Day 1 of our retirement vacation

Hello from San Francisco!  It took all day but we finally made it. Our first surprise of the day was that Lisa and Enzo came over to the shuttle departure station to see us off.  That was GREAT!!  Our flight was supposed to leave DEN at 11:35 am.  Our second surprise was that soon after we arrived at the gate, the departure time changed.  Due to "maintenance and weather conditions" in San Francisco, where the plane was coming from, the plane was pulled from service and another plane had to be found.  We were 3.5 hours late in leaving DEN but everything went smoothly after that.  After arriving at our hotel near Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco, we asked the concierge where a good Italian restaurant would be.  He directed us to the Italian District and a restaurant called Firenza by Night, which is near the Coit Tower.  A good walk was what we needed so off we went.  Dinner was indeed very good.  We chose the pasta special and when we inquired if a salad came with it, the waiter said, "Oh, no, not with pasta!"  Hmmm, news to us, and Olive Garden, Macaroni Grill, Johnny Carino's, etc., etc.  Tomorrow morning we will run (Terry) and walk (Joyce) the Golden Gate Bridge before we head over to the port to board the cruise ship for our cruise to 'downunder'.  If we time things right, we just may see the Sapphire Princess sailing into port under the bridge.

Coit Tower