A San Francisco Treat

 

San Francisco was the first stop on our trip to the great state of California. I've been twice before, but it's a city I can return to again and again. The landscape of the city never ceases to amaze me (and my calf muscles!). It was Adam's first time, so we crammed as much as we possibly could into two short days.

It happened to be pride weekend, so after a late arrival Saturday night, we woke up Sunday morning and leisurely made our way across the city through Alamo Square and Hayes Valley (picked up some Blue Bottle ice coffee on the way) until we reached the celebration down Market Street and in Civic Center. SF pride is the largest in the country, and it was so exciting to be there!...Especially the day after gay marriage became legal in New York. There was much to celebrate! So much color! Rainbow shaved ice seemed appropriate, naturally.

After eating some tacos, walking down Haight Street, and peeking into Amoeba Music, we headed over to Golden Gate Park, past the Conservatory of Flowers (Central Park really needs to figure out a way to sustain some palm trees. Who's with me??)...

until we reached the de Young Museum. We didn't have time to do the museum properly before closing, but we did head up to the observatory tower for a great view of the city.

We finished day one off with dinner at Foreign Cinema and drinks in The Mission. The next morning we headed north towards the Golden Gate Bridge with plans to walk across. However it was so windy, we were forced to abandon our excursion. We still enjoyed the foggy view though. Instead we walked east along the water and then up some BIG hills on Filmore Street to explore the cute boutiques in Pacific Heights. We spent the next few hours doing the requisite tourist stuff including a visit to Fisherman's Wharf and the Musee Mechanique (awesome), clam chowder in a bread bowl for lunch, and a ride on the trolley. Adam will tell you the trolley ride was his favorite thing we did in San Francisco! We also made a quick stop at the Ferry Building Marketplace somewhere in there, but were too full to eat much (we managed to squeeze in a doughnut though, of course).

We got off the trolley at twisty Lombard Street and wandered around the hilly streets of Russian Hill. Perhaps my favorite thing about San Francisco is all the flowers! Framing doorways! And garages! Bursts of color all over the place...   Dreamy.

We rounded out our evening with a stroll through North Beach, dinner at a little trattoria, and drinks at Vesuvio. Phew! Thanks again to RR for being such an incredible host! We love your new city!!

(photos by me... except the two I'm in, credits to Adam & RR)