Ryan worked his tail off at work since the beginning of January to mid-March. It was rare that he would see the girls before they went to bed, and oftentimes I was also asleep when he got home. He was sent to San Jose, CA, for a week-long business trip the first week of February. And then again the third week of February. And then again the first week of March. When he found out about the third trip, it was just 3 days before he would be leaving. He had the brilliant idea for me to meet him there on March 6th (the last day of his trip) and to spend the weekend together in San Francisco without our girls. My parents and Holly were very helpful in watching them for us, and we are incredibly grateful to them!!
Day 1: March 6th - I arrived in San Jose at about 4 PM. Ryan picked me up and we went to check in at our hotel in San Francisco. We made dinner reservations at Scoma's. We caught a taxi to the restaurant, which was in Fisherman's Wharf. Ryan had swordfish and I had lemon pasta with rock shrimp. We also shared a large appetizer; the crab cakes were our favorite! The rest was good, but not as amazing as we would have expected due to the price.
After dinner we walked around Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39. Everything was closing so we decided to walk back to the hotel. It was a LOOONG walk!
We stopped at Coit Tower. The view of the city was amazing.
The streets have incredible inclines and declines, and it made us laugh that we were getting winded and hot just from walking in streets. The cars parked looked like they were about to slide down. We saw a couple of skateboarders going dangerously fast down the hills. Silly boys.
We both really enjoyed our late night walk through the streets of San Francisco.
Day 2: March 7 - We both loved sleeping in! After we got up and ready, we walked to a breakfast joint called Brioche. Across the street there was a green "triangle" building, and I knew I wanted to go in there. We shared a chocolate croissant, brioche French toast, and eggs benedict. We ate outside and enjoyed the gorgeous weather.
After breakfast we walked around China Town, which was literally right across the street from our hotel. I was excited to explore there because I love reading Chinese historical fiction novels. It was super crowded because of Chinese New Year. It was fun! We bought some souvenirs for us and for the girls. We also got some "sweets" at a Chinese bakery. An egg custard and these weird white cylinders that were super squishy. Ryan thought they were pretty great.
We had a late lunch at City View Restaurant. They served dim sum, and were closing soon so we were very very rushed. The food was yummy but the service was not great.
After lunch we got our tickets for the parade and walked around more. Stopped at Quickly's for Boba drinks. Lychee slush...yumm....! There was a band playing and we stopped to listen to them for a while.
Then it was time for the parade! We had our Hi-Chews, Hello Panda treats, and cotton candy. ("When was the last time you had cotton candy?" "I don't know, it's been forever. It's not that great." "Oh, I like it. It's like eating a cloud!" "Let's get some!")
The parade got to us about 45 minutes after it started. We were expecting elaborate floats, dragons, and acrobats, but the majority of it was little kids from schools. The marching bands were neat though. We decided to take a break (it was 3 hours long!) and came back for the last 15 minutes to see the 200 ft dragon.
After the parade we were hungry for dinner; it was about 9 PM by that point. We sneaked across the street when it wasn't allowed (everything was blocked off for the parade). We ate at the green triangle building! It was a pizza joint and it was SO GOOD! We shared a Caesar salad, prosciutto and mushroom pizza, and a cannoli for dessert.
Day 3: March 8 - Woke up late again. Wore my new yellow TOMS! Drove to a bakery called B Patisserie. The line was out the door, so we knew it had to be delicious. We got a couple of scones, 2 buttery flaky things, a Meyer lemon tart, and a chocolate passion fruit trifle. They were the most amazing pastries I have ever eaten. Definitely worth the drive and the wait.
We drove across the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito. Got a little lost/turned around and ended up back on the Bayside haha. We found the Golden Gate National Park.
The Japanese Tea Garden was there so we took a little stroll. There was an impossibly steep bridge.
Went back to Sausalito. Walked down a big hill that went under the bridge. Ran/walked back up, trying to race a barge to the other side of the bridge. We lost.
We did some window shopping in Sausalito and then went to dinner at The Trident. We sat outside and the view was pretty great. We shared clam chowder, a salad, fish 'n chips, and banana bites. We enjoyed the food very much. We watched the sun set and then walked back to our car.
We drove up to Twin Peaks. It was cold, foggy, and WINDY. We didn't stay long. ("Ryan, we are in a cloud!" "It's not a cloud, it's fog." "Same thing!" "Let me google it...the difference between fog and clouds is their location." "See? Same thing."
Day 4: March 9 - Got up, checked out of the hotel, and walked to a cable car stop down the street, and hopped on! We bought a day pass, which turned out to be a good thing. After a little confusion and figuring out which cable car we needed to be on, we ended up at Hollywood Cafe in Fisherman's Wharf for breakfast. Ryan got vanilla french toast and I had a croissant egg sandwich that came with 10 pounds of fruit.
After breakfast we walked around Pier 39 and went to Ghiradelli Square to have ice cream. We rode the cable car all the way to Union Square. We quickly realized it wasn't our scene; it had very upscale and ritzy shops. We got on a bus and rode back to the hotel. We got our car out of the parking garage and drove around a little bit. We went down the switchbacks on Lombard Street.
We drove to the airport to check my bag and then drove around aimlessly for a while. Found another Quickly's and got a Boba drink to share. Ended up at Panera Bread for food and took it to a nearby park. We sat on a bench to eat while seagulls circled.
Ryan took me to the airport and we parted ways, because, sadly, he ended up having to stay another week.
It was a great vacation and break from life!!
