The Super Bowl Ate My Birthday: Part 2 - Views From The Presidio and A Floating Restaurant

Did you know that the San Francisco Zoo was right across the street from the Pacific Ocean? Neither did I, but this was my view from the parking lot. Pretty spectacular.  I still can't believe how warm and clear it was.  

After we left the zoo, we headed north for a short drive to the Presidio, which is a large park and former military base.  There are many things to see inside of this park, but the views of the Golden Gate Bridge are what reeled me in.  

It was a beautiful day for sailing in the bay

The moon over Alcatraz

Sailboats all around Alcatraz

There is this restaurant that I had always been curious about called Forbes Island.  It is in the very touristy Pier 39 area, over by Fisherman's Wharf.  The only way to get there is by water taxi.

Our ride to the restaurant

The view on our ride over

The restaurant itself is a houseboat, and you eat under water.  There is also a spectacular lighthouse that you can climb to the top of. (Note:  If you get sea sick easily, you should pass on this experience).

On the other side of the boat, the famous Pier 39 sea lions.  

If you are interested in seeing this live, Pier 39 has a camera you can control, where the sea lions, Forbes Island, Alcatraz, and the Golden Gate Bridge can all be viewed.

A closer view of the sea lions on their barges.  

The restaurant is small and dimly lit inside.  I tried to take a few iPhone shots, but they didn't turn out very well.  I will share them anyway.

A birthday cocktail

This was their poke, and it was fabulous

Sole with lemon and capers, also very good.

The lady's room was also the master bedroom of the former houseboat and had been preserved. Quite the bachelor pad, eh?

The lighthouse

The next morning (Super Bowl Sunday) was my actual birthday.  My sweet husband kept up our tradition of making fresh squeezed blood orange mimosas.

Blood Oranges

He also took me out to have my favorite breakfast, the apple pancake from the Original Pancake House.  This was heaven!  I read somewhere that calories don't count on birthday weekend.

Apple Pancake

That wraps up my birthday.  I hope you enjoyed my little tour of San Francisco.

The Super Bowl Ate My Birthday: Part 1 - Hanging Out At The Zoo

This year, my birthday fell on Super Bowl Sunday.  The years when this happens are never my favorite.  Don't get me wrong, I am a football fan (go Raiders), but I am also a fan of celebrating.  So when I saw this coming, I took swift action and planned fun for Saturday.  At the time I wasn't really sure what the "fun" was, just that we were going to have it.  It was also a compromise with my husband, so he could watch the game.  

It was my husband's idea to visit the San Francisco Zoo. I had never been there before, but it was always on my to-do-one-day list.  As you can see below, the weather was on our side.  The zoo is in the Lake Merced area of the city, which had the warmest temperatures of all.  Birthday weekend  win!

I have to say, this was really a great zoo.  There are many opportunities to get close to the animals and really observe them.  Here are some of my favorite pictures from our visit. 

Sleeping grizzlies.  They look so peaceful.

A submerged hippopotamus.  I stood there for a few minutes just watching, and he never came up for air.

The arborist at the zoo worked some kind of magic with the lighting.  

Chimps just seem so human-like.  They are fun to watch.

A wallaroo, hopping around.

This polar bear was just hanging out, eating some greens.

The bald eagle is so majestic.  I am always a little bit in awe when I see one.

There were many peacocks just roaming around freely on the zoo grounds.  I was hoping one would put on a display, but I never caught it.

There is something so wonderful about the ridiculousness of the anteater's appearance.  

Sunbathing tiger

Zoo Fact: Did you know that most species of penguins do not live in freezing climates?

My heart went out to the poor rhino, who had his horn taken from him.  I looked for a story about his life previous to the zoo,  but was unable to find anything.  

Monkeys on watch.

We caught this guy at just the right time.  Take a look at those teeth!

One of my best friends loves flamingos, so I always spend little extra time taking their  pictures

What?  Are you talkin' to me?

Mandrill 

Pensive gorilla.

I loved how the graceful arch of the giraffe's neck looked against the curve of the branch.

Stay tuned for the second half of my tour around the city.