San Francisco Treat

Although Chris & I have both previously been to San Francisco we decided it was such a great place to visit that we would go for a week this year. We were also able to make a day trip up to Sonoma to see the wine country, and then down to San Jose to check out Stanford and Los Gatos. October is the perfect time to be in the bay area.

The weather was beautiful, cool in the mornings/evenings & warm all afternoon! Just perfect! We used the trolleys to take us all over town. We had the most amazing milkshake at Ghirardelli Square, clam chowder in a bread bowl at Boudins on Fisherman's Wharf & a wonderful birthday dinner for Chris at One Market! Basically all our vacations revolve around food - there is no reason to deny it, its who we are! I bought tickets in advance for a nighttime tour of Alcatraz which was great! Chris missed it on his last trip so it was a must see this time around. The views of the city at night were spectacular! One morning we took the trolley to Lombard and hiked the crooked street and then the hill to Coit tower. Again more amazing views of the city & the Golden Gate bridge. After a few days in the city we rented a car and drove up to Sonoma and toured a few wineries. We can't wait to go back just to the wine country for a few days. What an incredible area! So much to see and do. Chris also wanted to see Stanford and the southern parts of the bay area so after lunch at In N Out (cause we love it) we drove back through the city and south to San Jose. Stanford has a beautiful campus - its hard to imagine that people actually live and go to school there. We are certain they do not appreciate it! For dinner that evening we headed to Los Gatos - a great little suburb of San Jose. Food was fabulous and then we made our way back to the big city for a few more days. We attempted the Go Cars, but I just couldn't do it. The helmet was to much for me! Ha! So we settled for a bus tour that took us to Golden Gate Park and passed the Full House homes. The park was stunning! Lots of museums and other things to do. As for the Full House homes, well you just can't miss seeing part of your childhood :) Another bonus to this trip was meeting up with my cousin Nathan, his wife Chenda and their baby girl Preslea. We met up with the Shepards in Chinatown for some peking duck and catching up. They are the experts on the restaurants and it was nice to have an inside track on things. This was our first time meeting Chenda and Preslea. Chenda moved to the US just a year ago to marry Nathan. She has a wonderful personality and fits right into our family! We stayed at a great place near Union Square. Our trip happened to fall the week before the womens marathon in San Fran and the Nike store at Union Square was head quarters so we ventured in to see their store. Incredible! Chris really loved it. The last day was short and sweet. We managed to find an amazing sushi restaurant to grab lunch before we headed out of town.

I'm certain the pictures really tell it all.