San Fran Day 4

The final day, SIGH! Sunday morning we woke up and packed up the rental car. The Kings and Jacob had a morning flight, so we dropped them off at the airport first. It was raining cats and dogs.. and geese! I mean, really, it was another case of not even being able to see out the windshield.

But it wasn't going to stop us! Who knows when I'll ever get to come back here?!

 

Seeing the Full House house was big on my list! I mean, that show basically raised me. ;) So off we drove to Alamo Square Park. The park was just that, a block of green grass, surrounded by neighborhoods. After walking across it, we found it! And the milkman, paperboy, evening TV! ;) So apparently these 5 houses are called "The Painted Ladies".. one of the most photographed locations in San Francisco. They sure are pretty ladies! With the slightly ascending rooftops and bright facades. This architectural "look" is all over the city. I loved it. 

Hooray for dog walkers, out even in the pouring rain! We were able to get more than just a selfie. :)

So the interesting thing I found out, is that while there were scenes shot in front of the Painted Ladies, and the picnic the Tanners have in the opening credits, IS at Alamo Square Park, the ACTUAL Full House house is a couple miles away on Broderick Street. And here it is! It was raining too hard to get out, so here's a wet picture from inside the car.

Next up!...

The National Redwood Forest is like 300 miles away, BUT there is another Redwood forest called Muir Woods that is only 11 miles north of the city. I thought that would worth seeing! We were really hoping it would either A) Not be raining there or B) At least STOP raining by then. Nope. Not our luck. In fact, this is definitely the most rain we experienced over the whole trip! Travis had some shoes I bought at Wal-mart then sprayed with waterproofing stuff and the nice jacket we had just bought, but he was stuck with just jeans. I, on the other hand, got to justify my Wal-mart purchase of a full blown rain SUIT! It honest to goodness was like a haz-mat suit. Plus I had rain boots and an umbrella. I was set. The drive up to the woods was winding, green and beautiful. But if I was on it much longer I might have gotten car sick! And on the drive back I had to close my eyes, because on the other side of the white line were steep cliffs with no railing. Yikess!!!

Why does this picture of my rain suit make me think of Chinese people?? Ha!

These trees were crazy big. Not quite as large as the ones I've seen pictures of at the national forest, but still amazing. So this cross cut was marked to show what historical events would have been taking place at that time. Like the Aztecs were building their ruins! This one started in 1100AD. And this trunk was actually pretty small compared to many that we saw while walking around. It was so surreal to think these trees had been around for hundreds and hundreds of years. 

 It really was SO WET. We probably walked around for an hour and it didn't let up for a second. Just down poured on us. Which did make it a little tricky to look up at the trees. We sloshed through constant puddles, which was fun for me in my boots... not so much for Trav.

I have to laugh. Trav was very obliging to be in all the pictures I wanted to take, but he just looked miserable! Don't mind the Unibomber.. it's just my husband.

By the time we got back to the car, Travis had to change everything from the waist down. He said he felt like he had walked into a swimming pool. And I was completely 100% dry. 

To get back to the city, you drive through a cute, little town called Sausalito. And that's where this restaurant called Scomas was. Scomas had been recommended repeatedly to us. My friend said she had eaten there and ordered some fish that was so fresh, it was caught that morning. Well, you can imagine it made my "must do" list. We couldn't have timed it more perfectly. We got there 2 minutes after it opened for the day, so we were seated at the best table in the house. It's out on the water and we sat right next to the huge windows overlooking the Bay. I felt like I couldn't soak up the moment well enough. I wasn't even sure this was actually my life anymore. The only problem came when we got our menus. I wanted everything. We finally settled on splitting the shrimp tacos and a lobster roll. Oh, and I also got my first ever oyster as an appetizer. When in Rome! So they brought the spread out, and I didn't even know what it all was, nor the proper way to eat it. And had to wonder about eating a thing that needed three OTHER things just to help it's flavor. 

Yeahhh, I don't know. I actually liked the salty flavor but as far as texture... well, if you like boogers. 

Isn't he cute? I'm so lucky he's mine! And so happy I got to enjoy doing all of these things with him! I think I'll keep him forever.

This was our view. You can see the city off in the distance, but this picture doesn't hardly do it justice.

 

Ok, I need a moment.

Would you just look at these??!

And they tasted even better than they look. Best shrimp tacos of my life. I think I "mmmed" after every single bite. I wanted to come back to this place before we even left it.

This was the only time we actually drove across the Golden Gate.

We only had a couple of hours until our flight so we drove near Fisherman's Warf and decided we'd try to catch another trolley so Travis could do it too. There are 3 different trolley lines, so we picked a different one than the one I had done with Brinn. And by then the rain had totally stopped and the sun was out! But after parking, Travis needed to see a man about a horse, so what's a girl in Ghiradelli Square to do but get another hot fudge sundae while she waits?!

As we were walking to the trolley, we found out our 4pm flight was delayed by two hours. Yay! More time! I was so happy!

 

So this time around, there was definitely more lines and crowds around the trolley and we had to sit inside.

 It was a longer track and ended right at Union Square. I wanted so badly to just stay and walk around to all the stores... they have just about everything you could imagine from Tiffanys to Gucci. Obviously, I'd just be browsing! But the meter on our car was about to run out so we needed to take the trolley back to where we parked. This was the only picture I got of Union Square. 

The line was so long to take the trolley back, that we started walking then hopped on one at a stop farther up the road. It was so packed that Trav had to stand on the edge and just hold a bar. I don't think he minded though!

 

We were almost out of time, but I really wanted to eat at House of Nanking in Chinatown. This place was really talked up by my cousin. We weren't exactly hungry after eating at Scomas, but we weren't stuffed either. ;)

We ordered sesame chicken and the fried calamari even though I don't like it, because it came highly recommended. It was pretty good, but nothing to write home about. Maybe we just didn't order the right things. Ah well, I was just glad we were able to try it and not leave feeling like we hadn't made it to supposedly the best Chinese food ever. Check!



If you know me, I love a good, cheesy joke or play on words. I was cracking up over this billboard. Hehehe! A good way to say goodbye to San Fran! 

The big bummer is that RIGHT after we turned in our rental car and got on the tram for the airport we found out our flight was delayed another 2 hours!! Buggggg!!! We could have had time to do Union Square more! Bah! I was so frustrated. But it only got worse once we were past security and waiting at our terminal. After an hour it got delayed again... until 11:40pm! Flights were getting canceled all around us and I was starting to get nervous that we weren't even going to get home that night. Supposedly it was all because of weather. Maybe wind? It wasn't even raining when we got there though. After consigning ourselves to a long night in the hospital, we made the best of it with some pizza, hot chocolate and finishing up the movie we had started on the flight over here... Saving Mr. Banks. I got a few things at one of the gift shops, including the book our book club is reading this month. That felt productive, digging into that! And then our flight got bumped up and I think we ended up boarding around 9:30 or 10pm, I can't even remember. Bless Trevor for picking us up in Phoenix at 1am, their time! I had totally forgotten about the time difference.

Well, despite the rain and some frustrating traffic and parking situations, I couldn't have loved this trip more! San Francisco stole my heart for sure. I'm learning that it is REALLY good to get away on a fun trip with your husband at least once a year. Even if it's just for a long weekend like this one. And lucky us... we get to go on another one in May! I really couldn't be more grateful for Travis. There is no one I'd rather spend my time with. He's the perfect traveling companion. Scratch that, he's just the perfect companion, period. :)

San Fran Day 3

On Saturday we woke up to some clouds, but no rain! Hooray! We were leaving the hotel in Berkley, so we all got packed up and loaded into the rental car. There was a nice pastry/bagel shop around the corner that we grabbed breakfast at, then headed to the city for our Alcatraz cruise at 9:30am. Jacob had already done it before, so he just dropped us off and hung out with friends for the day. It was nice not having to park!

We boarded the ferry and headed over to the island that Alcatraz was on.

 

Guess who is their mother's daughter and bought the green screen picture?! Insert sheepish face here.

It took about 10-12 min to ferry over then we got out and listened to a park ranger introduce us to the island. We watched a short video clip about it's history, then headed up the hills to the main prison area to get our headphones for the audio tour.

This was the main entrance room where prisoners got their clothing and took showers. 

From here, we put on our headphones and were given a guided tour over the whole prison. The 4 of us started our audio at about the same time so we stuck together, walking around. It was really well done, interesting and informative. They had actual prison guards at times, talking and telling about various facts of the prison. They also had some prisoner's voices on it too. It had started in the 1800's as a military fortification and prison. Then was made into a federal prison from 1933-1963. It was called "The Rock" and was meant to hold prisoners who continuously caused trouble at other prisons or were known for trying to escape. They finally closed it because of the cost of running it and because the buildings were deteriorating so badly.

 

  Earlier in the week, Travis and I watched a documentary on Netflix about 3 men that escaped Alcatraz. Well, they don't know if they truly escaped though, because getting across the frigid waters of the Bay seemed highly unlikely. And no trace of them was ever heard of after that. In the audio tour, they talked a lot about that escape and another attempt made at a different time

This was the courtyard that they had 2 hours of recreation time every day. Well, that is, if they weren't in D Block for bad behavior. That was the isolation block.

Al Capone, Scarface, is one of the famous prisoners that served here. I'd always heard his name before but never knew anything about him.  

This was the cell of one of the prisoners that escaped. They shaved down spoons and hacked away at the concrete around the air vents. 

This was a sign at the entrance to the dining room. Ha! Grandpa Jess, anyone?!?

After the tour was over, we walked around the grounds some more and went into the recreation yard. It really is a pretty island, with well kept gardens. It was crazy to me that guard's families lived here while it was a prison, and considered it a good life! The kids would ferry into the city each day to go to school. One of those kids, a girl, became an Alcatraz historian and was featured on the films we watched. 

The prisoners said that one of the worst parts of being there was seeing San Francisco, just across the Bay and being tortured by it's presence. They could even hear the sounds of the city and voices and parties on a quiet night.

I LOVE history and am fascinated by it, so this tour was right up my alley. It's so crazy to think this place actually functioned as a high security prison to some of the country's scariest criminals. 

Don't ya love my ensemble? Trav's grey ankle socks looked smashing with my flowered leggings and running shoes. All in the name of comfort.

The Alcatraz Ferry is at Pier 33, so we walked along Fisherman's Warf to get to Pier 45 where a lot of the restaurants are. The boys got themselves some fish and chips and Brinn and I headed to famous Boudin's bakery for some bread and clam chowder! 

A silver street performer. Howwww do they stand like that?!

We were in a bit of a hurry to finish up lunch to make it to our 1pm reservation for these GoCars! A friend had recommended them so I really wanted to give them a try! It started raining when we got there, so we almost didn't do it, but the rain quickly stopped and never started again, so it was perfect! They are like gas powered go carts that have a GPS in them that gives you a tour of the city as you drive. You can pick from several different routes and take as short as an hour or as long as a day! I really would have loved to do the 3 hour tour and go all over Golden Gate Park, but we didn't have a lot of time and were still worried it would start raining again. So we did them for just over an hour. 

We cruised along the Warf and stopped at Ghiradelli Square to grab a hot fudge sundae!

As we entered the Marina district, our GPS stopped working! We could hear Brinn and Michaels still talking behind us, so we knew ours was broken. Boo! I was super bummed about it. Getting all the interesting facts about the buildings and streets was the whole appeal to it! Oh well. At stop lights, we'd pull next to the Kings and they'd try to fill us in on what they learned. We stopped at Crissy Field to take some pictures of the Golden Gate! 

I guess the Marina District is the most expensive piece of real estate in the whole city. Brinn's brother has a friend that lives here and pays $4500 a month for a one bedroom apartment!!

Ever heard of Lombard Street?! I guess its the most crooked road in the whole world. It was fun to cruise down it in our go carts! Oh, and with lots of gawking tourists pointing and taking pictures of us, haha. That's basically how it was the whole time. 

How 'bout that view!!! Gosh, I loved this city!

After we turned in the gocars, Brinn's brother picked us up and went with us to this place called the Sports Basement where we rented bikes to bike across the Golden Gate Bridge. He lives a couple hours away, but had come into town to see Brinn and hang out with us for a bit. This was another activity that had been recommended to us and I'm SO GLAD it was!! Absolutely the highlight of my trip. The weather was cool, with some low clouds, clinging to the bridge. It made the whole atmosphere feel magical. Even with people all around, it didn't feel crowded or touristy. Just very peaceful and calm. There really aren't words for it. It was just so serene and memorable.  A moment in time. There is only one other time on a trip that I felt this happy and peaceful. Like I could live in this moment forever.

 

I know it goes without saying, but this bridge is incredible. It felt like such a privilege just to see it.

Looking over the edge was a black sand beach. I felt like I was looking at a scene from a fictional pirate movie.

A view of the city from the end of the bridge.

 

We returned the bikes, shopped a bit there and found an awesome coat for Trav (which came in very handy the next day). Then made reservations at an Italian restaurant that Brinn's brother knew of in the city. We had a little bit of time to burn though, so on the way there, we stopped at the Palace for Fine Arts. Jacob had met up with us by then and he said this is where they had their White Coat Ceremony in school. Um, wow. Beats the pants off our White Coat Ceremony. He said this is probably his favorite building in the whole city and it's not hard to see why. It definitely lives up to it's name. We walked around the grounds just a bit and I wished we had more time and could even come back during the day.

 



After that, I think we drove around for almost an hour, trying to find parking so we could eat at this restaurant!! I think it was called Reale. It was in the heart of the city and crazy congested. At night, all the signs are lit up and everything is just packed, wall to wall and to the sky. People EVERYWHERE. Not a square inch of space wasted. It's a fun, big city feel, but not when you're in a car. Out of desperation we found a tiny lot in a back alley, but they charged $25 to park! Seriously! So begrudgingly we pulled out of it, and had to turn onto this street that literally had to be at a 80 degree angle. It was scary! I remember leaning back in my seat as though the weight change would help us not topple forward. The sidewalks lining the street weren't even sidewalks, it was a staircase! I was starting to get really ancy and wanted to just call it all off. FINALLY, we happened to drive down a street where someone was pulling out of their parallel spot. I've never been more grateful to park!

Ok, to be completely honest, I wasn't thrilled at the idea of this restaurant. I don't love Italian food in the first place and never order it when we go out. Pasta is pretty much at the bottom of the food chain for me. But this place?? Well this place was AMAZING. It was tiny, you could have blinked and passed it walking down the road. But it was really nice inside and the guys who own it are legit from Italy. I almost couldn't understand them with their thick accents and even Brinn said one of them didn't seem to understand HER when she asked where the bathroom was. Everything was homemade and delicious. They ordered a few appetizers... stuff I couldn't pronounce and have never eaten before.. cheeses and capers and fresh herbs, it was amazing. And their bread was so yummy dipped in oil. I ended up ordering a tortellini.. can't remember the concoction stuffed inside, but I was sold when I read it was served in a light cream reduction. I could bathe in a light cream reduction. I think there was literally 8 pieces of pasta on my plate when they brought it out, but I was so stuffed, I could hardly even finish it. But when they brought out the desert menus, well how could I resist??! I got a lemon gelato and Travis ordered a panna. Now, I've never had gelato from Italy, but I would I highly wager this is what it has to taste like. There are not even words. I certainly did NOT regret splurging on dessert. Ohhhhhh, I need to eat this again. 

 

From there, it was definitely bed time! We booked a room at the Hyatt, right next to Union Square. We wanted to be right in the city that night.

This place made me feel like Richy Rich. Whenever men run out to open your doors and take your luggage, you can't help but feel a bit sheepish. That's how the last place was too. Men who's full time job is just stand there and make sure you don't have to open your own door. Not used to that! Here is just a part of the lobby. 

I'm honestly not big on artwork, but I thought this was one of the coolest things I'd seen.

So nice of them to include a bath tub for our baby. ;)

Blinds that are controlled by a button next to your bed?? Um, can I get one of those at home?! And just throw in one of these beds. I think it must have been a California King, but it was definitely made of clouds.

Needless to say, we were spent. I don't know how we crammed so much into one day, but it was FANTASTIC.