As I mentioned before, I was sick the whole week before our vacation. I stayed home two days but did work anyway. The other three days I dragged myself in and managed to work, but I felt awful. Some kind of stomach thing I probably caught from AA. NT was sick most of the week too, and AS was exhausted from work.
We left late Saturday morning and got in around 4 p.m. We stayed at Hotel Tomo, a boutique hotel in Japantown that's owned by Best Western. Cute Japanese-stye pop culture decoration. View from our floor:
We ate so-so food at the restaurant connected to our hotel. Then we all went up to the room to "take a nap," but ended up sleeping about 13 hours! After that we all felt much refreshed and were able to enjoy the trip. I'd been worried that I'd feel too tired to do anything, so I'm glad we used the first day and night just to sleep.
On Sunday we had breakfast at a Vietnamese restaurant with French influences, so I got to have some Asian dishes such as spring rolls as well as French pastries (beignets). AS watched AA in the room while NT and I browsed cute stores (check out the zebra ears we bought for AA):
Then we wandered around various neighborhoods, saw the sea lions at Fisherman's Wharf:
... had Mexican food, caught a live outdoor performance of a kids Cuban band:
... and came back to the hotel room, where NT watched AA while AS and I went for delicious sushi and sake across the street (and brought some home for NT).
Monday, we tried another breakfast joint, and we loved this one so much that we went back twice more during the trip. It was called The Grove and it was on Fillmore St. Just a small coffeeshop with a limited menu, but all fresh, delicious, well-prepared food. Then we took a cable-car ride:
... went on a short cruise around the bay (passed by Alcatraz:
... and went under the Golden Gate Bridge:
Despite a light drizzle, it was enjoyable and exciting:
We went to Chinatown for lunch:
... and then went to the cable car museum, where you could see the actual cables that control all four lines:
We went back to the hotel room and ended up getting Italian/Mediterranean food and bringing it back to the room for dinner.
Tuesday we rented a car and drove to two beaches after our second breakfast at The Grove. First Muir Beach:
... then Stinson Beach:
As you can tell, it was chilly and drizzly so we didn't spend too much time there, but we walked around and picked up shells, and AA liked the wind and rain. Then we got lost for about an hour until I got GPS on my work BlackBerry and we figured out how to get back on track. We went to Muir Woods to see the giant redwoods. It was drizzling lightly so we bought ponchos, including one for AA that we wrapped all around her (she was also wearing a raincoat and had a blanket over her). She was not pleased but put up with it as long as we kept the stroller moving. Lucky we bought the ponchos, because it started pouring! Hard to look up at gigantic tall trees when it's raining, so we didn't spend much time there at all:
We were able to laugh about it and joke that we'd joined the National-Lampoon-style class of parents, taking their kids on disastrous vacations. AA was SO happy to get back into her warm dry carseat, laughing and talking and kicking her feet.
We were so tired and it was still rainy, so we just dropped the car back at the place and went out for food. We found a FANTASTIC Thai restaurant called Sweet Lime. AA loved all of the food and so did we, and the waitress was so nice, AA didn't want to leave.
Wednesday was designated spa day. Luckily it was sunny and beautiful. We took turns watching AA while the others went and got spa treatments of our choice (mine was a short massage and later a facial; NT got a "bliss" massage that started with a bath; AS got an oil/spice/yogurt massage treatment and then acupuncture). Then AS and NT took a bus to Haight Ashbury for a bit while AA and I napped in the hotel room. For dinner we walked over to Tenderloin and ate at a soul food restaurant called Farmer Brown (pretty good, but extremely limited vegan options).
Thursday we went back to The Grove for breakfast one last time, then took a shuttle to the airport. Our flight was delayed two hours but other than that uneventful. We ordered pizza delivery that night and relaxed, then went to breakfast together on Friday. AS went in to work for a few hours while NT and I got caught up on various things.
I feel so much better! It was a great vacation, perfect length and just the right amount of activities.
San Francisco trip wrap-up
March 19th, 2011 at 07:00 pm
March 19th, 2011 at 07:07 pm 1300561637
So glad you enjoyed the trip!
March 19th, 2011 at 07:18 pm 1300562329
I loved all your pictures! AA is sooo cute and looks like a great little traveler. I've always thought three or more adults to one child is a perfect ratio for traveling, hehe! You guys visited some great places. Thanks so much for sharing!
Ever think of moving to SF?
March 19th, 2011 at 09:57 pm 1300571859
March 19th, 2011 at 10:55 pm 1300575343
March 20th, 2011 at 12:04 am 1300579445
And yes, Looking Forward, I've always wanted to live there since I first visited in college. I got in a car accident while doing an internship for a union after college, and went home to my parents in Virginia to recover. I was substitute teaching while I figured out what to do with my life, and that's when I met AS who had already been accepted to college in Minnesota. If I hadn't met AS, or if she hadn't already known where she was moving, I most likely would have tried to move to San Fran as soon as I had some money saved up.
We grew to love MN and our friends here, but also, we got in so much debt that it was hard for us to consider an expensive move to an expensive place.
Now we're planning on moving to England in a few years, so an expensive move before that still wouldn't make sense. Otherwise, I would totally consider moving to SF. I feel a connection to the city that is beyond rational; it's an emotional pull.
March 20th, 2011 at 01:23 am 1300584226
March 20th, 2011 at 07:20 pm 1300648850
I kinda got the feeling you really loved the city.
March 21st, 2011 at 03:01 am 1300676482