San Francisco Sites

DETAILS
When — June 14th - 17th, 2O22
Where — San Francisco, CA
Rest Day

Compliments on my motorcycle - 2 (Cam and Aubrey)

Pretty Views, Prison, and Painted Ladies

Hello there! My name is Aubrey, I’m Kevin Irwin’s youngest and most favorite child. Cam and I pulled this blog together for dad as a birthday gift, and it has been so fun to watch everyone interact with it! We felt it would be a great way to document this trip of a lifetime, and it would put dads influencer skills to the test. After seeing that my mom got to post about her visit with dad in Seattle, I insisted that it was only fair that I get to write a post for the blog about San Francisco!

On Tuesday, June 14th, Cam and I flew out to San Francisco, California. There was a bit of airport drama, Cam having to reschedule flights due to delays and me almost missing my connecting flight in Denver for the same reasons But, alas, we are obviously expert travelers and made it to Cali. Just took a minute to find each other in that massive airport! We Ubered to the Airbnb, where my amazing dad had dinner waiting for us, as well as bunch of snacks for the few days we would be there.

We woke up the next morning ready to go, eating breakfast and immediately making our way to the Golden Gate Bridge. Our Uber driver dropped us off at this beautiful overlook, where these old, abandoned, graffiti covered army Batteries overlooked the water and the bridge itself. We walked for a while, amazed by the view and taking photos, before perfectly stumbling upon the information center. We read about the history of the bridge, and found the classic tourist photo ops, as well as some souvenirs. It was beautiful, and the weather was absolutely perfect.. to me, at least. Dad and Cam were cold!

We took our time there, taking in the view before making our way to Fisherman’s Warf to walk around and find lunch. We knew it’d be a crime if we did not go to In-N-Out while on the west coast, so we grabbed lunch there! Kevin Irwin claimed it was at least the best fast food burger he’s had, definitely better than McDonald’s. From there, we hopped around a few shops and dad went to this boat museum thing (sorry dad I don’t remember what this was called) while Cam and I got some crepes! He told us it was a bit of a bust - a lot of the exhibits/things to see were closed due to Covid. We walked around Pier 39 for a little bit before deciding to make our way to the ferry that would take us to Alcatraz.

While we were walking, we stumbled upon (that’s a phrase you will see a lot, we were very intuitive and adventurous sight seers in San Fran, as you would expect) this place called the Musée Mécanique. It was this museum full of vintage games that were all coin operated! Some games were centuries old, and we went around getting our fortunes read, using a vintage photo booth, and watching some creepy puppet shows. One of the games had a plaque that read ‘DO NOT USE IF EASILY OFFENDED’, so naturally, Kevin Irwin asked me for a quarter. It was called “Sounds of the Prairie” and it was a chorus of flatulence as the people cooked their beans over the fire. This museum was one of the coolest parts of our visit to me, I’ve never been to a place like that before, and the fact that we found it by chance was sick.

After our time there, we made the trek to Alcatraz. Cam Kowalski was an amazing planner and tour guide and we happily followed his lead, him getting us to the ferry just in time to walk right on and head straight to Alcatraz, no waiting! The ferry ride was worth the trip alone. The ride to the island has a stunning view of both the city and the Golden Gate Bridge, and you know Kevin Irwin always enjoys a boat ride. The weather was great, but we encountered a whole lot of wind throughout our two days in the city, especially on the ferry, the island, and any high points. People were losing their hats!

We got to the island, and immediately grabbed a map to walk it ourselves. On the ferry ride, the guides told us we would be surprised by the beauty of the island, and to keep an eye out for the large bird presence. They were right - the architecture, while eerie, was beautiful. Vines had grown over buildings and many of them were in ruins, it almost didn’t feel like this was the most notorious prison in US history. They were also very right about the birds - Dad said they really should call Alcatraz “Bird Shit Island”, and soon after, a volunteer told us there were approximately 3,900 birds on the island! We did a lot of walking up steep hills until we found the audio tour, and were able to walk the actual prison. It was busy but quiet, everyone listening to their tours that walked us through solitary confinement cells, the dining hall, and even the library. Following the tour, we stumbled upon the gardens, one of those things that was far more beautiful than someone would expect from an abandoned prison. Cam found a set of stairs that led to an unknown place, and we blindly followed him up them to the recreation yard, which was really just a massive wind tunnel. We somehow made it back to where we started and hit the gift shop, getting a few mementos to remember such an interesting stop on our sightseeing.

Just as we did getting to the island, we slipped right onto a ferry and which wasted no time getting back to shore. Another thing on our to-do list was to ride a classic cable car! It was quite a long walk to the station, though Cam was a great navigator and it was worth it. Right as we got to the ticket station, a cable car pulled up, and we hopped on. It was so fun, and dad got some crazy cool footage on his GoPro! It was wild to look down the streets, as Cam said, “Every stop, your immediate reaction is just.. ‘Woah..’.” We took the cable car to Union Square, went in a few shops, and then grabbed dinner. It wasn’t until we sat down at the table that we realized how exhausting it was to be in that wind all day, and to trek all over the city. We stopped at a CVS to look for some playing cards, but with no luck, we headed back to the airbnb with some Oreos instead. Our Uber driver gave us dozens of recommendations for places to go, saying we were ending our night far too early. But, within an hour of being back home, Cam and dad were asleep by 7pm for a nap and day one was over.

Day two, we got up, ate breakfast, and caught an Uber to Twin Peaks, this beautiful overlook of the city. It was a fun but brutal start to the day, luckily we were better prepared for the wind with our extra layers. The overlook was beautiful, and we came across a beautiful pink triangle display. It was in honor of the queer people who lost their lives during the Holocaust, as well as the discrimination that the community faced throughout history and still faces to this day. The installation is lit at night, as a moment of remembrance and reappropriation.

We began to walk up the mountain-like peak and it started to get rough, the wind freezing us and making it hard to keep our eyes open and look around. Though, Curious Cam found yet another ominous staircase and bolted up it, dad close behind, leaving me in their dust. I huffed and puffed up the stairs, nearly being blown away by the wind countless times without EITHER of them looking back to check on me. I made it to the top in double the time it took dad and Cam, and as soon as I did they asked if we were ready to go back down due to how strong the wind was. Kinda messed up if you ask me! I insisted we stay a little bit longer, and we snapped a few pictures at the top. The wind carried us back down the steps, and I complained for the first time since we had arrived in San Francisco, about how that climb was not a group decision. Dad told me that sometimes you just have to do things that scare you, and I clarified I wasn’t scared, more so annoyed and inconvenienced. But, if that windy climb was the worst of it, that’s pretty good. We were all laughing at the end of it.

From there, we made our way to the Palace of Fine Arts, this beautiful park area that Cam recommended. The area was created for the 1915 Panama-Pacific exhibition, and is now a beautiful park and must-see destination in SF. We took some amazing pictures, and even found some games inside the building next-door. We played a little bit of corn hole!

Dad decided he needed some coffee, his early night waking him up early that day, so we set off to find a Starbucks. We tried to ride those city scooters, but Kevin Irwin put his on adventure mode and took off down the busy road with no helmet, our only point of conflict. Not to mention, it was starting to warm up. PSA: City scooters are not motorcycles!! Anywho, we made it to a Starbucks, got our cold drinks, and we were ready to hit our next stop: Haight Ashbury.

This was one of the best parts of our trip, though I feel like I’m saying that about a lot of the things we did. It was the birthplace of 1960’s counterculture, with the coolest history and hippie vibes. We did some shopping, found a Dr. Martens and an amazing bookstore. Dad picked an authentic street taco restaurant, he said it was the best meal he’s had on his entire trip! I guess San Fran is known for their burritos, for good reason. We kept saying the beans would help propel everyone up the San Francisco hills. We did a bit more shopping, and got some ice cream, before starting a 25 minute trek to the Painted Ladies.

The walk was hard and consistently uphill, us Irwin’s doing a whole lot of complaining while Cam navigated us to the houses. The beans didn’t help like we thought they would. We made it to the Painted Ladies, and honestly, they were cool but did not feel as magical as we expected after that long walk. Though, we had a nice time laying in the park across the street in the shade and people watching. Our final stop before heading back to the airbnb was an escape room where we were wizard assistants and had to find the missing cat that belonged to the head wizard. It was fun, but very hard! We used a handful of clues and got out with 6 minutes to spare. Kind of a let down that we didn’t find a real cat at the end. (I think dad is missing Peanut!)

We went home to rest for a moment before heading out to dinner, we went to a restaurant called Starbelly which was located in the Castro district. It was great, good drinks, interesting menu options, and amazing pizza and dessert. A great way to celebrate a fun trip as well as fathers day! I was so glad I got to spend time with my dad close to the holiday. We finished the night by exploring Castro, and stumbling upon that lit up pink triangle we were standing on top of at the very beginning of the day! It was very perfect and full circle, just like the rest of our time in the city on this trip.

I’m so grateful that I got to spend time in California, it was such a privilege see a new city and do it alongside Cam and my dad. So many great memories and pictures, as well as some much needed time off. Cam and I are currently sitting in the airport waiting for a flight back to Columbus to go celebrate Pride with our friends, and see a concert on Monday. We’ve been talking about how this trip was the most fun we’ve had in a very long time. I’m so grateful we got to be a part of the Double Nickel experience.

Thank you so much, dad, for such an amazing trip, we had the absolute best time. You’re a badass motorcycle dude, can’t wait for you to be home and to hear about all of the amazing memories you’re making without us! We made so many in only two days, I can only imagine the experiences you’re gaining. We all love and miss you so much!

Love,

Aubrey