Sweet San Francisco

Our trip to San Francisco was fantastic. We left Friday afternoon from Charlottesville and arrived in San Francisco around 9pm. A friend of Jeff's Aunt Ellen offered to let us stay in her apartment in the Mission for the weekend to save us some money. She provided us with BART passes, maps, and amazing hospitality. She ended up having to go out of town the weekend we were there, but her girlfriend Marla played hostess and was just as hospitable as we imagined Sheila would be. We are so grateful to have been able to stay in Sheila's great apartment.

On Friday night, we were hungry so we ventured out into the Mission neighborhood known for its Latino influences. We promptly found a taqueria, grubbed out and returned to the apartment for some shut eye before a day full of sightseeing.

We were up early Saturday morning to begin our exploration of San Francisco. First stop was the Embarcadero to the Ferry Building for the Saturday morning farmers market. There were delicious, local treats at every turn so we sampled our way through the stands set up outside and in. I was elated to find an Italian booth with the same nutella filled sugar doughnuts mom used to bring us every morning in Catolica, Italy when we were little. It tasted just as good as I remembered.

We grabbed a quick breakfast plate to share and were on to our next stop-the uber touristy Pier 39 where we discovered multiple stores selling useless items, San Francisco t-shirts, miniature trolley cars, shot glasses, etc. The highlight of Pier 39? Our first glimpse of the Golden Gate Bridge. I felt the same level of excitement upon seeing the GG Bridge for the first time as I did when I saw the Eiffel Tower for the first time. I guess I have a thing for massive, steel structures. We also saw some adorable seals sleeping on one of the docks. They reminded us of Ginger in a lazy, grunting animal sort of way.

After Pier 39 we were off to our next touristy location of Ghiradelli Square but faced some pretty major distractions on the way. First-a museum full of old (really old) arcade games that still function. One of the old ass machines ate Jeff's money. Imagine that. He was pissed because he REALLY wanted to beat the machine at arm wrestling. In the back we found skee ball and I whooped up on Jeff. To be fair-he claimed he had never played before.

From there we moved on to the second distraction- the seafood stand with HUGE crabs, delicious smells, and sourdough bowls. Because of our Dim Sum lunch plans, we vowed to return to this stand to eat on Monday. Continuing on, we passed Jack's Bar at The Cannery whose sign advertised 68 beers on tap. 68 beers on tap. Sold. We sampled several before ordering a full pint and made friends with some very manly football fans with an appreciation for the arts. Moving on from the Cannery we made it two store fronts down the sidewalk before encountering a wine tasting of local California wines. Duh-we walked right in and sampled 5 delicious wines from several tiny wineries from Northern California.

We finally made it to Ghiradelli Square with plans to buy some chocolate but couldn't justify the prices so we sampled a square and left for a very steep walk to China Town for our Dim Sum lunch. By the time we found the restaurant we were looking for that had come highly recommended, it was closed. Figures. So we went in search of a place with a decent happy hour special. Guess we hadn't had enough booze already. We discovered Lefty O'Douls in Union Square-had a local Anchor Steam and returned to the apartment in the Mission to rest our feet before heading to dinner in the hood.

Quick Stop at Lombard Street

Entering Little Italy. In this photo I am saying "Oh Salvato"

I had read about the restaurant Flour & Water several times before the trip and it happened to be just a few blocks from the apartment so we decided to go. The food was good but not worth the long wait.

On Sunday we were up early again with plans to rent bikes to ride across the Golden Gate Bridge. Best idea ever. We rode from Pier 39 to the bridge, over the bridge into Sausalito, stopped for lunch on the water, rode up close to Muir Woods to check out the red woods, and then hauled ass to Tiburon to make the last ferry back to the city. Our ride was 30 miles total with beautiful scenery. I am ready to move to the West Coast.

After returning our bikes, we headed back to the apartment, packed up our stuff and taxied to the W hotel-the site of my conference. We showered quickly and then headed out to dinner at De La Rosa. SOOO GOOD! If you are in San Francisco, you must go there. We both almost fell asleep in our pizza so Sunday night was an early night. Must have been the 30 mile bike ride.

My conference started on Monday afternoon so we were up early again and headed out to explore Ocean Beach. We stopped at the brewery across the street to purchase our souvenir pint glass and growler. While I was in session in the afternoon, Jeff returned to the seafood stand for the chowder in a sourdough bread bowl and spent some more time watching the seals. Dinner on Monday night was at a - GASP! - brewery across the street from the hotel. We are nothing if not predictable.

The View From Our Hotel Window

I spent Monday, Tuesday and Wed in class during the day. Tuesday night we visited the Westin St. Francis and the Palace Hotel. What happens with 30 meeting planners enter a hotel together? They roll out the red carpet. Free champagne, sushi and other appetizers, hotel tours, and pampering. Yes, please. After our mini hotel tour, I was invited by a vendor to dinner in Russian Hill at a delicious Italian restaurant where the food, wine and water never stopped coming. Really. We had to cover our glasses and and plates so they would stop serving us.

We then said a tearful goodbye (only I cried) and Jeff made his way to the airport to catch the red eye back to Richmond.

I really hated leaving San Francisco and I cannot wait to return again soon.