For my first post, I want to blog about my recent trip to San Francisco. It was such a wonderful experience that I want to be able to relive at any moment; thus: a blog.
Wednesday, 6.9.10
Tom and I left Kansas City very early in the morning for the airport, leaving the cats with two very large bowls of food and lots of water. We flew through Denver where we met Sam and Brian, who stopped in Denver from Omaha. The four of us then boarded our plane to fly into San Francisco. We rode the BART (the transit system) into the city to our hotel and once we got all checked in, we decided to walk to Fisherman's Wharf. This is the little touristy port area on the bay. It was exactly a two mile walk from our hotel, and let me tell you, with those hills, it felt like 10. We walked through China Town, not finding any bootleg Coach purses (much to Sam and my dismay) then stopped at a little seafood restaurant for lunch (great crab!). We spent a few hours wondering around the wharf and Pier 39 and, low and behold, stumbled upon a shop where we could buy ourselves some fancy designer beauties (fake, of course). For some reason, in San Francisco, you don't need to go to the behind-the-wall hidden shop to buy knock-off brand names. We also got a chance to walk down Lombard street (the famous zig-zag road in SF). Once we had our retail therapy, we walked back to the hotel, but not without stopping to buy what became our routine 2 bottles of wine to enjoy at the hotel together. Not being used to San Francisco's hilly landscape, we were all beat and decided to have dinner at a nearby Sushi restaurant.
Thursday, 6.10.10
We woke up bright and early and decided to hit up a local site that a random guy at the liquor store told us about: Balmey Ally. We walked 6 miles to see a small ally filled with murals covering all surrounding walls. It was some amazing artwork that expressed messages (some understood and some not) about social issues, past and present. Next, we walked to Haight-Ashbury to check out the local hippies. We certainly saw some fabulous bongs. Before stopping at Golden Gate Park, we grabbed lunch at a small deli. The park was a strange experience, being that it seemed to house (and when I say house, I mean grocery cart) much of city's homeless population. Feeling uncomfortable, we left. On the way back to the hotel, we stopped in Union Sqare and enjoyed a bottle of Proseco and some retail delight (seeing a theme?). Sam even talked Tom into entering Tiffany's with me to try on engagement rings, but he swears it was only to see prices and styles (wink). We also stopped for our usual two bottles of wine, then dined at Max's for dinner (burgers).
Friday, 6.11.10
This was our wine tour day in Napa Valley. We had preordered tickets to take a shuttle to the valley with a guide, visit several wineries, then ride a ferry back to San Francisco. We met our tour guide, Victoria, at the Wharf in the morning. She was such a character!! She was this little tiny thing with a British accent. I have never met anyone so high on life. We stopped at four wineries along the way. The first was the Sattui Family winery. Here we got to see the wine cellar and the beautiful grounds where the vines were grown. We got to sample several different wines and we bought a bottles of the Pinot Noir and The Sattui Family Red. This was the best experience we had throughout the day, probably due to the fact that the wine was so abundant. Next, we visited Domaine Chandon, who specialize in sparkling wines. At this winery we receieved a tour of the fermenting process and our tour guide, Mark, was a trip. He was absolutely out of his mind. He was loud, obnoxious, and drank with us the whole way along. The wines here were very sweet, and we settled on buying a bottle of red sparkling that they produce. Next we went to Andretti's winery, which was a villa-esque place where we only sampled four wines. Here we got to get up close to the vines, but our stay was very short. Finally, we visited the Black Stallion winery. This was a very new place that had very expensive wine. We did buy a bottle of the Syrah that came highly recommended. Tom and I had a great time chatting with one of the bartenders, Stuard from Germany. He told us about his experience growing up in Napa Valley. After leaving the last winery, we melted the whole ride to the bay because the air conditioning didn't seem to be working on the shuttle. Finally, we caught the ferry and relaxed as we floated past the Bay and Golden Gate Bridges. Stuard had recommended a Puerto Rican restaurant that we decided to try that night called Cha Cha Cha. It was delicious!! We ordered several tapas (mushrooms, Cajun shrimp, mussels, ceviche, plantains) and polished off a pitcher of (very strong) sangria.
Saturday, 6.12.10
Saturday morning, Tom HAD to catch the USA World Cup game, so Sam and I opted to get pedicures and do some shopping in Union Square while the boys watched the game. Afterward, we decided to rent a car to drive to Sausolito (a little town across the bridge) and Muir Woods. Renting the car was a disaster, and our Ford Focus was transformed into a minivan after we had waited about an hour at the rental shop. Sausolito was beautiful! It had a small-town feel with a great view of the San Francisco skyline. It is right on the water, so we had to have seafood for lunch. We also saw a man who had an amazing ability to balance a variety of rocks in miraculous positions. We then visited the Muir Woods area, where we walked some short trails to see the redwood trees that are hundreds of feet tall. After returning to San Francisco (and another 2 bottles of wine), we ventured out to Roy's Hawaiian Fusion restaurant, which Victoria had recommended. Sam and Brian were celebrating their first year of marriage, so we decided to splurge for our last night in town. It was the best place we ate. We had amazing drinks, fish, and the lobster potstickers were to die for!
Sunday, 6.13.10
Sunday we had a few hours before we had to be at the airport, so we decided to visit the local Trader Joe's so that Sam and Brian could see what to expect when they get theirs in Omaha soon! We even went as far as filling our wine boxes for the airplane with some 2-Buck Chuck (Yes, it was only $1.99 in San Francisco!!). We also stopped at the local bakery, Boudin, for lunch.
I have to say, it was an incredible trip. There were no catastrophes (other than me losing all my pictures from my camera). We wouldn't have wanted to enjoy with anyone other than Sam and Brian; it was perfect. What surprised me the most, however about San Francisco is how horribly visible the homeless population is. It bambards you in that city and you have no choice but to notice. Even after living in New York City for a year, it seemed much worse and more in-your-face than anywhere I have ever been. It's very sad. Many of them seem to be mentally ill (considering all the profanities we had screamed in our faces). Although I am sensitive to these issues, it seems it would be very hard for me to live there.
Inside Jokes:
Rockstar cab driver beard comber
Brian asking cab driver where one could buy weed in the area
Guy in wheelchair cussing Tom out
Power walker
Hand puppet
Shuttle ride home ("Crank it up, Bruce!!")
Victoria ("All the sweeties are in Bruce's belly!!!")
"You can drink it with a BURRITO!!!"
The creamery in Sam's basement
