San Francisco-Labor Day Weekend

We took off Friday night for the 6 hour drive to San Fran. We knew we would have to leave fairly late because of work so we stayed at a hotel along the drive. We got to SF around 11:30 Saturday morning. The weather was so hot the entire drive until we reached the Bay Bridge where it became cold and foggy. After checking into our hotel and throwing on some warmer clothes we headed out towards Fisherman's Wharf. We stumbled upon Lombard Street on our way down, which was quite fun. Then we went to Ghiradelli's. We got a sample of pumpkin caramel chocolate that was delicious. Then we grabbed some cupcakes from Kara's Cupcakes(they are supposedly the best cupcakes in Sf, which may be true, but I still think Sprinkles are better). We tried the s'mores cupcake which was a chocolate cupcake with a graham cracker bottom and toasted marshmallow topping and a caramel filled banana cupcake, which was our favorite! We met up with Rachelle and Brandon for a late lunch where I had my first of many clam chowder bread bowls. So delicious!! We walked along the water to Fisherman's Alley. There was fresh fish, crab, soup and people everywhere. Next we spotted the famous sea lions (truthfully we heard them before we saw them) and I spotted my first glimpse of the Golden Gate Bridge. It was so foggy that only the very bottom was showing. (I thought I took a picture, but it turns out I didn't which is a big bummer because it looked really cool). We walked around Pier 39 then said bye to Rachelle and Brandon who were heading off for a weekend in Napa.

Next we hopped on a hop-on-hop-off bus with free tickets from our hotel which took us past many of the highlights of the city. That night we went to dinner at Dosa, an Indian restaurant that was amazing!! Our favorite meal of the trip!! After dinner we walked to an ice cream place Rachelle saw on Food Network called Bi-rite Creamery to taste their famed "salted caramel" ice cream. After dessert we met some of my sorority sisters at Holy Cow! It was great to have a few drinks and catch up with some friends.

The next morning we went to see the Painted Ladies, we drove up to Twin Peaks for incredible views of the city, and we walked through Golden Gate Park. After that we drove along the Ocean to the Cliff House (we decided to skip lunch there to squeeze more sights into the day). As we drove along we started catching some of our first real glimpses of the Golden Gate Bridge. We stopped for a photo along a golf course and walked down to China Beach for a few more glances of the famous site. We ended up in traffic waiting to cross the bridge, parked on the other side and walked a bit on the bridge. We wanted to spend a bit more time exploring the hill above the bridge and water-line below (especially since the weather was perfect!), but by this point we were starving so we drove into Sausalito in search of some food. We ate at Scoma's on the water where I enjoyed my second Clam Chowder bread bowl (wasn't as good as the first) and after we got some ice cream from Lapperts (apparently a must in Sausalito) and ate it as we walked along the harbor. Then we headed back over the bridge and drove down Lombard Street, which was way more fun than walking down it! We dropped our car back off at the hotel and Nic took a mini nap. We headed back out to grab some drinks and enjoy the view at Top of the Mark, but it was closed for a wedding. :( So we walked down to the wharf to attempt to catch the last moments of the sunset over the bay. The view of the bridge with the warm pink sky behind it was gorgeous, but it was a bit dark for a photo. Standing on the pier taking in the bridge, twinkling city skyline, and alcatraz was quite romantic. We grabbed a late dinner at Ristorante Milano where I had the most incredible gnocchi!!

On our last day we walked through Chinatown, which was so colorful and rather peaceful first thing in the morning. Then we walked to Union Square. We caught a cable car down to the Ferry Building, which was more fun than I expected and I even got to ring the bell. ;) We walked through the Ferry Building and enjoyed some great views of the Bay Bridge then walked to Pier 39 for a quick Ghiradelli Crepe before our trip to Alcatraz. Alcaraz was great. We really enjoyed the audio tour, especially the "escape" stories and the views from the island alone made the trip worth it!! After Alcatraz we walked to Boudin for my last Chowder Bowl, but I changed it up this time and got a corn and crab chowder and Nic got a crab cake sandwhich. Best sourdough ever! Then we grabbed a sundae at Ghiradellis, which was delicious before heading back to our hotel to begin the long drive home. We left San Fran at 6, which was way later then planned, but I'm glad we squeezed as much as possible into our shirt weekend trip. We got home around 11:30 and collapsed into bed. What an incredible weekend in a beautiful city!!!