Fisherman's Wharf

Travel Day

• No travel. Rest day. Went to Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39.

After spending much of the day in my hotel room resting, I decided to head down to Fisherman's Wharf for dinner. This general area is sometimes referred to as Fisherman's Wharf, but in reality there actually is a working fish wharf behind the seafood restaurants lining the Embarcadero here.

This is what it looks like on the actual wharf, behind the restaurants on the street. You will often see restaurant workers carrying in boxes of fresh seafood, right from the docks.

Walking down the Embarcadero, you can see the back of the wharf and the warehouse gates. What I did not expect to see is this old submarine tied up at the dockside. It's actually the USS Pampanito, moved from its regular location at Pier 45 in order to be readied for drydocking and a refit.

There is a pier and walkway between Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39, the tourist dock. That thing at the end is a small island beside the walkway, with a lighthouse built on it. The lighthouse no longer serves; instead the property is now a restaurant.

I walked out that pier to get a better look at the lighthouse and restaurant. You can't get to the place via the walkway; you have to take the shuttle barge from Pier 39.

Looking from the walkway towards Pier 39, you get a good look at why so many people come here. The Sea Lions are a very popular attraction here. It looks like there are a couple of hundred in there today.

Here is a little better close up of the sea lions. They are smelly and noisy, and interesting to watch.

From that same walkway, looking back towards the city, you can see the Coit Tower and the TransAmerica Pyramid Tower, two iconic buildings in San Francisco.

This is the entry to Pier 39, the tourist dock. It is well laid out to look as if it had no plan when laid out, just like a real fisherman's dock. It is filled with tourist shops and restaurants, all designed to maximize their monetary extraction powers.

Nonetheless, it is a very popular, and crowded, place. I go here pretty much every time I come to San Francisco. I like it.

I went to Neptune's at the end of Pier 39 and had dinner. This is the view from my table. Please forgive the marks on the window; it's the seagulls, you know.

Just before heading back to my hotel, I took another picture of these fellows, this time from the viewing area on Pier 39. Still noisy. Still stinky.