Sea Lions, and Tiger Sharks and No Rice O' Roni? O My!

busy day kids. busy day. been ridin' around on cable cars all day, walkin' all over fisherman's' wharf, checkin' the aquarium. touched some sharks and rays. that was cool. (not the hockey and baseball players. the real things.) watched some sea lions today. they reminded me of my mothers yellow lab that weighs 140 lbs. except they move a lot better than she does. on land and in the sea.
we also went to alcatraz today. that was really cool. felt like i was steppin' back in history visitin that place. learned some cool facts about the rock. i just can't remember them at this moment in time. what i do remember though is that it sho was windy out there. and it smelled like bird poo. maybe i'll remember the other stuff soon.
the best part of the day though, hands down, was this little strip of "restaurants" along pier 41. i use quotes because it was more like one of those hot dog vendors you see on the streets. buy the food. then stand and eat. there were like 5 shops in a row, and they all sold the same thing. steamed/fried/boiled seafood (everything from clams to lobster) all fresh caught and alive up until a few minutes before you show up and clam chowder. the chowder comes in a cup or a sourdough bread bowl. why you would get a cup when you are in the birthplace of sourdough, i don't know. but it's offered. we got shrimp 'n chips (fried shrimp and fries to the layper,) bread bowl clam chowder, a water and a budweiser. all for $20. the same thing woulda been double that in one o' them tourist restaurants, and this was a thousand times better. this was amazing!!! i felt like Anthony Bourdain (this gets capitalized because he is travel channel royalty) when he finds the back alley places in the big cities.
the one troubling observation on this fact finding expedition is that i've yet to see any place advertising rice o' roni. if it's the san francisco treat, why is nobody promoting it? guess i'll keep searching for the elusive rice o' roni.