Dec 29. Day 6. Japanese Tea Garden. Kinokuniya Building. SFO Airport.

We have a very light, but tight schedule for today. We wanted to explore the Japanese Tea Garden and the Kinokuniya Building before heading to San Francisco Airport for Jackie’s flight back to New Jersey.

We had an early breakfast, took the earliest hop-on, hop-off, bus ride to Golden Gate Park where the Japanese Tea Garden is. It was such a good decision not to skip this visit. The Japanese Tea Garden is a gem in San Francisco – a very calm and peaceful garden in a very busy world. We took our time strolling in the area, and ended the visit with some hot tea.

We took an Uber to Kinokuniya Building, the last on our list of places to visit. This is a mini-mall, with the Kinokuniya Bookstore being the most popular to visit. The mall has some souvenir shops and eateries. After enjoying her time at the bookstore, we grabbed some crepes to go and headed back to the hotel. It’s a mile walk back to the hotel, but we didn’t mind, especially with the tasty crepes we were eating on the way back.

We checked out, walked to the BART Station at Powell St for the trip to San Francisco Airport. Taking the BART was part of the plan to experience the local commute in the area. We arrived at the airport with about 2 hrs before her departure time – just enough time to eat some light snack at the pre-ticketing section. I watched Jackie checked in. This is the first time she’s travelling by herself – an adventure she can call her own.

I took the BART back to downtown, stopping at a clothing store for some cold-weather apparel. I needed these for the event I came here for on New Year’s Eve/Day. Tomorrow, I’d take a walk and scout the area.

Jackie and I had a great time in this little adeventure of ours. And the most rewarding one is the time spent together. I’m so glad we did it.

Till next time.