pass a variety of historic pier buildings, restaurants, the fun and wacky Exploratorium science and art museum and my favorite spot: Pier 39.
 
San Francisco Embarcadero area and the Bay Bridge.
A morning run along the Embarcadero passes by amazing sights that make you want to pause to take them in, like the Bay Bridge and all sorts of boats.
Pier 39. This is a waterfront facility that's home to restaurants, shops, live music and street performers. But it's most famously home to a large colony of sea lions who now reign as the top attractions. Sea lions began showing up to the protected bay waters at the marina after the massive 1989 San Francisco earthquake. Now, the colony boasts more than 1,000 sea lions. Wander out along the pier to enjoy a good laugh and plenty of cool pictures as you see them barking and wrestling and flopping into the water or pulling themselves back out to rest amid the blubbery horde on the floating docks. 
Sea lions at Pier 39 in San Francisco.
Sea lions are the stars of the show at Pier 39 in San Francisco.
Game time. Baseball fan? If the Giants are in town, you can enjoy the day with a stroll over to the park to take in the game. Or rent a kayak and paddle the waters in the Bay area that encircles the park. Linger beyond the right-field wall and you might be one of the lucky paddlers who retrieves a souvenir baseball when a homer is launched into the cove. 

Thanks for reading. 
JR
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Princess Cruises Expands "Discovery at Sea" Excursion Program

10/23/2015

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Picture
Courtesy Princess Cruises
By John Roberts 

Princess Cruises, long a top choice among cruisers seeking out exotic destinations, is upping its game when it comes to adventure. 


The line is launching an enhanced Discovery at Sea program in conjunction with Discovery Communications, the company that produces TV shows for the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet and more. 


The idea is to give travelers a more immersive experience when onboard and on excursions when ashore during their sailings. Princess will offer Discovery and Animal Planet shore excursions that give cruisers interactions with animals or sites not available through independent tours. The Princess Cruises and Discovery collaboration takes advantage of unique relationships Discovery has fostered throughout the world for its cable TV programming to develop one-of-a-kind experiences for Princess Cruises' passengers. 
For example: a "Meet the Sloths" excursion to visit to a sloth sanctuary in Costa Rica. 

Princess also continues to offer a "Stargazing at Sea" program developed with Science Channel's Dr. Hakeem Oluseyi to take advantage of the clear skies available when a ship is at sea. Passengers head to the top decks to learn about the stars and universe on display. Cruise programs highlight when certain special celestial events are due to happen. 
Discovery at Sea onboard activities include "Shark Week at Sea," with games, challenges and programming highlighting sharks, a "Finding Bigfoot" contest and several other games and events. 

Princess Cruises' ships, especially the newest ones, are among the best in the industry, with well-designed and elegant spaces and amazing dining options. But the experience onboard has always been fairly sedate. I love the idea of adding these energetic activities to the onboard experience as well as the more immersive excursion experiences. They will definitely make cruising with Princess even more fun for the active traveler.

Travel fit!
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The Hanging Bridges of Costa Rica. Don't Look Down!

10/20/2015

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Villa Lapas Skyway hanging bridges tour in Costa Rica.
We took on the Villa Lapas Skyway hanging bridges tour in Costa Rica. Some of us liked it more than others.
By John Roberts 

Colleen didn't like this. Not one bit. 

And she is typically the brave and adventurous one in this household. 

We were on a swaying bridge in a rainforest in Costa Rica, and she wanted to get off as soon as possible.  

The bridge, constructed with some sort of wire (is that chicken wire?) and plastic mesh, along with sturdy steel cable supports, did look a little frayed (I mean, I think that is rusted chicken wire in some spots!).   

We had enjoyed ziplining in Costa Rica during a previous cruise. This time, on our port day during our cruise on Celebrity Cruises' Infinity, we would give the hanging bridges of Costa Rica a try. This was a fantastic way to get back out to the rainforest to explore all the creatures and plants we loved the first time.  

From our port area in Puntarenas, we took a tour that brought us into a nature reserve area under the rainforest canopy near the Carara National Park. Puntarenas is a port village on the western, or Pacific Ocean, side of tiny Costa Rica. This was a new region to explore because we had visited Puerto Limon on the Caribbean Sea side on our previous stop to the country.  
This time, Mrs. In The Loop, who does all the excursion planning, went against her biggest fears and instincts and took one for the team so we could try the bridges. She organized the tour for our group, and she always is up for a little challenge despite her phobias. I wish I was that tough. If I don't like something, I simply won't do it. Is that scared? Practical? Selfish, maybe? 

Anyways, we had a pleasant hike, working up quite a sweat as we ventured into forest to complete the Villa Lapas Skyway trail. We explained to Ryan and Kelly, who joined us on the tour and had never been to Costa Rica, how awesome this was going to be. "You're going to see howler monkeys, spiders, colorful tree frogs, sloths," we told them, fondly remembering our prior trip to the land of pura vida. 

Well, we saw a lot of leaf cutter ants at work. I mean hundreds of thousands of them marching in organized columns carrying out their duties. That was cool. 

We saw a squirrel of some sort (Actually, only I did). Hmmm. Not bad. 

We saw three chestnut-mandibled toucans. But no "Fruit Loop" toucans. Dang! 

And a bunch of colorful flowers and plants. 

​We did not see any of the other animals I had promised. Double dang! These tours are crowded, and the commotion in the forest keeps the creatures away, I am told.
 
Villa Lapas Skyway hanging bridges tour in Costa Rica.
There is Mrs. In The Loop, giving us her bravest face. Now, she's gotta get off that thing.
Villa Lapas Skyway hanging bridges tour in Costa Rica.
We crossed a total of four hanging bridges during our two-hour hike. The spans extended up to 330 feet long and looked down at the forest floor up to 200 feet down. It was an interesting experience, with cool views of the trees and forest canopy from the bridges that are strung up between the trees and hillside paths. The trails are well maintained and easy to navigate.  

Make sure to bring insect spray because mosquitoes can be a problem (they were fairly tame during our visit in September). Also, it is hot and humid in the jungle, so bring plenty of water to sip throughout the day. Maybe a few snacks, too. 


The bridges can hold up to 20 visitors, and we had to hold the handrails while crossing because they get a little bouncy as people stride across.  


I stopped midway to take pics and video from varying angles on a couple of the walkways, but Colleen wasn't having any of that. 


"See you on the other side," she said as she swiftly scurried across one particularly long bridge on which many others also had stopped for pictures. Standing in line waiting to shuffle slowly across apparently was not an option for Colleen, who didn't care who she photobombed as she (politely) barged past. 


Thanks for reading. 


JR 


​Travel fit! Travel happy!

VIDEO: Leaf-cutter ants on the march in a Costa Rica rainforest

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