Conquering hills and markets and crowds

I'm a long time fan of farmer's markets. Back in Louisiana, every weekend I'd go to our farmer's market, buy veggies, fruit, and sausage. I still remember the faces of the little old women selling grape tomatoes, the family that sold arugula, and the couple who made the best (and freshest) Italian sausage. The best part was that in the deep South, Farmer's markets are open year round and are fully stocked. When we moved to Maryland, I was a bit surprised to learn that our markets were open June to October. What are we supposed to do the rest of the year? It was also a bummer that the biggest farmer's market in town was not a walkable distance from downtown. Let's just say that I quickly got out of my weekly market habit.

California's year round mild climate and abundance of farms would seem to make for an incredible farmer's market, so on Saturday morning we walked down to the Ferry Building to check it out. Not too surprisingly, the farmer's market was large and bustling. It was way crowded too. The coffee shop in the Ferry Building had a line that curved on to what felt like forever. Our idea of having coffee and breakfast at the market suddenly seemed like a bad one. We navigated through the crowds, glancing at the bright California bounty being sold, and found another coffee shop with a much more manageable line. We bought a couple of scones from a woman we named the "Scone Lady" and ate our makeshift breakfast on a bench on the pier looking at the Bay Bridge.

Honestly, we were pretty bummed (or rather I was bummed) that Rick Steves doesn't "do the West Coast" and so we had to sift through several tour books to discover the city's gems and learn about what was a "must see" in town. First on the list was North Beach (which is not on or near a beach) and as we walked up Columbus Avenue, which is supposed to be the heart of San Francisco's Little Italy, we weren't too impressed. First of all, I don't think we actually saw any Italians, but it was also a pretty dirty and touristy area. Baltimore's Little Italy wins this one by a landslide.

Next on the list was Russian Hill (and, yes, it's on top of a tall and steep hill). We climbed to the top, working off those morning scones, and immediately fell in love with the area. Spectacular views, beautiful homes, well tended gardens, almost empty streets and sidewalks - it was just what we wanted. We sat down and rested in Coolbrith Park and just soaked it in. We walked through the pedestrian-only path, Macondray Lane, that is basically a glorified alley between residences, and got ideas and inspirations for our garden back home.

Later, when we arrived at Lombard Street (the crooked street), we returned to the hordes of tourists that permeated our trip. And so they followed us (or we them) to the cafe where we ate lunch, to Telegraph Hill, to Coit Tower, and we only escaped when we opted to take the Greenwich steps down from Coit Tower and had a moment to ourselves.

That afternoon, as we sat in traffic on Golden Gate Bridge on our way to Muir Beach, which we'd soon learn had no parking spots available, we realized that this area is just filled to capacity (and the fact that it was prime tourism season was not helping). We drove farther to Stinson Beach and braved the crowds (but not the cold waters!). I have to say we were not surprised when, on the way back to S.F., we arrived at Fish in Sausalito to find a line out the door to order dinner.

But, we had a fabulous first full day in San Francisco - although it was not without its inconveniences.