Today’s post is a very personal one. If you’ve been following the blog or know me personally, then you’re probably aware of how much I LOOOVEEE to travel. I love experiencing new places, new cultures, and am fascinated by larger urban areas.
A few weeks back, I traveled to San Francisco for Natalie + Will’s anniversary session. (Be sure to check out the post.) Being that I’ve never been to San Francisco and always wanted to explore the city, I opted to stay a few extra days! Brad came along to assist on the shoot, so it was really awesome having him to share in the experience.
For my own terrible memory’s sake, as well as for future San Fran travelers…I’ve listed out what we did on the trip and my thoughts as well!
We stayed at the King George Hotel. And although it wasn’t very big, it was right in the middle of the downtown area….PERFECT! It was adjacent to TWO 24 hour diners (just make sure to be there before 7:30 AM. The service was also excellent.
The first day there, we flew in and ate at Chaaba Thai food where we had the prawns in a blanket (my favorite), Tofu, Fish cakes and egg rolls). I don’t believe I’ve had Thai before and I really liked it!
That evening was the night of Natalie + Will’s shoot. Our primary locations were Wisconsin and 20th (lovely backdrop), Baker Beach (nice location with the Golden Gate bridge in the background…but it’s SUPER cold there), and the residential neighborhood adjacent. We had macaroons from Chantal Guillon (almond was my favorite flavor, rose was my least) and cupcakes from Kara’s.
Below was the view driving into the city:
The photo on the left was right off of Mason street where we stayed..and the sign on the right had me thinking about staying there and never coming back. 😉
On Monday, we had breakfast at Cafe Mason (this is one of the 24 hour diners mentioned previously). I love that they had healthy options there like Wheat Pancakes and Egg whites (because we ALL know that being healthy on vacation is already pretty difficult).
Then…OF COURSE…we went SHOPPING! I cannot wait for there to be an H&M store here in Lousiana. Actually the week we were in San Francisco, we found out they’ve started shipping (whoo hoo) but we still took a few hours to splurge in the men’s and women’s stores.
We attempted to rent a car but when we realized that due to lack of availability it would be in the neighborhood of $400/day we scratched the idea. (Note to self: book rental cars in advance). (Another note to self…rent a car to drive to Napa) We ate lunch at the Original Perfect Hamburger (it was ok) and based on everyone’s INSTAGRAM recommendations, we walked to the Bi-Rite Creamery.
Another thing you may or may not know about me…is my SERIOUS passion for ice cream. But not just ANY ice cream…cookies and cream. MMMMmmmm. Another tip, don’t mistake the soft-serve for the actual creamery like I did. Go for the goods. 😉
I had the cookies and cream, duh…but I also added a scoop of the Ricanelas (cinnamon ice cream w/ snickerdoodles). <—Are you kidding me?!!! It was SOOO good.
We did LOTS of walking that day (somewhere in the neighborhood of 20,000 steps according to my fitbit) so we earned more food. LOL My dad and his good friend both recommended that we try a Dungeness crab so we headed to the Woodhouse Fish Co where I had the hot and buttery option. If I would go back, I’d absolutely get the Dungeness Roll. That’s what Brad had and it was Ah-mazing.
And as if we hadn’t done enough eating that day…on the walk home we grabbed drinks at a local bar named Martuni’s. I had the orange creamsicle martini and it was worth every calorie.
Below is a photo of Market Street. While we were traveling around the city, we found the most enjoyable route to be the walk along Market.
Although it took awhile, we FINALLY caught on to the public transportation there. Unlike the easy-to-navigate subways of New York or the El in Chicago, the “Muni” bus system was quite difficult to get a hang of. I found purchasing an app called MobileMuni most helpful. It was $1.99 and worth every penny for someone not from the city. You could simply type in a landmark and it would give you the best route.
On Tuesday, we started the day at Cafe Louis (also right next to the King George). After breakfast…we got our legs ready for a day of biking. We took the Muni to Pier 43 where we rented bikes from the Bike & Roll. And this “day trip” turned into approximately 12-15 miles of BIKING! We rode the bikes (and yes, at times I shamelessly walked my bike) across the golden gate bridge to Sausalito.
Sausalito was so pretty! It’s basically a small and quaint town filled with adorable shops and food. We split the seafood fettuccine at Dreyers and of course had ice cream at Lapperts… again. I mean, what?! We were on vacation. 😉 We took the ferry back with our bikes, which despite the hour and a half wait was really cool! Because we didn’t think to book Alcatraz in advance, at least we were able to pass it on the ferry!
When we got back into San Francisco, we biked a bit more until we had to return them for the night. We walked to Lombard street, what is considered the prettiest and one of the windiest roads in San Fran, and we took the trolley back to the pier area.
That night, because Brad had never been to In ‘n Out Burger before, we did it big with hamburgers and fries.
Below on the left is a photo taken from Pier 39. We felt that the Pier area was pretty touristy but I loved the sailboats. On the right, Brad took this shot of the Golden Gate Bridge from a perspective that I wouldn’t have thought to shoot (right up the side of the structure).
This was one of those times that I stopped to “take a picture” but really it was to catch my breath from biking.
When we ACTUALLY make it to Sausalito, there were a few benches setup along the bike bath. So, we sat here to take in the view. I love the way the houses were stacked along the hill.
This was the view from the ferry ride. The fog was pretty heavy everyday while we were there but we were finally able to see the tops of the golden gate.
This is the view of Alcatraz as seen from the ferry. I still wish we could have done the audio tour, but I’ll take this view over nothing at all!
Here is the view from the top looking down Lombard Street.
I’m happy that we were able to hang off the trolley! 🙂
Wednesday was a big day. Although we really could have stayed in San Francisco for the entire trip, I really wanted to see a vineyard. It’s something that I’ve never done before and as a huge fan of photographers like Jose Villa, I had to see the type of landscapes that they work with on a typical engagement session/wedding day.
So, we took the Muirwoods and Sonoma tour. My ONLY real complaint about the entire trip was this tour. In the future, I will ABSOLUTELY read reviews about the tour guide companies as well as the individual tour guide. We were pretty disappointed with this one.
However, we LOVED both Muirwoods and Sonoma Valley. The redwoods were gorgeous and a site to be seen.
In Sonoma, our first winery and my FAVORITE of them all was the Robledo Family Winery. From what I understand it’s the only Mexican owned winery in California and I really enjoyed the atmosphere. The tasting took place around a large wooden table where we were able to carry on nice conversation over several glasses of wine.
For lunch we had the Napoletano pizza at Mary’s pizza. Ummm…wowzers. So good.
The second winery was Meadowcroft Wines. Although I wasn’t impressed by the actual arrangement and formality of the tasting, the shops were really interesting and we enjoyed walking through the gardens.
Our last stop was Gloria Ferrer Winery. Not only was I sooo in love with the view and the fact that the winery overlooked the vineyard from atop the hill but I was also a fan of the Va de Vi sparkling wine.
On the ride back into San Fran our driver stopped us at the top of a hill to view what I considered the best lookout point of the Golden Gate Bridge on our trip! (scroll down a bit to see it)
Below are a few shots I took at Muirwoods:
I’ve heard so much about the Redwood trees, it was really cool to actually see what all the fuss is about. 😉
I die.
I grabbed this shot of Brad admiring the view. It’s one of my faves from the trip.
The is the view from Gloria Ferrior. Pretty incredible, huh?!
On our last day in the city we decided to explore the most that we could…while we could. First, we walked to the Nob Hill area….and headed to Chinatown. I realized that I left my memory card at the hotel so we had to go ALL the way back (which is why there are no photos of that area below. lol
We ate at City Cafe in the midst of Market and 5th for lunch. And after lunch we headed to the Haight-Ashbury area. We both felt like we could identify with this part of the city. It was colorful, young, and very cool. It reminded us a bit of the Venice beach area.
At the end of Haight-Ashbury is the Golden Gate Park. We really had no idea of what to expect and felt like we ended on a treasure hunt. While there, we ran into a Japanese Tea Garden, the De Young Museum by architects Herzog De Meuron, and even walked through a Rose Garden. There was truly a surprise around every corner.
And I mean…who goes to San Francisco without seeing the location of Full House?! So, we finished off the “sightseeing” portion of our trip in Alamo Square.
In architecture school, Brad and I have both met so many wonderful friends that we’ve grown to miss since we’ve finished. I have friends spread from here to Chicago, as does he. So, we both were so appreciative with Cameron and Matt (Brad’s friends from architecture school) invited us to meet them at Ironside for dinner.
I’ll be honest, on the last night…we were really cold and a bit tired. We had walked the most that day at a little over 12 miles, but we toughed it out and trolleyed uphill to the Top of the Mark. <–a MUST do (thanks to Natalie + Will for the recommendation). We danced and I drank a French 75 in the corner view overlooking San Francisco. Truly the best way to have ended the trip.
Below is a shot of the Haight-Ashbury area. SO much color!
De Young Museum in Golden Gate Park:
This was taken in the rose garden:
Alamo Square (home of Full House):
Thank you for sharing in the experience. If you’ve been to San Francisco then I’m sure you can relate to the magic of this city. If not…put it on your bucket list. It’s officially one of my TOP 3 favorite cities.
It looks amazing there! Maybe one day… 🙂