San Francisco (3/8/09) - Arrival!

Welcome to San Francisco!

After a flight to Minneapolis and then a connection to San Francisco, we picked up our rental vans and headed in to the city to check in. Our hotel was the Argonaut Hotel in Fisherman’s Wharf, a converted cannery with a nautical and eco-conscious feel to it. Happily, the Argonaut had free wine tastings every day from 5-6 PM, and we made sure to take full advantage of this amenity upon arrival. The location could not have been better as we had immediate access to all the activities of the Wharf as well as proximity to Ghirardelli Square and the Embarcadero.

Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) running along the Embarcadero in San Francisco.

One fun fact about the embarcadero, which is now a bustling hub for San Francisco tourism, is that it was originally an elevated highway before the last big earthquake. Now it is an emblem of San Francisco’s smart growth efforts, compete with wide pedestrian sidewalks for biking and walking, the Muni light rail system which runs down the middle of the street, and lots of nice palm trees which make the area more aesthetically pleasing.

Happy Hour at the Argonaut with Wines from Washington State:

From Left: Catherine Campbell, Jamie May, Jada Tullos Anderson, Dave Anderson, Chris Benonis and Mike Roth