Chad and I were craving a getaway. We needed to get out of Utah Valley. I lucked out and had Monday off of work so that made it even more tempting. Friday morning we joked about going to San Francisco, but once we started actually looking at the flights, it started becoming more realistic. Before we knew it, we were buying plane tickets and frantically throwing clothes into our suitcases… we only had 2 hours until our flight took off.
Our flight landed in San Fran at 1:30 am. We were going to stay at Chad's grandma's house, but since it was almost 2 am after getting our rental car, we decided to stay at a hotel so we wouldn't wake her up. Chad's brother hooked us up with a hotel at the Westin, near Union Square.
We woke up early Saturday morning, anxious to explore the city. We started by walking up to Union Square and walking through the farmer's market. We did a little shopping then made our way to the piers. We were having so much fun that we walked all the way to Fisherman's Wharf! It took us about an hour, but it was SO fun.
Since there was so much we wanted to do, we decided to buy the 3-day Go Pass. Once you buy the pass, you can go to 31+ attractions that are listed on the pass. It was so worth it. We definitely got our moneys worth out of it.
Our first stop was at the Aquarium of the Bay. It's probably the coolest aquarium I have been too. I was obsessed with the jelly fish.
We were like children in the petting zoo… we were definitely entertained.
After the aquarium we walked through the shops at Fisherman's Wharf.
Of course, we had to stop at the candy store. We are laffy taffy lovers.
Can't walk by Pier 39 without watching the seals... they are very interesting creatures.
If you're a sourdough lover like we are, you HAVE to try Boudin if you're ever in San Fran. They seriously have the best bread.
I ordered the grilled cheese and fresh clam chowder for lunch. It was heavenly.
Next up, was Alamo Square. We wanted to see the famous Painted Ladies St., Also known as the houses from Full House and Mrs. Doubtfire.
I have heard about Lombard St, and was so excited to see it. It is famous for having a 8 tight turns on one block. The line to drive down the road was ridiculously long, so we decided to park and walk down it instead. It has a spectacular view of the city and bay.
We drove over to the Marin Headlands to get a view of the Golden Gate Bridge and see a few military headquarters. We were lucky the fog went away by the time we got there because the views were amazing!
Just past the Marin Headlands is a beautiful city called Sausalito. It's seriously breathtaking. It looks like a city that would be in Europe. The restaurants and stores are right on the water and the houses cover the mountains. It's beautiful!! I would definitely recommend making a trip out there.
For dinner, we went to an Italian restaurant called Poggio's. Chad ordered a margarita pizza and I ordered a mozzarella, sausage and egg pizza. Sounds disgusting, but it was to die for. I snarfed the whole thing up within 5 minutes.
Although we were stuffed to the rim, we heard good things about Lipperts Ice Cream, so we had to give it a shot. Just like the reviews, it was incredible. We shared a banana split, and we were both disappointed when it was gone. It was tempting to get a second one… but then our pants reminded us that it wasn't a good idea.
I had never been to a major league baseball game, so in the last minute, we decided to hit one up while we were in town. We drove to Oakland and made it just in time. It was such a blast. I'm not a huge baseball fan, but I think this game converted me.
We decided to stay in a hotel the rest of the trip... there's something exciting about staying in a hotel. We decided to switch things up and stay on Fisherman's Wharf. The hotel was very bright and had a lot of strange wallpaper, but we were just grateful Chad's brother hooked us up again. I will take the crazy wall paper for 3 free nights :)
Sunday morning, we headed to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom. We got there right when the park opened so we took advantage of all the short lines.
We probably looked like dorks, but we practically ran from ride to ride. We didn't want to be at the park all day so we could still spend time in San Fran. The second ride we went on, "Kong", was really bumpy, and gave us both immediate headaches. Once the ride stopped, Chad realized his brand new Samsung Galaxy 5 phone (1 week old) fell out of his pocket. Our hearts sunk... it was for sure broken.
As we were exiting the ride, we saw his phone on the ground in the "danger" section. We talked to the workers, and they said they can't get anything until the rides closes at 7 pm. We were torn because the park isn't that big so we didn't want to waste the day waiting for his phone, but we didn't want to have to pay for the shipping to have it sent to our house if we didn't wait for it. Plus, the park is about an hour away from the city, so we didn't want to have to drive back. We decided to keep going on rides and think about it.
{if you look closely, you can see his phone and the back}
We loved seeing the different animals throughout the park, but we were mesmerized by the elephant. She kept sticking her trunk out to us, like she was trying to touch us. We literally sat and watched her for at least 30 minutes {partly because we were nauseous from Kong}. It was her 50th birthday so the park threw her a birthday party, which resulted in us getting free ice cream sandwiches... we were happy campers.
Chad grew up in Danville, CA and moved to Utah when he was 11. Danville is only about 30 minutes from the park, so we left the park at 3 pm to go visit Chad's old stomping grounds. He showed me his 2 houses he grew up in and his elementary school. I really enjoyed going around Danville. It is a fun little city.
One of his favorite restaurants growing up was Arcona. Of course, we had to eat dinner there. They had the best pizza!!
We went back to Six Flags at 7:30 pm to get Chad's phone, and I'm happy to announce that the Samsung survived Kong. It made it out with a little dent on the bottom. This is the first time luck has been on our side with electronics!
On our way back to San Fran, we made a pit stop at the Oakland temple. This is honestly one of the prettiest temples I have been to. It's one of the few LDS temples that doesn't have an Angel Moroni on top.
Monday morning we made our way to Chinatown. Since we are such early birds, we couldn't go in any of the shops because they were still closed. It was fun just walking around looking at the buildings.
We heard that Dottie's is one of the best breakfast restaurants in town, and it showed... we went there on Saturday morning, but the line was out the door and wrapped around the street.. it was insane. Since we were up so early on Monday, we decided to give it a shot. We got right in and boy, was it worth it. The pancakes were uh-mazing. If you're in San Fran, it's definitely a must.
Next up, was the California Academy of Sciences museum. It had a rain forest, aquarium, animal exhibits, and so much more. It must have been a school day for kids because the entire museum was packed with crazy kids running around. Because of that, we stayed as long as our nerves would let us, which wasn't that long.
We wanted to get a picture with the Golden Gate Bridge, but we didn't want to pay $20 for parking. So we quickly parked in the "bus only" section and sprinted to the spot and had a lady take our picture. We were happy we pulled off that move :)
One thing that I really wanted to do was get a tour of Alcatraz. Sadly, the tour was completely booked while we were there. So instead, we took a boat tour that went under the Golden Gate Bridge and around Alcatraz. It was really windy and freezing, but it was worth totally worth it. I enjoyed listening to the history of the island and Alcatraz.
Our last adventure was to the original Ghirardelli factory. Of course, we had to get another banana split. Good thing we don't eat like this at home or else we would be obese.
Our flight left Monday night at 6:20 pm. I couldn't have asked for a better getaway. It was absolutely perfect. I am SO grateful for this sleepy head and all of his hard work. We wouldn't have been able to do this spontaneous trip if it weren't for his dedication to work. Thanks for a fabulous weekend, Chad!
