Last year's travels as practice posts continued... At the San Francisco Ferry Building!

So no sooner than we had arrived in San Francisco, we left!!

On a ferry.

Our destination:  Sausalito.  Even though I had previously lived in the bay area for five years, I had never taken the ferry.  And if I'd been to Sausalito, I'd forgotten.  So I decided that we'd take the ferry to Sausalito, which is what a lot of tourists decided to do that day, too.  Which might explain why I'd never done it when I lived there. 

We had a lot of fun in Sausalito, but the only fun we photographed was this:

Tristan checking out the fountain in Vina del Mar Park

After we'd had our fill of fun at the park, we headed over to FISH, a restaurant specializing in sustainably caught local seafood.  It's right on the harbor, which made for some nice boat watching (not something we indulge in often).  The food was incredible, well worth the trip (and the tourists).

After more "fun", including a ride on city bus and use of a public bathroom, we headed back toward San Francisco, just in time to see the fog rolling into Sausalito.

Sausalito

During the ferry ride back to the city, we passed by Alcatraz (yet another bay area institution that I have never visited).

Alcatraz

Upon our return to the Ferry Building in SF, I proceeded to spend way too much money in the fantastic shops and eateries there.  By all reasonable expectations, the place should be a tourist trap, but it is just phenomenal.  Honestly.  How can you not love so many great things all neatly tucked together in one historic building?!  Examples of the Ferry Building's greatness:

• Frog Hollow Cafe -- Little outreach post of the awesome Frog Hollow Farm.  Here you can purchase fresh organic produce as well as jams and jellies and homemade pastries featuring Frog Hollow's own fruit.  The Meyer Lemon Marmalade is absolutely amazing.  Everything here is amazing.  Expensive, but amazing.
• Sur La Table -- Sort of a marriage between Williams Sonoma and Pier 1, just aisles and aisles of miscellaneous kitchen and dining accoutrement, from kitsch to copper.  They sell Le Creuset and offer free shipping to your home for purchases over $100.  And if you're out of state, you don't have to pay sales tax! 
• Kingdom of Herbs -- An unusual selection of organically grown herbs, scented geraniums, orchids and succulents, as well as handmade pottery, books and [activate lisp] accessories.  I always seem to walk away with a scarf or bag or some socks, and my son could spend all day trying on the hats. 
• Miette -- A girly little pastry shop adorned with pinks and pastels and floral décoratifs.  They make the best éclairs.  And I love their little rose geranium macaron (I am just crazy about anything having to do with scented geraniums, to be honest).  Everything is made in Oakland and they use local and organic ingredients.  In addition to their own cakes and cookies and such, they have a neat selection of cute candies and chocolates.  And sometimes they even have ice cream!  Although when I am there they only have signs that say "sorry, we're out of ice cream!".
• Far West Fungi -- Huge selection of mushrooms, both foraged and organically cultivated, fresh and dried.  What more can I say?  How often do you see a huge selection of mushrooms?  Ones that actually have flavor, I mean.  They have other hard-to-find foodstuffs, too. 
• The Gardener, Cowgirl Creamery, and Acme Bread are fantastic, too.  And there are shops and cafes that I haven't even been into because they are so often congested with patrons...  

The Ferry Building is such an amazing example of why old buildings should be renovated and repurposed in a way that maintains the integrity of their original design and function rather than demolished.  It is worth a visit for the sake of history and architecture alone.