Here and There: City by the Bay 3

Today was our last day in the City, but we continued our routine of seeing a lot in little time.

We walked to the Marina District for breakfast and Irish coffee(s).

Buena Vista Cafe has been making Irish coffee since 1952, but it was not as easy as it sounds. Originally, they couldn't get the recipe right. The cream wouldn't float. At first, the restaurant owner took a trip to Ireland to find the answer, but this was fruitless. Surprisingly, the answer to their query lay in the mayor's office. With the help from the mayor of San Francisco, who was a dairy farmer, they were able to perfect the recipe, and people, such as myself, have been enjoying them ever since. Maybe even too much... the man who was sitting at the bar, who moved so I could take my pictures, had a Irish coffee bar set up at this house, and has been drinking Irish coffee at the Cafe for the past 30 years.

The Cafe, which is more like a bar, is seat yourself, so don't just stand there waiting to be seated. Also, expect to share a table with strangers if there is room at your table. We got lucky and had a window seat in the back dining room, where it was quieter, and we didn't have to share.

First you pour coffee into hot glasses. Then you add two cubes of sugar and vigorously stir.

Make sure you leave enough room for the Irish whiskey.

The last step is the fresh whipped whipping cream.

(You can gets these in to-go cups as well.)

I had so much fun watching the process that I had to get another, you know, because I could really appreciate it.

The food was pretty amazing too.

Crab cake benedict with Chiron sauce.

Come on Eric, don't be koi.

It wouldn't be San Francisco without the cable cars. This is a fact- San Francisco is the only place in the world utilizes them.

The gripman spent most of his time yelling at people, concerned for their safety, and his job, I am sure. Of course I didn't know this until we stopped into the Cable Car Museum. Quite possibly the coolest museum in San Francisco. The gripman is essential to the Cable Car. The cable car's grip is like giant pliers that attach to the cable, below the city streets. The harder he pulls the more it grips the cable, the faster the car goes (with a maximum speed of 9.5 miles per hour). He needs to watch carefully for hills, turns, lights, and people, and adjust the grip accordingly.

We got dropped off at the Washington Mason Powerhouse, where the free museum is located, and where all four cables around the city converge.

The whizzing of the cables as they go through the sheaves (the large pulleys), cable car employees hard at work, the smells of the lubricants, all make for an incredible experience as you learn about the history of cable cars in San Francisco and how they work.

We walked through China Town to Lombard Street and then back to the Marina District, covering 5 miles and climbing an equivalent of 30 flights of stairs.

This was all before our 5pm flight back to San Diego, which was delayed at just an hour due to looming weather conditions.