Yum. Man, if you love seafood, then this is THE place to be! Of course there is so much more to the Wharf, but that was my favorite part. I didn’t even partake in the vendors that sell every kind of seafood imaginable, I was headed to Bubba Gumps for lunch, come hell or high tide (har de har har, little seaman joke for you there). But I looked…and thought of what I would have next time we visit this great city, because I am already planning the trip back next year in my mind. We tried out Bubba Gumps and I was so incredibly impressed with the service there, plus the tasty food, that I would recommend it to one and all. I had the Cajun catfish and shrimp with jasmine rice and their specialty salsa (ooooh yummmmmm) and it was so tasty, and so perfectly done.
The street vendors were awesome, and now that I am hungry again, I wish I was back there! Piles upon piles of steaming crabs straight from the bay, clams,mussels, every fried kind of seafood imaginable!If it was from the ocean, they fried it!
Other than the food, we visited the Aquarium on the Bay, which was a fantastic place for the kids, and us as well. They had several levels to visit,the first displays of fish and information about the Bay, then the lower was the tunnels through the water that you visit. The kids were enthralled with the moving walkway that you stood on and sloooowly went through the first tunnel with the small fish of the bay, with a slight jump off to visit the octopus. Then back on the walkways to see the sharks, rays and sturgeon swimming around and above you. Awesome. So awesome that we went around twice and it was my idea, not the kids, though they followed without hesitation.
The third level was the petting pond LOL, where you could touch leopard sharks and little rays, then a tide pool where you could touch the starfish and squishy sea cucumbers. And dang, they were squishy!
The area was filled with street performers, awesome little stores touristy and specialty and just plain cool, amazing views of Alcatraz and the bay, and so many things to do and see, we didn’t get to them all. Ok, we didn’t pay for them all. Boy, you could drop a dime or two on seeing everything if you wanted.And speaking of spending, they really should charge less to park down there, the max is $32 in the parkade we were at, and that was what we paid for 6 hours! Mother of god!
The penny arcade was my favorite thing that we did (the food totally just takes top favorite) I am amazed at the machines that they used to build for carnivals, and this place was quite the collection. The kids thought it was the best ever, and I don’t blame them. For a quarter, you can see dolls dance, carnivals going, trains, and opium dens (seriously, I forgot to take a picture! the things they used to thing were “foreign” are so funny) and executions….Kade plugged a quarter into one and I didn’t realize it was an execution one, but thank gawd it was only one where it opened and the last rites were read by a mechanical priest. I ushered him quickly past the guillotine one, but I would have liked to have gone back and played it myself, I could spend hours seeing each and every one. The best part was that 5 bucks was more than enough to entertain the kids, that was 20 machines, and no entry fee.
Once again, an area that you have to give yourself all day to explore, or you will leave feeling dissatisfied that you didn’t get to see it all.
Our family at the wharf.
Me kicking mechanical arse at arm wrestling.
Boxing game…
Bubba Gump
My dad and I at Bubba Gumps.
Aquarium…
