San Francisco Pier 39 sea lions.

The sea lions hang out by pier 39. Sometimes you get lots like this picture or sometimes you only get a couple rafts full, although lately they're always full. Its generally hard to out-stink a place where fisherman frequent, but the sea lions manage to do it with style. If you have visions of yourself swimming with them like dolphins, forget it, they have known to attack swimmers. Its worth a visit if you're doing the touristy thing, and if you get bit, you'll have a scar to show off to your buddies. John's Blog has more on the area.

Golden Gate bridge from east bay.

A view of the Golden Gate bridge from an east bay park (Point Isabel, Richmond). I like the clouds over the hill (not sure what its called) in Marin.

Golden gate bridge, San Francisco.

SF Zoo, saddest elephant ever.

The San Francisco Zoo is not a known for being a great zoo for good reason. Its out of the way and something you can see in every other semi-major city. I would skip it and all other bay area zoos unless you're a big zoo buff. Rich Burridge's Blog has a lot more information and a bit more at Master of 500 Hats.

Alcatraz in the fog.

Its worth the visit even on a foggy winter day. More pictures at Carl Mercier's blog and David Farrar's blog.

USS Pampanito in the San Francisco Bay.

This is a close up of the sub yesterday, the USS Pampanito. It and the ship SS Jeremiah O'Brien are currently parked at pier 45, fisherman's wharf. I suggest gawking from the pier unless you're a big navy buff. Yelp, John's Blog, and Tangily Mooed's Blog have more.

Sub and ship with alcatraz in the background.

Opinions on them tomorrow.

Golden gate bridge from the bay.

Union square San Francisco California.

Christmas and palm trees in the same shot! Downtown San Francisco's Union Square is a modest place, with quaint boutiques and hand-made craft shops galore. Oh wait, nevermind that, its a place where you shop until you drop where only the brightest and loudest succeed in getting your attention. Its crowded, but thats part of the fun, who doesn't like silver men doing the robot? Might as well walk around at least once if you visit, its as real as any other part of SF. Take the BART to the Powell Street station to get there. Don't plan on staying in a hotel here unless you think $300 a night is a bargain. Union Square is on the Barbary Coast Trail.

Sites with information and reviews of Union Square:

Best:
SF Gate Guide: Union Square
SF Gate Map: Union Square
Yahoo Things to do: Union Square
Wikipedia: Union Square San Francisco California

The rest:
Trip Advisor: Union Square
Travel Assist: Union Square, dud on arrival
Virtual Tourist: Union Square things to do
Sally's Place: Union Square Shopping
SFTravel.com: Union Square
10 Best: Union Square
Union Square San Francisco Blog

San Francisco bay tour boat.

A tour boat parked at the wharf, how many millions of people have these boats taken on their one hour cruise? I posted more about the tours here. There is more from Nodge, who I suspect never had fun in his life. It is generally windy on the ocean though, he's got that right, especially when your boat is racing along at 30mph. The bay is usually calmer but colder in the morning.