San Francisco Vacation Part 1

Now that we're back home and getting back into our routine again, I thought I'd post a bit about our trip to San Francisco. For starters, it was probably one of the best trips we've been on. By and large, the weather was perfect — a bit chilly at first, but it warmed-up enough to be comfortable all day. We didn't have a packed schedule, so we were able to enjoy a slow and relaxing pace. We typically had one or two things on our agenda, as well as a restaurant or two, per day — and all day to get those things done. Nice. The hotel was perfect, too, verging on immaculate — and there's a decent chance we may make that hotel chain our temporary home of choice on our future vacations.

Day one was pretty simple since that's the day we arrived. We mainly wandered around the hotel blocks, checking out nearby Chinatown — which was fantastic. The whole area was literally like you were in China. The decorations, buildings, writing (and menu photos) were really cool to look at. We had also heard good things about a burger joint called Taylor's Automatic Refresher (from friends, family, and Food TV), so we jumped on the California line trolly and headed to the Ferry Building to eat. Taylor's did not disappoint — great burgers.

The next day we headed to the Conservatory of Flowers, which was really cool. Unfortunately for us, though, the annual Bay to Breakers Race was going right through the park, so it was basically a huge frat party/Lollapalooza/wierdfest out there. So, we didn't get to do everything we wanted (visiting the other gardens in the area) because I didn't feel like dealing with some drunk messing with us or something. We eventually got a bus and headed back to the hotel to relax before heading to Uncle Vito's Pizzeria for dinner. And let me say, if you ever go to San Francisco, go to Uncle Vito's! Here are a couple of pics from the Conservatory:

Monday, we rented a vehicle and headed to the Monterey Bay Aquarium — a place we've both wanted to visit for years. Even though it was full of screaming and running kids, it was a great experience. The kelp forest was beautiful, and the huge jellyfish section was mesmerizing. I was afraid it would be like any other big city aquarium, but it was really one of those spots that would be worth the trip to see. Here are a couple of jellyfish pics:

From here, we breezed through the 17-Mile drive along the coast, and had dinner at a restaurant called Little Napoli in Carmel. I had the Isola d’Elba (vegetable arborio Risotto with sautéed sea scallops and Mexican white prawns), and it was, to be honest, one of the best meals I've ever eaten in my life. I'd pay the airfare just to go eat there again — seriously. After driving back to San Francisco, we hit Taylor's again for ice cream. Oh, and while we were stopped along the 17-Mile drive, this little ground squirrel kept following me around:

The next day was the big hot air balloon ride over Napa Valley, but to make a long story short, it got scrubbed. It was too foggy in the valley for safe flight, and as we were loading up to go to the alternate site, the pilots were informed it was too windy. Ugh. This was one of the things we were most looking forward to, so it stunk that it was cancelled. So we goofed aorund Napa for a couple of hours, visiting some wineries and stuff, then ate at Michael Chiarello's Pizzeria Tra Vigne. From here we went to Muir Woods, which was breathtaking. You can't fully grasp how big these trees are until you're standing under them, and it was a majestic testament to God's creation. Here are a couple of pics:

Alcatraz was next, but I'll save that for another post (once I get those pictures processed)...

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 05/24 at 04:38 PM

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