Travel Diaries, Day 6: Final day in San Francisco

Welcome to my 2011 CA Vacation mini-series. ...Jon & I spent a week in San Francisco & Wine Country during September, and slowly but surely it is my pleasure to relive the memories & share our stories with you, one post at a time!

Friday was our last day in California, and so, understandably, when the alarm chirped bright and early, I sprang out of bed, ready to seize the last day and soak up every last minute!(East to West time change is glorious, people. ...I was up & at 'em bright and early each morning, and by the time lunchtime rolled around each day, we all ready had a good amount of "touring" under our belts. ... Of course, on the flip-side, we were pretty much done for by 8 pm every night....)

I began my day with a little "Today Show" on the treadmill, and then joined Jon for a leisurely hotel breakfast. From there, our first destination of the day was Telegraph Hill, and Coit Tower.



I am convinced that when you are in San Francisco, the journey is just as vivacious as the destination. ...We wound our way through the city and up the hills (Jon's comment to me: (huff, puff) "Now I know why you brought me to to California. ...You wanted to kill me & get a new husband... Happy anniversary to you, too!" (huff, puff) Once I could catch my breath, I laughed and assured him that this was most definitely NOT the case ;) ... pausing at an overlook at the end of Telegraph Hill to take pictures in a small park and ogle the view.






::Gorgeous ♥::




Once our heart rate came down a little, we proceeded to the top of the hill :)




Coit Tower is awesome not only for the spectacular, panoramic views of the city, but for the amazing murals inside the building. When you enter the tower, you find yourself in a circular room: floor to ceiling art. The colorful display showcases the city's rich history. (Here is a link to some pictures!) ...We wandered around inside the tower for quite a while!



Our walk back to Pier 39 was equally lovely ♥

(Aren't these some of the coolest plants you've ever seen?)

The remainder of the day was pretty mellow. We grabbed lunch (clam chowder in bread bowls) at the Eagle Cafe, and the proceeded to the Aquarium, where we spent a couple hours scared awed by the huge fish. (As I told Jon, they're gorgeous... but if I was in that tank, I'd be flipping the heck out ;)

The aquarium had several tanks that you walked through (like a tunnel), and having massive sharks and sparkly little schools of fish swimming over top of you was really something else!





After the aquarium, we relaxed in the sunshine on the dock, reminiscing about our favorite parts of the trip. We had a great time watching the sea lions sun themselves... It was fun to see how graceful they were in the water... and how awkward & un-weildy they are on land! (Also, if you zoom in on the picture, I'm pretty certain the big gray guy in the middle is smiling!)




Dinner that night was, in a word, stellar. We dined at the Fog Harbor Fish House, and had a breathtaking view of the sunset on the water. We sipped wine (erm, I sipped wine... Jon sampled the local micro-brew ;), and lingered over lemony calamari (appetizer), ahi tuna (her) and fish & chips (him -- side note: Jon's favorite thing to order at a restaurant, second only to perhaps steak, is fish & chips. ... I'm pretty sure he's a fish & chips connoisseur...Heh.) It was one of those nights were we didn't do a lot of talking; we just quietly enjoyed each others' company :) I just remember thinking to myself, "How lucky I am to be here right now... with my very best friend... experiencing all this." I know that years from now we will look back on this vacation & remember how special it was.

Our night ended with a moonlit stroll back to the hotel, with a bag of hot donuts in hand. (Seriously, friends, I could not leave SF without eating those glorious mini-donuts one last time ;) We scheduled a taxi pick-up for the next morning, and then headed upstairs for coffee, donuts, and some packing (we had an *eaaarrrllly* flight out the next morning-- taxi pick up was at 5:15 am!)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~
...And thus concludes my CA 2011 vacation recaps.

I'm ready to go back now, please :)

In all seriousness, though, it was an amazing time. I feel so blessed that Jon & I had the opportunity to celebrate our anniversary in wine country. I don't know what our future holds... and I hope it will grace us with many more beautiful adventures like this one-- but this trip in particular will be forever imprinted on my heart... and I'll always remember the fall of 2011, when I left part of my heart in San Francisco California.


Your Turn: What places do you want to visit in your lifetime? Have you gotten a chance to check any of them off your list yet?

Travel Diaries Day 5: Playing Tourist in San Francisco

Welcome to my 2011 CA Vacation mini-series. ...Jon & I spent a week in San Francisco & Wine Country during September, and slowly but surely it is my pleasure to relive the memories & share our stories with you, one post at a time!


Thursday was our day to see the city!

It was also a day full of pictures, and I will let the pictures tell the stories, with a few captions here & there :)

Enjoy!

(Also: I am silly. Today is NOT the last recap day! Tomorrow I'll cover our last day in SF -- including Coyt Tower & an aquarium tour...)

Our morning began in Chinatown, taking in all the colors, sights, sounds & smells of a different culture...





... And continued with a trip to the Cable Car Museum. (It was awesome, but un-air conditioned... so we didn't stay overly long ;)....





... Lunch was enjoyed at U-Lee, a small hole-in-the-wall place in Chinatown that was recommended by one of Jon's co-workers (thanks, Justin!) ... They had "the best pot-stickers in town". ... We whole-heartedly agreed with the rave reviews...





... After lunch, we explored some more ...





...And eventually found our way to Lombard St. 'The crookedest street in the world'.





... After walking down the crookedest street and taking a bazillion pictures, we returned to our hotel room, for a brief rest and some map reading...



... And then we headed out again :)



Destination? ....Chocolate -- but of course!



(I think we need to take a moment here to pause in awe of the amazingness that is pumpkin spice caramel & milk chocolate. Holy. Goodness.)


After Ghirardelli, we still had a bit of time before dinner, and wandering farther still, we found a gorgeous park ....





... and a beach! We decided to sit & stay awhile.

(And here is where I stopped taking pictures, apparently.)

An hour or so later, Jon and I headed back to Pier 39 for dinner. We ate at Luigi's Pizzeria, splitting a BBQ Chicken Pizza and a pitcher of beer (a.. um, large pitcher as a matter of fact. Heh.) We had a breathtaking view of the harbor at sunset :) We laughed and talked long after our plates were clean...

...A perfect close to another lovely day in California ♥ ...

Day 4, part ii: Dinner Date on Pier 39

Welcome to my 2011 CA Vacation mini-series. ...Jon & I spent a week in San Francisco & Wine Country during September, and slowly but surely it is my pleasure to relive the memories & share our stories with you, one post at a time!



Once we left Muir Woods, we stopped for a quick bagel sandwich at a little deli in Strawberry, CA and we were on our way to San Francisco!

Having learned an important "marriage lesson" on our way to wine country, I was driving & Jon was navigating :) .... And, apparently, goo*gle maps was cooperating. ...When we were trying to get from the airport to Santa Rosa, we were taken on a scenic tour of the city... which was very nice, but rather wind-y and confusing. (Read: NOT what we needed after 12+ hours of travel and no sleep...) Conversely, our trip back into the city was a piece of cake. ...*Thank You, thank You, thank You*... We returned our rental car, gathered our wine baggage, and hopped in a taxi for a short ride to our hotel.



Then once we were situated, we headed out to explore :)



The first night, we stayed relatively close to 'home base' (a Holiday Inn at Fisherman's Wharf), winding our way to the water through a grid of vendors. We paused briefly to watch ships in the harbor, and then headed on to Pier 39.




Now, let me be honest: crowds aren't usually our thing. I loathe shopping during the holidays (often you will find me buying milk & eggs at 7 am to avoid the crowds, hehe), and I kind of dislike mall shopping for the same reason. I would much rather be somewhere quiet, where I feel like I have room to breathe .

But Pier 39 was vibrant. ... And the multitude of people milling around was part of that :)

There was so much to see: stores containing pretty much anything you could imagine (i.e.: "Lefty's", a left-handed store for those "right brained people in your life", an NFL store, "The Spice & Tea Exchange" ... etc.); street performers & live music; a gorgeous fresh fruit stand (a bit pricey to partake, but I loved looking!); and, of course, the views were lovely ♥




Jon and I wandered for a while, and then ended up at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. for dinner. Shrimp & veggie skewers for me, "Shrimper's Heaven" (a mix of favorite shrimp dishes) for Jon. We both enjoyed the strawberry/lemonade/rum drink. Divine.



After dinner, we strolled around the pier a bit more, pausing to watch (& listen to!) the sea lions, coming home to rest on large barges in the bay.



...The weather was absolutely delicious. It was about 70* at 4pm when we started exploring, and dropped into the low 60's when the sun set. ... Truth be told, I was a bit chilly, but Jon held my hand to keep me warm :)

We ended our night with a stop at Trish's Mini-donut stand, purchasing a small bag of donuts and hot coffees to warm our hands. When we returned to our hotel, we sipped coffee and reminisced about our day and our vacation so far... eating hot donuts and smiling as we licked the sugar off our fingers.

♥It was, all in all, a truly fantastic day ♥

Your Turn: Tell me about the best food you've ever tried on vacation! For me, all the dinners we had in CA were exceptional! Fantastic steak in Santa Rosa, and to-die-for sea food in SF. ... these mini-donuts pretty much stole my heart, too :)