We got up way too early (still on Iowa time), got ready and headed over to the Lori’s Diner on Powell St. around 7:45. I ordered the Cable Car Pancakes, described as “Two Large Cakes, Two Slices of Bacon, Two Links of Sausage and Two Eggs.” Lori had the Short Stack with sliced bananas. Just the thing to fuel up before a day of riding bikes in the park!

Lori is, naturally, a big fan of “her” Diner

After breakfast, we headed to the Muni kiosk at the Powell cable car turn-around to pick up 3-day passes for $13 each. Just as we activated our passes, our bus, the #5 route, was arriving so we hopped on that. The bus wound past the Civic Center and took us to the North side of Golden Gate Park. We got off the bus at Fulton St. and 6th Ave. but were too early to pick up our rental bicycles from Golden Gate Bike and Skate so we walked along JFK to pass some time and take some photos.

Golden Gate Park, Mist in the Trees

Once 10:00 rolled around, we picked up our mountain bikes, helmets and bike lock for a total of $50 for the day. We rode around the park, sticking close to the East end at first. After tiring of that, we decided to venture further and take JFK all the way to Ocean Beach. The beach area was very foggy and the surf was up. Several brave surfers were going out in this, but you couldn’t see them at all as they disappeared beyond the breakers. Very dangerous!

Ocean Beach: Crazy or Dedicated Surfers?

After walking the beach for awhile, we headed over to Beach Chalet Brewery & Restaurant. It was packed, so we ate at the bar to avoid waiting for a table. I ordered the Dungeness Crab Louis Salad and Lori had a bowl of their Clam Chowder New England Style. I had a Dee’s Bitter Ale and Lori had a V.F.W. Light.

View from the Beach Chalet Bar

Fueled up and rested, we then rode uphill back toward the East end of the park. We stopped to take a stroll through the Japanese Tea Garden ($7 admission each), making sure to take plenty of photos to get our money’s worth.

Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park

After that we took a walk through the park between the museums. There was an art fair going on, and The Blue Angels were flying around as part of Fleet Week, so we got to see them flying overhead, too.

By that time it was about 3:30 PM and we were both getting tired. We decided to turn in our rentals and head back to our hotel, again via the #5 bus route.

Back at the hotel we freshened up a bit then headed to the deck on the 6th floor to hang out and play on our laptops a bit. Lori’s laptop ran out of battery too quickly, and it got cold up there so we did not stay very long. Back at the room we got ready for dinner at The Chieftain. I had their Fish and Chips with two Prohibition Speakeasys (a local brew). Lori had a salad with grilled shrimp and a glass of wine.

We headed back to the hotel room and crashed for the evening.

Please check back for more photos I’ll be adding to the set for this trip on my Flickr page.