Thursday, August 30, 2012

The Girls Take San Francisco!

A trip with my niece is long overdue and we decided on a trip to San Francisco. Mid-August temps in the 60's made for a great weekend with both my mom and my niece. Love them!


After a tricky and convoluted take-off in both Phoenix and Los Angeles, we made our way to the glorious City by the Bay. Our comfortable stay at the Marriott Marquis @ 55 Fourth Street near Union Square couldn't have been more perfect. The hotel is centrally located to all modes of transportation - train from the airport, cable car to Fisherman's Wharf, public bus and MUNI, and the electric trolley too. Of course, our best mode of transportation was our feet and we walked everywhere. You can find this beautiful Marriott and others at www.marriott.com. Information on riding public transportation can be found at www.sfmta.com and www.transit511.org and www.bart.com.

First day in and we wandered through Chinatown enjoying the fast-pace and delightfully friendly shop keepers. There are some true deals to be had here and I saw some beautiful scarves for less than $10 that I wished I had brought home. There's always next time! We stopped into The House of Dim Sum and sampled some delicious barbecue pork buns and egg custard tarts. So tasty. Then we wandered over to the Fortune Cookie Company on Ross Alley and sampled the warm flat cookies too. Of course we had to get a small bag for ourselves and enjoy our forturnes for a day or two.  We had hoped for a sammie at Wexler's on Sacramento, but their kitchen closed at 2:30pm. Sure wish I had seen that on their website!! No problem, we wandered on back towards our hotel and had a delicious meal at Tropisueno's. This authentic Mexican restaurant served up the most delectable trio of salsas with fresh tortilla chips and another trio of beans with our meal. Mom and I shared the Adobe Chicken that was moist and tender with their house veggies. Kris had an enchilada dinner that was truly yummy. I would highly recommend this place to any visitor in the area. Check out their menu, hours, and location at www.tropisueno.com. You'll love it.

Day Two had us heading out to the Golden Gate Bridge (via the bus) and taking a walk out to the middle. The day was pretty foggy and misty, as is usual for San Francisco, and we loved it. Coming from 112 temps in Phoenix, this was a treat. Take a peek...


 


We hopped on the MUNI bus stop right at the bridge/toll plaza stop and rode to Golden Gate Park. I have never been here on my trips to San Fran and really wanted to see it. We saw about one-third of this gorgeous city park. It's very similar in its beauty to Central Park in New York, but I can't gauge the size comparison. We wandered through the blooming rose garden, and into the Japanese Tea Garden. You'll need to fork out $7 to enter here, but it was well-worth the price.


We had a lovely snack at the Tea Garden with sushi, small sandwiches, and warm miso soup. That was very welcome as the temps were in the high 50's and we were a bit chilled. This garden was tranquil and lovely and wandering here gave us such a sense of calm. We continued our stroll through Shakespeare's Garden...


Took a ride on their magnificent 1914 Carousel....


And walked meditatively through the AIDS Memorial Grove...


A truly beautiful park set amidst the hub-bub of a big city. Truly lovely experience.

My mom was interested in visiting Haight/Ashbury, the center of peace and love and hippies in the 70's. I had to oblige her and we strolled on and on and up and down and up and down towards the area known as the Haight.


We passed by some beautifully restored Victorian homes in all shades of pink, yellow, turquoise, and purple. We even saw the house where the Grateful Dead resided back in the day.


Haight and Ashbury convene on a corner crowded with tourists and photographers. There are wonderful little shops with antiques, resale clothing, eateries, and bookstores. You'd probably find the odd head-shop here too I would imagine. We had a wonderful snack at the Crepe Express right off the corner and I couldn't have been happier!


Our feet hurtin' - especially Kris and we wandered on back towards our hotel. Dinner was a trip to Mel's Drive-In right around the corner from our hotel. The decor was darling, and we had high hopes, but I'd have to give it a "C" for our dining experience. The service was really good, and the juke box on the tables was fun too. But the hamburgers were a little bit over-done and the chili was pretty spicy. My salad was okay, it's hard to mess up a salad. But I can't overly recommend this place to you. Just my humble opinion.

Day three took us for a very long walk uptown and then towards the wharf. We passed the home of Danielle Steele (author) and strolled down Lombard Street, the windiest street in the world.



What a marvel! Next destination was Fisherman's Wharf for lunch, shopping, and snacks. We had lunch at Boudin Bakery - delicious! They are touristy but so yummy and you can watch them baking the bread. Love those animal-shaped breads, the sandwiches and soup, and some very tasty cookies. Try the macaroons dipped into chocolate for a wonderful treat. We saw Pier 39 and viewed both Alcatraz and the local sea life.



Of course we shared sundaes at Ghirardelli Square and my mint-chocolate chip sundae with dark hot fudge couldn't have been more delicious. There are some cool little shops here and some street vendors as well. I got a couple of pairs of adorable earrings for $5 a piece. We'll see how they last, but they're pretty cute. The line for the cable cars was about 30 minutes long, but I've seen longer lines on previous visits. Right below Buena Vista on Hyde we boarded the cable car and I got to ride on the outside standing up like a tourist giggling all the way to Union Square. Love love love it!

We shopped in Union Square and in the Westfield Shopping Centre right around the corner from our hotel. We even had dinner in the dining hall downstairs - an upgraded food court for sure.

Our last morning had us out on a lovely walk to Yerba Buena Gardens. We stopped into St. Patrick's Church next door and their morning mass was very nice. The church is historically re-built after the 1906 earthquake. The original was built in 1851.



The Samovar Tea Lounge in Yerba Buena Gardens was one of the best brunches I have ever had. I enjoyed the Chinese Tea Service (one of several available) with blood orange spiced tea and smoked duck with veggies. The tea cookies were a bit dry but the green tea mousse and rice pudding were both dynamite. We loved the Chinese dancers in this park and the ambience of another smaller city park within a bustling city. There were a few street people here, but hey - it's San Francisco! The city was filled with street people... on the street, in the alleys, on the buses too. That's the grit of life.

Loved this trip with my mom and my niece and can't wait to do it again. Love you both.