Our second day we headed out to the famous Pier 39.  My favorite hands down was watching the lounging sea lions sunbathing on barges, bellies up, whiskers out and sometimes barking at an occasional wanna be interloper.  I loved that they were FREE and just chose to congregate there.  I’ve never been a huge people watching fan, but I could have observed them for hours.  I chose this picture because of my website and blog:  a carousel with seashells.  It had two stories and was absolutely magical.  I adored the ones in Paris, but this one was so unique with all the sea creatures painted on it.  I have a fond memory of riding this with my husband despite the fact that we had no children.  We had a wonderful time shopping and even saw a Zoltar fortune teller machine.  It was absolutely FREEZING — in June! — and Burk bought me a beautiful red wool Peruvian cape which I literally lived in for the rest of the trip.  American writer Mark Twain did NOT say, “The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco”, but I can certainly believe someone did!  It was even colder here at this time of year than in Quebec City!  But it made for a wonderful respite against the brutal Texas heat and humidity so I did not mind at all.  I remember joking the next time I would be able to wear my cape was at Christmas — and it was!  Even then Dallas still was not as cold.  We visited the Ghiradelli Chocolate Company and walked along the boardwalk.  It was an unstructured, leisurely day and we had a lovely time … on Pier 39.