San Francisco!

Our gift to each other this Christmas was a one night stay in San Francisco! I've been wanting to go back to San Fran since the last time I was there.... New Year's Eve 2002. My Dad's brother and entire family live up in the Bay Area and, as a family, we would spend every Thanksgiving there when I was young. I realized, after we'd arrived in San Francisco that I'd never seen it during the day light hours! We always cruised into the city after our big turkey dinner- in the evening! Anyhoo, we had a blast!

It all started at LAX on the Virgin American airplane. Have you ever flow Virgin America?? Holy smokes! It's amazing! I was bummed the flight only took an hour! Tanner was in tech heaven! And the black lights- I mean, are you kidding me?? It was awesome!

When we arrived at the Hilton we asked if there were any upgrades available. Hot dog! I'm glad we asked! They gave us a room with a balcony on the 38th floor overlooking the city. Plus we got a free breakfast at Starbucks which was super delish. We were totally stoked!

First thing's first. We headed down to Fisherman's Wharf. (Did I mentioned we did it on foot? Ok, San Fran is NOT Chicago! There are HILLS! Steep ones! I was so sore the next day... and we totally wished we had Spencer with us as we traveled through Chinatown..)

But,I digress,

We stopped at Boudins for some yummy clam chowder in a bread bowl. We may of may not have bought 25 cookies at Mrs. Fields for dessert.

We thoroughly enjoyed exploring Pier 39

We then hopped on a boat and took a cruise around the bay. It took us under the Golden Gate bridge and around Alcatraz.

View of the city

Alcatraz- totally going to tour the prison next time we visit San Francisco!

After the cruise we walked down to Ghiradelli Square. We didn't buy any chocolate- just enjoyed the free sample. But we DID find a yummy smelling candle. :-)

We thought this mermaid fountain was pretty sweet.

We went inside and checked out the chocolate making factory.

Then we walked and walked some more. We found Lombard Street but were too lazy to walk up that big hill to get a closer look- you'll just have to trust us on this one.

We took a trolley back to Union Square. This is Tanner holding on for dear life!

Everything was decorated so festively for Christmas. It really put us in the Christmas spirit. Macy's knows how to do it up right!

That night we ate at a little Irish Pub. It had a super cool atmosphere and the food wasn't too shabby either.

Tanner enjoyed his authentic corned beef and cabbage.

The Hilton was also decorated so Christmasy. They had a display of gingerbread houses with a little toy train that ran throughout them. I so wished Parker was there to see it!

This was the view from our room that night. It was breathtaking!

The next morning we were so excited to look out our window to see if it wasn't all just a dream!

Nope, look at that city!

We were told by many sources to eat at Mama's for breakfast but to expect to wait in line for an hour. So we had our yummy Starbucks breakfast and then made our way to Mama's for... 2nd breakfast. We were on VACATION, OK????

It did NOT disappoint! So worth the wait!

After breakfast we took a ferry to Sausalito. It was a very relaxing boat ride and when we got to Sausalito we realized there was really not much to do. So, we made the most of it and took some pictures and hung out together overlooking the water.

This last picture is my favorite. The sunset was so beautiful that night. The clouds finally started to break up and let the sun shine through.

We took a bus over the Golden Gate Bridge and back to Union Square and ate dinner at a little 50's diner. We met some interesting people during our travels. On the way back to the airport we met a guy from Australia who had been in San Francisco for 5 weeks all by himself, staying in youth hostels, and just seeing the sights. We also met a super nice Argentine girl who invited us to stay at her Vineyard in Buenos Aries next time we go to South America. :-) I didn't want to break it to her that we've got the hook ups in Argie Town.

San Francisco was beautiful and I loved being able to spend 2 days alone with my husband. Best Christmas gift ever! :-)