San Francisco - Day 10

Saturday, July 27, 2019

So we spent the night on the train — not the best sleep but enjoyable.  Sunrise from our window.

Here I am getting up and going out for coffee.  

And Ed when the bed is up and we are back to our seats. 

And then the “facilities” — behind the door on the left is a combo toilet and shower. We actually used the shower. Not too bad.

We were delayed until 8:45 so we ended up having breakfast in the dining car (got our 3 pre-paid meals in).  We sat with a couple who were about our age but looked like they were still stuck in the 1960s. We thought we would have nothing in common but we did. Turned out that they were Major League Baseball enthusiasts like us and had been to all but 4 of the stadiums. (We still have 12 to go.). But here’s the thing. They had reached all of them by train!

Travel note — the train to San Francisco stops in Emeryville or Oakland.  Then one has to switch by bus to an intermodal station in downtown. Then Uber to your hotel.  We arrived around 10 to the Westin St. Francis on Union Square, where we first lodged in 1977 and have several times since. 

Surprise! Our room was ready and it was beautiful. Although it was not on a high floor, we even had an outdoor patio. 

We took a brief nap (since train sleep wasn’t great) and then headed out to Fisherman’s Wharf to revisit another of our favorite haunts. Mid summer the tourist traffic is fierce, so we didn’t even try to ride the trolley. Instead we took a nearby city bus which was cheap and convenient.  

The Wharf was very much as it has been, but very crowded today.  Weather was gorgeous but extremely windy.  We just enjoyed walking along the waterfront.

We went to one of our favorite restaurants, Alioto’s, and snagged a table on the patio by the street to people watch.  The special of the day? Petrale!  We indulged!

Afterwards we walked all the way to Pier 39, which had become way too touristy for us, but fun to see again. 

The highlight was viewing the sea lions which are on the nearby K-Dock. They mysteriously took up residence there after the October 1989 earthquake and hundreds now “haul out” there seasonally — for the available food supply and lack of predators.

We also caught a glimpse of Alcatraz.

We ended our walk down memory lane at Ghiardelli’s Square, where they gave away free squares of chocolate and sold a variety of chocolate specialties. Too bad we were still full from lunch. 

Then we headed back to the hotel by bus. On the way, I stopped at nearby Britex Fabrics before it closed, but didn’t find anything special.

Tonight we went to our favorite San Francisco restaurant — Tadich’s Grill, the original “cold day restaurant” (long story) established in 1849, making it California’s oldest restaurant.  Part of its tradition is an only male wait staff clothed in white starched uniforms, but tonight we noticed a female in the same uniform.  It was crowded as usual (they don’t take reservations) so we sat for a minute at the bar.

Soon they had a table for 2 nearby. We both had petrale — Ed had grilled and me panfied, equally delicious. The food, the ambiance and the evening was as great as always.

Portland - San Francisco - Day 9

Friday, July 26, 2019

Our train did not depart until 2 pm, so we had the morning to spend in the city. I had saved a treat for this morning -  a visit to the Lan Su Chinese  Garden which was just 2 blocks from our hotel. It is a walled Chinese garden enclosing a full city block, roughly 40,000 sq. ft. in the Chinatown area. The idea for such a garden originated in 1980, but it did not achieve fruition until 2000.  The garden was built by 65 artisans from Suzhou, sister city to Portland, and completed in 14 months at a cost of $12.8 million.  Walking through the walls into the gardens is a breath of fresh air from the aging, dilapidated buildings in Chinatown.  It is hard to imagine so many interesting structures and water features tucked into a city block.

Included are a courtyard of tranquility, a terrace, koi pond, a scholar’s study, a waterfall, a tea room, etc.  The photos speak for themselves.

The rockery is designed to appear as rugged mountains in the distance, complete with waterfalls.

Painted boat in misty rain to resemble boat from Suzhou to Portland.

Doorways and windows throughout the garden form views within views, creating the illusion of infinite space within a single block.

And some overviews of the landscape.



Afterwards we went back to the hotel and had lunch again at Mother’s Bistro and headed to the train station, a rather large and iconic structure for today’s needs, but architecturally interesting. 

We spent time in a comfortable business class waiting room before we boarded at 2:00 pm and settled into our little bedroom for the next 18 hours. We discovered they were still serving lunch and it was included with our ticket — so we headed to the dining car for another lunch.  Because of the small space, people are always seated with another two-some. We joined a woman doctor and her partner from Portland. Lovely women and good conversation.

The rest of the day seemed to pass quickly as we looked out the window at the passing scenery, napped and read.

There were some beautiful views of the Lookout Point Reservoir and the mountains along the Blue River.

We had dinner in the dining room with another delightful couple — Walter and Sanae, who gave us some excellent travel suggestions as well as good conversation. 

There was a golden sunset along the tracks in Chemult as we turned in early. 

Portland - Day 8

Thursday, July 25, 2019

After breakfast, I took a walk around the hotel and then caught a local bus to the waterfront. Unfortunately, I got off at the wrong stop and my gps didn’t seem to be working properly. This made my decision for the rest of the day — leave the touring to the experts!

Ed and I decided to take the “Hop-On, Hop-Off” Portland Pink Trolley Tour.  I had visited the city 11 years ago and had explored many of the sights on my own, but with just a day, this seemed like the perfect way to pack a lot in.

The tour started at the Tom McCall Waterfront Park, which is a long stretch of green space along the Willamette River.  Today through the weekend the city was having a beer fest and the crowds were already assembled at 1 pm on a Thursday. Our tour took us several miles to the south end of town. This was a very different environment than the one around our hotel. Our hotel is in an older section, near Chinatown and host to a number of homeless encampments.  This part of town had expensive high rise condominiums anchored by the expansive Oregon Health and Human Science University campus. Nearby was Riverplace, a riverfront village with shops, restaurants, and a marina. 

We got off and ate lunch outdoors at the Little River Cafe. Then back on the bus and stayed for the complete tour, including a drive through the famous Rose and Japanese Gardens, which I had visited before, and around the business district.

On our way back to the hotel from the tour, we noticed that a number of paved parking lots have been turned into “eateries.” It seems that food truck-looking vehicles are parked side by side, offering a wide variety of food. Although we like food trucks, these “facilities?” didn’t look appetizing. Glad we didn’t take a food tour here.

Tonight we had dinner at Andina’s, a Peruvian restaurant that had been recommended to us by several natives. The food was awesome. I had Causa Morada - Peruvian purple potato layers with shredded chicken salad, stacked neatly in a circle. It reminded me of a dish I had in Peru prepared the same way.

Ed had Arroz con Mariscos, a Peruvian style paella with seafood. We topped it off with flan for dessert for a perfect meal. Afterwards, we walked around the Pearl District, which is an assortment of old warehouses and manufacturing facilities turned into trendy restaurants, shops and housing. We have been blessed with lovely weather, day and night.

Seattle - Portland - Day 7

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Today we began our train journey - 35 hours, split over 7 days, and 1,100 miles.

We booked our trip through a human being at Amtrak (the only way to do it - no travel agent, no on-line).  We paid $937 for BOTH of us, which included $383 for a bedroom on the Portland to San Fran segment plus 3 meals in the dining car.

We didn’t board the train until 9:45 am, so I took a short walk around Pioneer Square after breakfast.  I saw Occidental Park, where we were last night,

the iconic Smith Tower (once the tallest building at 38 stories outside of New York when built in 1914) 

and the Waterfall Garden Park, created in 1978 at the original United Parcel Service Building.  It was funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation to commemorate UPS founder James Casey. 

We also had some lovely views from our room of Seattle and the Bay.

The train station looks very new outside (in right with tower), but inside had all the ambiance of an old station.

We took our seats in business class, which was very comfy with lots of leg room, ideal for our 4-hour trip.  The train stops multiple times along the way, which is part of the charm. In Tacoma we passed the Chihuly Museum of Glass. I didn’t know there was one there. 

Then we passed a little village called Gig Harbor, which is only accessible by water. 

Also, along the way, we saw many people who live on houses built on the water with limited access to land. 

I spent part of the time in the observation car listening to a park volunteer describe the scenery. A few interesting highlights: we crossed 3 rivers which have their origin at Mt. Rainier. It is the most glaciated mountain in the world with 25 glaciers.

One of the more interesting stories surrounds the Olympia train station.  In 1989 Amtrak built a simple 3-sided bus shelter to serve as the station. Imagine. The citizens were outraged that the state capital would not have a real facility. So they raised their own funds and in 1994, they built their own station which is staffed entirely by volunteers. Since it is not officially the station, it is not on government land and cannot check baggage. Beautiful building and great civic pride story.

Then we passed by the Mima mounds, strange circular dome-like humps (bumps) in the landscape that have no identifiable origin — maybe giant gophers or prehistoric people. Nothing really inside of them.

We quickly passed by Mt. St. Helens, catching only a glimpse, and later by Three Rivers Golf Course in Kelso.  It was built in 1983 on the dredge soils removed from the Cowlitz River after the Mt. St. Helens eruption in 1980.  It is known for its year round playability due to the porous combination of ash, dust, sand and silt which drains well in wet weather.

This is the Cowlitz River.

We arrived in Portland around 2 pm and took an Uber to the Embassy Suites in the Historic Waterfront District. A restaurant called Mother’s Bistro and Bar, which I frequented 11 years ago, is now located in the hotel. It was a great place for lunch during our visit. 

Then we took a walk in the area to locate our restaurant for tonight and to visit some iconic spots — like Powell’s City of Books, which claims to be the largest independent new and used bookstore in the country. We could have spent the rest of the day there, since we saw so many books we didn’t even know existed. 

We also walked by VooDoo Donuts, which is very much like “High Five” donuts in Louisville - large glazed donuts with crazy and unique toppings. We saw people carrying the  identifiable pink boxes everywhere.

Tonight we had dinner at Huber’s, Portland’s oldest restaurant since 1879, and close to our hotel.

It is noted for its turkey dinners — they served turkey sandwiches with beer during the depression and it became a “thing.” However, when we saw halibut on the menu, tradition left us.

We walked back to the hotel on another clear night.