8th Anniversary Trip to San Francisco

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE my husband!  He is truly the best. 

At the beginning of the year, Rob asked if he could plan a special get away for our 8th anniversary.  He then told me it would require an airplane. 

With Ky and Alaina being young, and with my frugality--it is always hard for me to splurge--but he kept on me and I said "YES!"  After all--isn't one of the most important things for a healthy marriage is investing TIME in each other.  It really was the perfect idea--no kids and just the two of us.  Isn't he romantic!?  (And PERFECT!)

A few months before, he let me know we were going to San Francisco for the Ghiradelli Chocolate Festival (does he know me or what!).  We then booked our flight and room.  We were staying on Fisherman's Warf which meant we were in the heart of the city and touristy area, as well as near Ghiradelli Square and we would not need to use public transportation or rent a car. 

Thursday night was hustle and bustle to pack.  I honestly don't remember what all was going on, but I was unable to pack until late Thursday night--which means--OF COURSE I forgot something....

We got up EARLY (4 AM) on Friday morning to drive to the airport.  I was dragging.  On our way to the airport we then also got lost thanks to detours due to construction.  As we were waiting for our shuttle and praying we weren't going to be late, I quickly realized I forgot my coat.  YUP--not a good plan, end of September and on the ocean.  Hey--I was already chilly in Milwaukee!  UGH!  I quickly decided my souvenir would be a coat in SF. 

We were fortunate that the security lines were very short at the airport and were able to make our flight without a problem.  I guess at this point I should add that I am pregnant--pretty sure I am pregnant and am feeling EXHAUSTED!  I know I was not the best company.  I slept a little on the plane, but really needed a nap.  When we got to SF, Rob had already purchased tickets for a shuttle to take us to the hotel.  (We were able to save money by doing it in advance--and we also figured we would know exactly what to look for.)  Well we were WRONG again.  We waited an HOUR for our shuttle.  There were so many other shuttles that came and went in the time we sat there.   UGH!  Note:  In the future do NOT purchase shuttle tickets in advance--it is NOT worth it.  So there I was TIRED, and now HUNGRY and feeling Nauseous (isn't pregnancy wonderful?!)

It was not a good start to our romantic getaway and I really felt bad for Rob, I know I was not the best of company.  (Yeah--I was complaining...)

We got to our hotel (after driving with a disrespectful passenger--He made a poor comment about someone who was biking--hmmm--we are from Madison--big "Bike" your way around city--and visiting SF--another big "Bike" the city--you know I made a comment back.)  And I honestly don't remember if I collapsed on the bed for a nap first or we went to get food first.  I was pretty hungry.  Either way, I was pathetic and took a nap.  We then went to walk the warf and find food and a coat for me. 

We were hungry so we stopped at a small seaside walk-up.  We ordered a crab sandwich & chips.  We are not big fans of fish, but we figured that since we were on the coast, it was the only honorable thing to do.  The sandwich was not bad.  I wouldn't eat it all the time, but it was fine.  That was when I decided that I must be a fish snob--perhaps I only like fish when it's fresh and not shipped halfway across the country? 

We walked by the Boudin Sourdough bread store.  They had neat loaves of bread shaped like just about every animal you could imagine.  The lines inside were also outrageous, showing what a tourist trap it was. 

I did find my coat.  I just bought a fleece coat to keep me warm.  I bought it from one of those outside flea tent things.  The ladies did not seem to happy with me pawing through their merchandise--it was kind of weird, like they just expected me to tell the my size and color and then they would get it for me.  But I don't shop that way.  Anyway...

For dinner we walked around the warf and ate a surf-type joint.  We ate outside.  It was chilly, but most of the restaurants have heat lamps to keep it warm.  The food was fine--nothing special.  We got burgers. 

Afterwards, we walked around the warf some more.  Check out the pictures of the seals--and the video!  They were fun to sit and watch.  One of the seals looked dead--but we weren't sure.  The rest were singing and talking to each other.  Really cool!

We stopped and got ice cream at Norman's.  This place was voted best ice cream in San Francisco several years in a row.  Honestly, we weren't that impressed.  We have definitely had better--but then again we come from dairy country (happy cows in California do NOT = better ice cream!)

Rob found a Lefty shop.  He was VERY excited.  They had lefty notebooks, scissors, coffee cups (if you grab it with your right hand to drink there is a hole and it spills all over you), pens (I guess the ink dries super fast so your hand doesn't smear the ink as you write)--and lefty everything else.  It was a fun story.  Rob was in LOVE! and purchased a lefty notebook for himself before we left. 

We did not visit Alcatrez, though we could see it just fine from the warf.  We chose not to spend our limited time or money on touring a jail cell--somehow it just wasn't romantic :)

There were all sorts of street acts.  My favorites was the men that were painted in metallics.  They would stand really still and then scare tourists as they walked by.  There were also plenty of painters, musicians, and even some acrobatic acts. And of course MANY homeless. 

That night we slept in our comfy bed.  The next morning we went to Johnny Rocket for breakfast.  It was pretty yummy food!  We listened to oldies and watched the people walking by.  We then decided to explore uptown before the chocolate fest. 
If you haven't been to SF, it is VERY hilly.  The warf is naturally at the bottom of the hills.  As you walk up it is VERY steep.  There are signs posted reminding cars to park with their tires pointed towards or away from the curb (in case they "run away!) You will notice that I took a lot of pictures from on top of hills.  It was really neat looking down and seeing the bay and the GG bridge.  Of course the bridge was ALWAYS foggy, so you couldn't truly see all of it.  We did learn that the bridge can sway up to 28 feet and is made that way.  Isn't that incredible?!  (Doesn't really make us want to go on it--though I am sure it is safe--but I am just saying.) 

We didn't take any trolleys while we were there.  The trolleys seem to be mostly for tourists and the lines to get on are OUTRAGEOUS.  Plus we figured we could walk most of the trolley route. 

We walked down the windiest street in the world--Lombard St.  There were a lot of tourists driving down it and taking pictures. 

After our walk down Lombard St. We hung out by the water waiting for the festival.  The water was COLD!  And there were people swimming--mostly in wet suits--but still! 

After that we were off to the INCREDIBLE lines at the chocolate fest.  The place was crowded but well worth the wait.  Chocolatiers from all over California sharing their chocolate goodness.  We had tickets with 14 punches--meaning that each of us could sample 14 different chocolatiers--and taste we did!  (As well as squirrel some away for later.)  My stomach still wasn't feeling up to par--but I did well despite that.  MMMM--mmmm!

The festival was 2 days, but Rob and I had decided that we would just try to use up all our ticket punches on Saturday and spend Sunday in China town.

On our way out we stopped at a small brewery where Rob enjoyed a few local brews and I appreciated the architecture. From there we returned to our hotel and prepared for our Italian dinner at Capp's Corner.  This place was recommended by our concierge.  It was okay, but honestly I wasn't overly impressed.    And that was about the end of our Saturday.

Sunday morning, we returned to the Italian area because I had seen some AWESOME looking bakeries that I wanted to try (check out the pics) for breakfast.  MMM!

From there we walked our way to China Town.  Very cool area of the city!  Most signs were in Chinese--they even had a Chinese YMCA!  We stopped in a lot of the shops and browsed, and of course I bought some chop sticks!   For lunch we stopped in a Chinese Restaurant (Hang Ah) that had Dim Sum.  The food was DIVINE!  I loved my Lotus rolls!   The best part of the restaurant was our fortune cookies.  They were TOO ironic!  At this time we had a pretty good hunch that I was pregnant, but did not know for sure.  My fortune said "A short stranger will soon enter your life with blessings to share."  And Rob's said, "You will soon receive and unusual gift."  How funny!

From China town we walked towards the baseball stadium (Rob was bummed that they weren't playing otherwise we would have gotten tickets.)  But OF COURSE, we stopped at another local brew pub for Rob to try on our way.  And he got to see some of the Packer game.  We walked around AT&T park and then down the warf and back towards China town.  The water was gorgeous! 

Back through China Town we walked down the "less touristy" roads.  We got to see more of the "True" Chinese culture.  There markets were so neat.  Tons of dried fish, mushrooms, ginseng--you name it (don't forget the salted pig parts!)

From there we walked back to the warf and had a soup bread bowl at Boudins.  It was just the thing we needed to warm ourselves up.  We spent our evening walking the warf and enjoying each others company.  And then of course topped the night off with a Ghiradelli Fudge Sundae.  YUM!

Monday morning we were up early and returned to the warf for breakfast.  We shared 2 crepes.  One was stuffed with egg, cheese, tomatoes, etc...the other was stuffed with chocolate, bananas, strawberries, & nutella.  YUM!  We then returned to our hotel to pack and leave. 

Thankfully our trip back was uneventful and it was good to see the kids again.  We picked them up from Nana's and drove home.  We were all pretty tired. 

What a wonderful trip and a wonderful way to celebrate 8 GREAT years of marriage...now we just have to get back to planning our 10 year Hawaii Anniversary Trip!