In the days before we left for San Francisco, there was a lot of drama about when we would go and where we would stay. There was an entire week when we thought his trip would be canceled, so I waited until the last possible minute to book my plane tickets and find a hotel. Room rates continued to climb while we waited and a once reasonable timeshare that we booked was inexplicably cancelled at the last minute, we started looking at other options. Rather than lay down $1600 for a hotel room we didn’t want, I took to AirBnB and started searching.
In case you aren’t familiar, it is similar to VRBO in that you are renting from an individual, but it’s a much more secure process and there are hundreds of rentals available. Although it was advertised as a “gritty neighborhood”, we booked an adorable studio apartment in The Tenderloin for almost half of what a hotel would have cost. The host was wonderful and very responsive during our stay. The fridge was stocked with a few things to tide us over and he even left wine and cookies on the counter! I would absolutely recommend traveling this way if you want to explore new neighborhoods and live like a local for a few days.
Josh picked me up from the airport a little before 7 o’clock on Thursday night. We dropped off our bags and found a cute local restaurant for dinner. Bitters, Bock & Rye (now closed) was within walking distance of our apartment and served excellent BBQ. After dinner, we talked and walked around the neighborhood a bit before crashing into that super comfy bed. The reviews were accurate — Geary Street was full of city sounds, but we loved it and even slept with our windows open!
On Friday morning, we drove through Cow Hollow on our way to Golden Gate and stopped at Mel’s Drive In for brunch. Apparently it’s a chain, but having never heard of it before we decided to give it a try. All you need to know is that I had French toast, bacon and the best chocolate milk. De-lish.
It was a pretty dreary morning, so we couldn’t see much of the bridge until we were right up on it. We drove into Marin County and up many winding roads to the Muir Woods National Monument. There are only two tiny parking lots and tons of people were parked on the tiny streets surrounding the park by the time we got there. Luckily, we waited just long enough and got a spot in the largest lot.
The redwoods are impressive. It’s really difficult to capture just how massive they are in photographs. I’m a big fan of parks and walking trails, so this day did not disappoint. Most of the trees are behind fences, but there were a few close enough to touch. Can you believe how tiny we (and those other people) look standing next to these trees?!
All morning I had been complaining about wanting to hug one when we finally stumbled across this one. You can get a better idea of just how big around these things really were!
We hiked almost as far as we could before turning around and heading into the gift shop for water and a few shirts for the girls. Of course, I got glow-in-the-dark ones and they were tickled pink.
Sausalito was next on our list and it was probably my favorite place of the entire trip. I convinced Josh that we should move there, but Gran gave us the veto. A friend of his recommended that we try Napa Valley Burger for lunch and despite the crowd outside (they don’t take reservations), we snagged a table in the window almost immediately.
Let me tell you about this burger. It’s called the Yountville and it was everything. Every. Thing.
If you know me even a little bit, you’ll understand that’s it huge for me to say this, but this burger is the best burger I’ve eaten. Ever. Even better than Shake Shack. Y’all. It had Parmesan cheese sauce, arugula, red onions, bacon and fresh GARLIC CROUTONS. Croutons on a burger. I wanted to eat there every day.
After lunch, we walked around the neighborhood a little and found a quiet place to sit. This city was hopping in the middle of the day, but the benches near the water weren’t quite as busy.
We just sat on this bench and talked. About things. We weren’t interrupted and we didn’t have to think of things to say. We laughed and pointed and people-watched. And took my favorite “team selfie” of the trip.
After awhile, we walked down to the marina and watched the boats and birds for a bit.
Josh found a super-cute store called Soxalito and bought two pairs of socks: mustaches and ninjas. If you can think of it, it was on socks. I wish I had bought some for myself, but Ill just have to borrow his. They are hilarious! We finished up our walk with a mint chip waffle cone at Lappert’s and started driving back towards the city.
This time we parked an at overpass and walked to the Golden Gate Bridge. The weather had changed dramatically and it was amazing. We hiked up and down the hill and got a few great shots.
We finally made it to Chrissy Field at the bottom of the hill and walked out into the pier for even better views. It’s a Civil War era fort and the landscaping and architecture is incredible.
By this point, we were exhausted and opted for a nap. We grabbed snacks and a Dr. Pepper from the market downstairs (we had to drink it out of wine glasses, because it was that or champagne flutes!!) and headed to bed. We slept until almost 10 o’clock before venturing out to Cafe Mason for a late dinner. I left my camera behind because Josh was tired of photo ops by that point and he really hates it when I take the big camera into a restaurant. The nerve?! I had pasta for dinner and after another neighborhood stroll we headed back to rest up for Saturday’s adventures.
