San Francisco

Momma,

We had to head to LAX about 3 hours before our flight because they warned us that LA traffic on a Monday could be horrible. I listened to my music the whole way to the airport so I lost track of how long it took. We didn't eat breakfast and the airport terminal left much to be desired in terms of food. For someone who usually eats two breakfasts (with at least one protein), this was definitely a dilemma. So I did what anyone would do in this situation and I stuffed my face with a pastry and chips. YOLO. Our plane to San Fran ended up leaving an hour late so we arrived at our hotel about 2pm. And by the time we set off to explore the Fisherman's Wharf it was like 3! I wish we would have gotten to SF earlier because the weather was GORGEOUS! It was by far the nicest weather of all our days there. 

We spent some time walking around near the water and then Lindsay and I made our way to experience our first IN-N-OUT burger. It was good but but it didn't live up to all the hype that usually surrounds this famous burger joint. Later that evening we walked to Ghirardelli Square where I ordered a brownie sundae. It cost about the same price as a meal back in PA but it was amazing! 

Back at the hotel that evening we spoke with the concierge about how to best take in all of SF in just two days. We bought two-day passes for Big Bus. This was definitely a touristy choice but it turned out to be a good way to see the city in such a short amount of time. 

The next morning (Tuesday, November 18) we were up bright and early to get started on our day of exploring. First stop: The Golden Gate Bridge. My oh my, was it amazing! You think it is just going to be like any other bridge but there is just something so spectacular about the way the International Orange paint stands so tall in the midst of fog. I would have loved to see it in the sun but that wasn't in the cards for us during this trip. I took my many pictures of the Golden Gate, the bay, and SF, and then it was back on the bus to head to our Alcatraz tour.

We needed to take the ferry out to Alcatraz and this is where we spent the bulk of our afternoon. The ticket included the audio tour so I listened to that while snapping way too many photos. 

A chai latte before boarding the ferry to Alcatraz.

When we got back to the Fisherman's Wharf we stopped in at Boudin for some freshly baked sourdough bread. We hadn't eaten lunch which is typical Schwartz travel habits. But after some yummy bread we went to dinner at The San Franciscan. The Dungeness crab was in season so all of our meals included the crab.

After dinner, I remembered that our bus passes included a night tour and I begged Lindsay to join me. We rode in the top of the bus all over SF and this specific trip even allowed us to ride on the Bay Bridge...which has a top level for outgoing traffic and a bottom level for ingoing traffic. It felt just like a ride at an amusement park. We loved the night tour and the amazing views of the city! 

On Wednesday morning, it was raining and it was forecasted to rain throughout the entire day, which it did. Linds and I sort of did our own thing on this day and we started off at The Golden Gate Bridge where we hopped on a different bus to tour Sausalito. It was such a cool sea-side town. We were on this bus that looked like a trolley. It was fun but the bus had windows missing so those seats had rain all over them and it was freezing! After the tour dropped us back at the Golden Gate, we hopped back on the bus in search of the crooked street. 

Lindsay was my fearless tour guide as she Google mapped out our route. We ended up having to walk for what seemed like forever in the misty rain to find this street. We walked and walked and I should mention that the entire walk was uphill. I kept reminding us that our walk back would be downhill. Either way, our legs were still a little sore from the half marathon and the lack of stretching that we did post-race. Finally...we made it to the crooked street! We walked downhill on the side of it until we reached the bottom. People actually live on that street! They must be ridiculously good at maneuvering their cars in and out of their garages. I'm sure those houses cost a fortune but I don't know if I would want tourists outside my door all of time! It really wasn't too crowded when we were there though. I blame the rain for that. But I'm not complaining.

Our time in San Fran was insanely limited so we trekked through the rain all day to see it all! We took lots of pictures and then walked for a while and we ended up in the Italian district. We decided to make a pit stop at a bakery for some sweet treats to refuel! It was so yummy! 

Then we met up with dad and hopped on the bus to see The Painted Ladies. By this point we were all soaked and cold and so we barely took any photos before we called a cab to come and get us. Unfortunately we had to wait for 20 minutes for it to arrive. The classic photo of The Painted Ladies is taken in a field right across the street and while I would have loved to get that shot, I wasn't going to walk through the sopping wet grass to get a picture. It wasn't sunny anyway. The taxi took us back to the hotel where we put on dry clothes and napped. 

Dad and I walked down to the concierge to ask about places for dinner and she recommended The Fog Harbor Fish House! I'm not a huge fan of crab so I decided to order a burger and it was delicious. Everyone else ordered crab because "when in Rome". It was so dark in there that dad used his flashlight to view the menu! 

Lindsay, Dad, and I walked along the wharf to get some last minute souvenirs. And we made one last visit to Ghirardelli. We ordered an overpriced caramel milkshake and it was awesome! We slept good that night because we were all tired from busy vacation!

The next morning it was time to head to the airport but before we did that, I ran down to the wharf to photograph the sea lions. 

Then I met my family at a restaurant for breakfast. I ordered a breakfast burrito. I wish those were more popular here in central PA because I'm pretty sure breakfast sandwiches are my love language and a breakfast burrito totally fits that category! We rode to the airport in a really nice SUV and I actually fell asleep during the 30 minute ride to the airport.

We finally made it back to Baltimore around midnight and I was in my own bed by 2am. Something I didn't write about was that I picked up a head cold during our trip and when I woke up Friday (the morning after we got back), I was instantly pleased with my pre-planned decision to go into work late because I felt awful. I made it through work and spent most of Saturday sleeping! And now I need to unpack which will probably not happen for the next few weeks because why ruin a tradition, ya know?