BEST Things to See & Do at The FERRY BUILDING San Francisco

Hey there everyone, my name is Eduardo Arroyo but you can call me Ed and today we are here exploring the Ferry Building in San Francisco, California. The Ferry Building is one of the many reasons why tourists come here to San Francisco. The building includes office spaces, a terminal for ferries, and an indoor marketplace. Not only that, but the area outside of the building hosts one of the most famous farmers markets in the city, the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market. The views here are amazing, especially in days with good weather just like today. Coming for lunch here is a no-brainer as you can find local vendors and farmers come together and prepare delicious food and snacks. The best part of it is that everything is fresh and local to California. The goal for today is very simple, learn a little bit about the history of this place and stuff ourselves as we enjoy this beautiful day. So if you're interested, come with me. Let's talk a little bit about the history of this place. The building was inaugurated in 1898 and at the time when the Golden Gate Bridge and the Bay Bridge did not exist, this was actually the fastest way to get to the North and the East Bay. Back in the day, it was actually the second most transited terminal in the world, just behind a train station in London. But in the 1930s, when both bridges were built, the demand for ferries quickly went down. The building, once beloved, was forgotten. There were renovations done to make way for office spaces and a highway was built right in front of it. The highway stood here for about 30 years, but slowly the locals started to care about the building once again. The locals voted to tear the freeway down, in part due to the damage caused by the 1989 earthquake. And also because of the earthquake and the shortcomings in traffic that it created, there was a need to revitalize the ferry system. From then on, there were better renovations done to the building and a farmer's market was started to bring life to the place. Today, this is one of the most visited places in San Francisco, with upwards of 30,000 people coming here every Saturday. That is a lot of people and we're one of them. Okay guys, we made it inside. Look at this place, it's so full of people. As you can imagine, every single vendor and restaurant is busy right now, so come early if you want to be first in line and avoid waiting for too long. When you come into the ferry building, the very first thing you see is the scheduled display for the different ferries that depart from this location. As I mentioned before, this place has been through a lot of renovations, but I can really appreciate how they kept the old-timey slash mechanical aesthetic of this thing. As I mentioned at the beginning, the places that you will find inside include restaurants, snacks and coffee shops, and other local vendors. The cool thing about some of these places is that you can try before you buy, so let's do that right now. Right now, I'm trying this olive oil with bread. I don't think I would buy it on my own, but you can never say no to free samples. Some of the famous restaurants you'll find here include Out The Door, San Francisco Fish Company, and Hog Island Oysters. Some of the shops you'll find here include multiple coffee places like Blue Bottle, multiple pastry locations, as well as oil vendors, and you can also find different organic markets inside of the building. Okay, so we're coming back outside, but we're going back in. But now, we're going to the top. In order to get to the upper level of the building, you have to come out through the main entrance, and then to the side of it, you will see some stairs that will take you there. So we made it to the top of the building, and the main reason why people usually come up here is to get away from all the noise that you see down there. You know how we were just in the middle of everything, and here is very quiet, and you can also get a good view of the people downstairs, which is pretty cool. If you want to take some time for yourself and relax for a little while, I think this is the perfect place to be. Look at all these people. They look like little ants. This is also the best place, in my opinion, where you can come and enjoy your snack, your lunch, your coffee, and get ready to enjoy the rest of what this place has to offer. In this place, you will find some office spaces, as well as some restaurants can also be found upstairs, but besides that, there's nothing much to it. It's pretty empty right now, so we're going to go ahead and head back inside. But before we head down, I just want to remind you guys that the marketplace is a place where you can find a lot of different restaurants, shops, and other places you definitely don't want to miss out on. So if you're ever in the city, you should definitely come check it out. Coming outside of the building right now, that was fun and delicious, but if I had to choose my favorite part, it's definitely the farmer's market, so let's check it out right now. The Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market meets three times a week, year-round, rain or shine. They say that the only certain things in life are death and taxes, but I would add this farmer's market to that list because it's always here without fail. At the beginning of the video, we were in front of the Ferry building. That is where the Tuesdays and Thursdays farmer's markets meet, but the main event happens right here. This is behind the Ferry building. This is where the Saturday farmer's market meets, and in here, you will find a lot of different vendors and shops. In this place, you will find a lot of different things including flowers, produce, regional meats and seafood, and other regional specialties such as bread, cheese, and jam. And if you get hungry while browsing through the market, or if you came here specifically to get lunch, this is the place for you as this place includes a lot of street food offerings for lunch or brunch. I really like this place, not only because they're able to put this out for people three times a week, every week, but also because I think their mission is great. The main goal of this market is to put a spotlight on farmers who use sustainable methods for their production. Not only that, but they also support local vendors who source their ingredients from these farmers. This creates a symbiotic relationship between the farmers and the vendors, which allows them to bring a really cool culinary experience to both locals and tourists. One really cool thing that I learned while researching for this location is that a lot of different vendors that come through here, they use this as a platform to hopefully one day become self-reliant and have their own business outside of the market. It is sort of like a startup incubator, which is fitting because San Francisco is known for that. Blue Bottle, the coffee shop we visited earlier, is actually one of the companies that graduated from this farmer's market. And now you can find them anywhere in the city. Anyways you guys, we'll leave you with that, but if you're ever in the city, this is definitely a place you don't want to miss out. Thank you guys for coming along with me. I always say that the places that I visit are great, but what makes it even better is that I'm able to share those experiences with you guys. If you enjoyed this video, make sure you go ahead and give it a like and subscribe to my channel if you want to see more videos like this one. Always remember to be kind, have an open mind, we'll see you next time.