San Francisco: Day 1-3

Todd & I went on vacation last week to San Francisco--we had never been to the city before but were also excited to hang out with my brother & some other friends who have moved there the past couple years.  We had actually had this trip planned for quite awhile and it worked out perfectly that we moved and then were able to relax on vacation just a couple weeks later...although this definitely wasn't the most relaxing vacation because we were constantly on the go.

Our flight left last Monday, bright & early at 6:30 AM, and we arrived in San Francisco before lunch (west coast time).  We were staying at my brother's apartment in the Marina and finally arrived after a 2 hour trek on public transportation.  Yeah, by the way, it shouldn't have taken 2 hours but a common theme throughout our trip was our inability to understand & use public transportation.

 My brother's apartment

Day 1 (Monday, April 23)

• Arrived in San Fran & made it to my brother's apartment
• Lunch at The Plant Cafe
• Walked around Fort Mason (part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area)
• Dinner at The Tipsy Pig with Jeff & Kate (my brother & his girlfriend)

View of the Golden Gate Bridge from Fort Mason

View of Alcatraz from Fort Mason

View from a park

 

Day 2 (Tuesday, April 24)

• Tour & Tasting at Anchor Brewing
• Walked to Lombard Street
• Lunch at Mel's Drive-In
• Biked across the Golden Gate Bridge
• Rode the Caltrain to Palo Alto for dinner with friends at Coconuts

Anchor Brewing

Todd was excited to start the trip of right

Brew kettles

Bottling line

After the tour, we were able to try 8 different beers!

Todd & I enjoying a few beers before noon

Top of Lombard Street (the world's "crookedest" street)

Another view about halfway down

One of the steep streets we walked up & down multiple times during our trip

Bay City Bikes

 Starting our trek to the Golden Gate Bridge...it was 8 miles across the bridge & to Sausalito then we took the ferry back

It was a little windy biking around

View of the city

Getting closer

About to ride across

Stopping for a quick photo

Sausalito (the town on the other side of the bridge)

Really cute little town with lots of shops & waterfront restaurants

Fountain in the middle of the park near the ferry dock

Taking the Caltrain to Palo Alto

Day 3 (Wednesday, April 25)

• Muir Woods National Monument (borrowed Jeff's car to drive there; about 10 miles from San Fran)
• Views on the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge
• Lunch in Sausalito at Bar Bocce
• Painted Ladies (Full House house) & Alamo Square
• Cable Car ride
• Dinner at Boudin on Fisherman's Wharf
• Dessert at Ghirardelli

Entrance to Muir Woods

Muir Woods is known for its large redwood trees

We walked a couple miles around one of the trails

Cathedral Grove

Seriously, these were some BIG trees!

Inside the hollowed out part of a tree

On our way to Sausalito for lunch, we stopped for some more scenic views of the bridge

We're not so good at the self-portrait picture

One more of the GG bridge

Lunch at an Italian restaurant on the waterfront

Awesome outdoor seating area with a firepit

View of the waterfront at lunch

The famous "Painted Ladies" houses (and the house in the opening credits for Full House)

Walking around Alamo Square

Another view of the houses

Waiting to get on one of the San Francisco cable cars

Riding the cable car near Union Square

I was obsessed with riding the cable cars all week

Dinner at Boudin, home of the famous San Francisco sourdough bread

Inside the bakery

Original Ghirardelli chocolate-making equipment

 Ecstatic about my brownie sundae from Ghirardelli

As you can see, we were really busy right from the get-go on our trip!  I'm going to post days 4-5 and days 6-8 in separate posts because I have a ton of pictures to share.