A Day in San Francisco

Some time to kill before our long haul to Australia.

Alamo Square & The Painted Ladies

We had a 30 hour layover in San Francisco before our flight to Brisbane, but Player 2 had to work. What to do?

With our flight not departing until 11:30 PM and P2 needing to be productive, we splurged on the Hyatt Regency SFO for a good night's sleep and productivity potential. The lobby became an impromptu office for the day after check-out. Meanwhile, I set out to remind myself that I'm a person who enjoys things.

I BARTA'd my way downtown, where I finally made it to Swan Oyster Depot, a place I’ve been pretending I’ve visited for years. Timing is everything, so I arrived right when they opened, which apparently is what all the cool kids do. I’m now officially that person who puts Swan Oyster Depot on their itinerary for every SF visit—because who doesn’t love eating seafood in a place that smells like the ocean and silicon?

Swans Oyster Depot Menu

With some hours to kill still, I decided to go full tourist and hop on the F Street Car followed by the Powell and Market Cable Car. Because if there’s one thing you simply must do in San Francisco, it’s ride a cable car, then visit the Cable Car Museum, where you can marvel at the fact that this archaic mode of transportation still exists. It’s the last of its kind in the world, kept alive almost solely by tourists and the waning pull of nostalgia.

Street Car

With culture(ish) stuff out of the way, and being the beer geek that I am, I had to swing by Toronado, one of the OG craft beer bars in the world. Heads up—it’s cash only, because why make things easy? The Bay Area weather was actually nice for a change, so I also hit up Zeitgeist after for its outdoor space, after blowing all $14 of my Toronado cash. Sunshine + beer = happy me. Or just one of those two, I'm not picky.

Toronado - bring cash

Now buzzed and hungry, I did a quick millennial Yelp search that led me to a little bodega that turned out to be a low-key sandwich powerhouse. Who knew?

I eventually trained myself back to the airport, grabbed the shuttle to pick up Player 2 from the hotel, and then headed back to SFO.

Next stop: Australia. But first, a pit stop at the Polaris Lounge because I desperately needed a shower.