Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Road Trip Day 2: San Francisco

After Big Sur, it took us a few hours to drive to San Francisco. We got there at about 8pm Sunday night and checked into our hotel on Lombard Street. Since we would only be there for the day, we woke up early the next morning and headed to Fisherman's Warf so we could see as much as the city as possible. My favorite part was the street vendors selling fresh seafood off of their carts! I bought a sourdough bread bowl filled with the best clam chowder I've ever had. It was amazing. We were planning to take the boat to tour Alcatraz, but all of the tours were already sold out so we had to settle and see it from the pier. 

After we spent some time there we decided to head to China Town. I couldn't believe how incredible packed and crowded it was there on a Monday afternoon! We ran into a local Chinese woman who told us to avoid this particular street where the tourists go, and to go to Jackson street if we want authentic Chinese food. We followed her advice and ended up at this amazing restaurant whose name I couldn't even pronounce. We then preceded to stuff our face! The food was out of this world spectacular. I had just eaten clam chowder and I still ate everything in sight! After lunch we wandered around the markets, which was probably the best part of San Francisco for me. I have an obsessed with weird odds and ends like that!

           Cayden in our hotel room looking out on San Francisco                                       Our view from the hotel 

              The cable car leading to Fisherman's Warf                                                      Our first view of the Warf 

         Street vendors selling fresh, hot crab. It smelled amazing!                       The best clam chowder I've ever had! 

                                                                                   More street vendors by the pier

                       We were bummed we didn't get to tour Alcatraz, but we still got to take pictures in front of it! 

                                                                             Chinese market 

                                                                                    Inside the Chinese market 

                                                                                                      China Town 

                               I loved the interesting architecture of the buildings and all the bunting and Chinese lanterns! 

                                                One of my favorite pictures from San Francisco

After China Town it was time to get back on the road and continue our trip! Tomorrow I'll be posting pictures of the California coast. You wouldn't believe how long it took us to drive less than 100 miles! XOXO

5 comments:

  1. Love love love love love Frisco!! It's one of my favorite cities in the world. China town is amazing and so interesting, but the less touristy streets are far better. I'm glad to hear that you took the advice of a local lady. We always try to hit the places the locals love rather than the touristy places. I've been to Frisco a ton, but never to Alcatraz so I feel your pain. I know in the spring my mom was up there & they had to make reservations a week or so in advance. Crazy! If you ever go back, you HAVE to go to the Ferry building! You'll find even more amazing food there!

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  2. Yes, a lot of the places were packed with tourists (on a MONDAY!), but it was still fun to see everything. The local lady was awesome, I'm so glad we followed her advice! I'll try the Ferry building for sure next time. #ilovefood

    I know, I was so bummed about Alcatraz! We called like a week in advance and they were all sold out, I couldn't believe it! I definitely want to go back and do it though one of these days! :)

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  3. i left my heart in san francisco and need to go back and get it! i love, love, love it there. in fact, so much i debated moving there until b squashed that. it is amazing there.
    i want to do the alcataz tour, too. looks creepy!!!
    great pics of chinatown. so glad you guys had fun!
    xo

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  4. I could definitely see you living there! We had a lot of fun! I want to do Alcatraz so bad! It's prob super creepy! XOXO

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  5. I loved SF when I visited in April! Def NEED to go back and spend more time there...wanna visit suburbs.

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