Stopped for a delicious breakfast in Walnut Creek:

Decided to go into San Francisco, and on the way to the Ferry Building saw a guy who pretends to be in a bush and scares people who aren’t paying attention. Apparently this is in imitation of a fellow who does this down in Fisherman’s Wharf. Made me laugh!!

Stopped at the Embarcadero Center and found this odd sculpture:

Lots of political stuff:

Ferry Building
Discovered this not from the book (and this is something that should have been in there) but from looking for chocolate shops. There is a farmer’s market there on Tues and Sat, and so we just happened to be there then. Had a couple of samples of peaches… mmm divine peaches out there!! Inside the building is a bunch of upscale shops, including some chocolate, olive oil, and wine shops.

Produce for sale:

Inside, more pretty things for sale:

The main goal, chocolate shops – and I ate all the chocolates I bought a long time ago. ;) They were really good. :)

Recchiuti had a bunch of little chocolates you could buy, and I got one that was a salty caramel – really good. It was called Fleur de Sel. Scharffen Berger had more bars which I’m not as fond of – I like truffles the best. They were also selling truffles by Joseph Schmidt. I think this is the same kind of the one I got at Fishmerman’s Wharf, but they were much smaller. Mini truffles I guess. Much better the smaller size. :)

On the way back into San Francisco

And that’s my trip!! It was great. I don’t get to see Josh much anymore, in college it was much easier to see everyone. I really liked San Francisco – all the wonderful sunshine and warmth. :) I would really like to go back and get to see a little more!!

Golden Gate Bridge
Coming from San Francisco, there was all this fog which is pretty typical. It was also windy and chilly. You couldn’t see much of the bridge, but the fog was like giant clouds so I enjoyed feeling as though I was in clouds. Then crossing over the bridge it was this amazing transformation to a beautiful, bright, sunny day! Very cool! Josh and I walked a little on the bridge, but to be honest I don’t really see the appeal of walking the whole thing. I think it if had been a clear day it might have been different but it just seemed kind of pointless to walk through a bunch of fog.

Sasulito
This is a cute little waterfront artsy community. You get great views of the bay, and there are lots of places to grab something to eat. I highly recommend getting some food and eating out by the water, but always keeping watch out for those nasty seagulls. Yuck! Lots of cute stores to roam in and out of if that’s your thing. It’s a perfect sunny afternoon destination.

Muir Woods/Panoramic Drive/Mt Tamalpais
This area is incredible. You drive up these crazy hills and close your eyes if you’re scared of heights (I am!). This is where some of the nature stuff is, and in another visit I would like to do some hikes. The views are just incredible – you can see out far into the bay! It also made my legs feel very wobbly ;) The natives seem a little less than tolerant of people who aren’t used to driving the sharp curvy roads. ;) This is where I took the panorama

On the way home I got this cool flag shot:

Fisherman’s Wharf
I went fairly early in the morning to Fisherman’s Wharf, not quite realizing the configuration of the area. I would have gotten tickets to Alcatraz first since it seems like it’s pretty popular and you can’t always get a ferry right when you want to. It’s a really nice area though, lots of flowers, great container gardening, and lots of touristy shops to visit. I liked watching the sea lions- their antics were funny to watch. I don’t know what they do all day but make funny noises and sunbathe!

Alcatraz
I am not a big one for paying a lot of money for things on vacation, I prefer to do things on my own and for free since I do try to be conservative with the way I spend money. So I had debated back and forth about this since it was $20 something and I wasn’t sure I was going to enjoy it enough to justify the money spent. I ended up enjoying it far more than I thought I would. The best part was the audio tour. I usually don’t do the tours because I tend to get bored and have flashbacks of being in lectures but it was a really well done (free!) audio tour. The only sad, sad, sad part was that my camera battery died halfway through and … sob I missed all the beautiful views of San Francisco.

Ghirardelli Square
Luckily, on the way here I found a camera store and despite all this and that about paying for things, bought a camera battery. So I happily was back on my way since I was kind of heartbroken about my camera battery dying. I enjoyed this little area, although I wasn’t really sure it was worth the visit. I like Ghirardelli – and they have these new milk chocolate peanut butter squares that are great but it’s not my favorite chocolate. They had some cute upscale shops here, including a doggie store – so I had a fun time there chatting with the owner. Overall though it wasn’t too exciting.

Cable Cars
I took cable cars mainly the second day when my legs were pretty worked from the not taking the cable car because I didn’t want to pay for it ;) It was a fun ride, and pretty cool to see something that was made so long ago still being used. They have a weird smell to them though. It wasn’t really good for taking pics though, and I really wanted to hang off of it like an idiot toursit – but just swung a little bit here and there. ;) They are pretty lax about collecting fare though, so I managed to ride it pretty inexpensively. :)

Berkley
I didn’t really see too much of Berkley since it was at the end of the day and I was still on east coast time and tired. I did go to Triple Rock Brewery and had a yummy stout there. They also had good french fries there. It reminded me a lot of Harvard Square in Boston. I also had yummy gelato and watched Josh ask everyone he saw if there was a protest we could go see. :P

I really loved San Francisco. A lot of people told me I would really like it and they were certainly right. :) I went out there to visit with on of my good friends Josh who moved out there recently and he was a great host, including stocking the fridge with my most love caffeine free diet coke. :) He worked some of the days I was there but it worked out well since I am just as happy wandering by myself and was able to cover some of the sights he had already seen. The weather was really nice – so much wonderful sunshine, a little cool, and lots of diverse fun things to do. The guidebook I used was Top 10 San Francisco which I highly recommend. In no way it is the most detailed, but for someone who wants a great listing of the best of, along with it being very easy to carry around it is perfect. Plus, you can always supplement what you want to do with things you research on the web.

Chinatown
This was my first destination. I’m not sure how much it differed from the normal Chinatown in an average city, but it was still fun to walk through. :) Lots of cheap goodies, and statue shops. I’m not a big shopper on vacation because it means I have to lug it all home so I didn’t really stop to browse through the shops.

While there, I found St. Mary’s square and St. Mary’s cathedral. St. Mary’s cathedral was a nice little church, and it was a nice little stop. I liked the stained windows :)

At this point, I really began to notice how hilly San Francisco was. It was a pretty warm day and since I was carrying all that I had brought with me (backpack and a small other bag) I was getting a little toasty. Made me very glad that I did decide to pack very light.

Grace Cathedral
This destination was from the guidebook and was one of the places I really wanted to go. It was really cool to experience something that looked like something from Europe here in the US. The inside is just breathtaking – it’s peaceful, cool, and quiet. I really needed a tripod, but I don’t have one so did the best I could although most of the pictures I took did not come out. There are a lot of pretty buildings in the area and it’s a fun walk up and down the hills.

Union Square
Being that I’m not a huge shopper on vacation, going to Union Square and all the shops was not a huge destination for me but I enjoyed taking a little breather from the hilly walk. Lots of people were in this area, especially now that work was getting out and it’s nice to be in a public space where people can sit, chit chat, have some coffee, walk through and just enjoy the people watching.

Yersba Buena Gardens
There was a large convention going on, so the gardens were half set up for an event for it. There were also a lot of people at the convention, so it was a little crowded. It was one of the gardens listed in the book and since I love to go to gardens and take pictures it was somewhere I really did want to do. It wasn’t quite as much as I thought it would be – and then it was full of people.

Black Bear Diner
This has to be the corniest chain ever. But the food is good, and everyone was very friendly at the restaurant. Josh and I had fun taking pictures with the super large stuffed bear. (which I need to get from Josh) I was disappointed that they didn’t serve actual bear though – I had it once and it reminded me of dry pot roast. I wanted to see if I remember it right.

I made it safely with no delays (!) to San Francisco! The city is really nice, clean – and hilly! ;) My legs go a good workout yesterday! I’m off to go down by Fisherman’s Warf today and Alcatraz – and will post some updates later.

At the airport, waiting to board. :) I’m excited! I managed to pack it all into a backpack and a bag for my camera. I like traveling light if it’s possible, not always possible. When I get into San Francisco I plan on going to Chinatown. Fingers crossed for no flight delays!

One of my very good friends moved out to San Fran and I’ve really wanted to go visit! I’ve never been to San Francisco, so I am going out there after boards!! Yay!!!! I am really excited about this, I know I’m going to have an awesome time and I’ll also get to hang out with a friend I don’t normally get to see too much. :)

So I need good suggestion on what to do. I absolutely want to go see wine country or whatever you want to call it so that is a must do! But besides that I love to go to cool, interesting places, and hopefully with lots of things to take photos of!!

And this picture has nothing to with San Fran, I just like it :)