The last time I was in the US, I drove up the interstate from San Jose to San Francisco, drove over the Golden Gate Bridge, and around a few of the places on either side. Took a few photos. Walked around a bit. I now realise I saw a completely different city to the one I visited yesterday.
If you get a chance to go to San Francisco, don't stay in your car most of the time, you aren't really going to see anything except roads and buildings. Get out, go to the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, take a walk down the Coastal Trail, have Dim Sum in Chinatown. If you must drive, take the coast road. You won't regret it.
San Francisco is a fascinating city, and you need to find the time to wander around it. If you take a guide book just use it for tips, not as the last word in what to do. Take a look in a few restaurants, if there are lots of people with cameras, clutching guide books or maps, steer clear of it. Look for one that is frequented by the locals.
The Coastal Trail runs through some of the best coastal parklands I've seen, with frequent glimpses of the bay and the Golden Gate Bridge. You can find the remains of World War II gun emplacements, and there is a memorial to those that fought in the USS San Francisco at Guadalcanal. If you like clifftops and wind, you'll love this walk. If you are a bit reticent about these things, don't panic, you can take the less scenic walk to Lands End, which is a bit higher, but further back from the cliffs.
One of the things that amazed me was the amount of parklands and wildlife reserves surrounding the city. This is not something immediately obvious from the main highway into San Francisco from the south. It is only minutes from the bustling city that you hit the large wildlife reserve to the southwest. This is massive and has a stark beauty that is quite captivating.
My only regret is having just the one day to explore the town. It really demands a lot more. But if you do only get one day, do try and make the most of it and see the city from its better side.
I would have loved to do more exploring of the districts as I only really saw Chinatown, and a bit of the Presidio. On my todo list next time around is the Haight, the Mission district, and Japantown.
On the way back to Cupertino, we stopped at a Mexican restaurant. Now I haven't visited a lot of mexican restaurants, even though I love the food, and I'm not sure my recollection is accurate, but is it common to have rice in a mexican dish? I would have thought that corn and beans were more traditional. I certainly can't remember a recipe that stipulates rice, but my memory for such things is not all that reliable.