Is it worth the lines?

Bogdan had to work all day on Friday. We knew this would be the case, but I guess we had just hoped the "you're-on-vacation-take-the-afternoon-off" fairy would show up. No go.

When he finally finished working, just before 7 p.m., we walked to Powell Street because I wanted to ride a cable car. We had "insider" information (ala a tour book) that you should wait for the cable cars about 4 to 5 blocks up Powell Street, away from the turnaround with all of the other tourists, and hop on when it stops.

This is nice in theory - no lines! - however when every cable car that goes by is packed to capacity, you wonder how good of advice this really was... When we finally crammed in, we were way in the back with 0% views, not cool. I have to say, for $6 one way for one ticket, the ride on a cable car really isn't worth it unless you're in a spot with some visibility.. I'll probably be banned from San Francisco for saying that (that's if they don't catch me not composting first or trying to sell goldfish on the black market), but it's the honest truth.

We rode the car to the end of the Powell Hyde Line to the "famed" Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39 area. Every single thing I read about this area described it in two words: tourist trap. This, also, is the honest truth. We walked through it quickly, stopping only to look at the sea lions and snap pictures of the bay, and then we took a long, leisurely walk back to the hotel in Union Square. With the ridiculously touristy things out of the way, we were ready to conquer the long weekend and San Francisco.