Weekend Update: The San Francisco Treat! (Part Three)

We woke up early Saturday morning, grabbed some coffee, and headed down to the end of the cable car line. We decided to travel San-Fran style to Fisherman's Wharf to find bikes for the day. It wasn't too much of a wait to get on board:

This was way better than walking like we did on Friday!

When we heard them announce the Lombard Street stop, we decided to get off early & take a stroll down one of San Francisco's crookedest streets:

It was a nice walk downhill from there to the wharf. We had done a little research before we left, so we knew of this one small rental place that had much cheaper rates than the one most of the tourists use. We walked through some small neighborhoods until we found "Wheel Fun" in a parking lot near the marina.  We hopped on our "vintage" tandem bike and were on our way to the Golden Gate Bridge:

We had gorgeous views in all directions and as you can tell the weather was perfect!

I took most of these pictures while "on the go":

Don't worry - I was still pedaling :)

Taking a quick break to enjoy the view:

And back on the bike for the remainder of the 1.7 mile ride across. If you look real close you can see Jay's head in the bottom corner of this picture:

After a very steep (and scary!) ride down the hill on the other side, we were welcomed by some more great views:

We pulled off onto this fishing pier to get some pictures and saw some huge sea lions swimming for lost bait! It's hard to tell, but they were so big!

We then rode into Sausalito and parked so we could walk around a bit: Can you see our bike?

We chose this really cute restaurant - Piccolo Teatro - to sit & have a bite to eat:

They had the best lemonade!!

I had this yummy ravioli with sweet peas and leeks:

Jay had a portobello sandwich and tomato soup:

We did a little exploring and then headed back to the city via ferry:

It is THE way to get back - there was no way I wanted to ride UP those hills we rode down on the way in!

Sausalito from the water - it's so pretty & reminds me of what Italy might look like:

Must-take pictures of us & the bridge:

Bye bye bridge...

We went right past Alcatraz & talked about how crazy it must have been for the inmates there...so close yet so far...

And we were back at the Wharf:

The Wharf is such tourist craziness that we rode right through it back to Wheel Fun to return our bike...but not before getting a picture!

We then grabbed some water from Safeway across the street and then hung out at the park for a rest. Everyone was enjoying the weather!

Upon returning to our hotel, we asked the concierge for a recommendation for a restaurant near our hotel. He suggested Fish & Farm - a chef-owned restaurant within walking distance (sorry 30 Bus!).

We were there a little early, so had a drink at the bar. Jay had a mint julep (it was one of the specials). On the right side of this picture you can also see the appetizer we ordered - bacon tater tots. Oh my were they GOOD!

And I had my new favorite - a margarita:

No pictures of our food (gasp!) but I had the most delicious rib eye (Jay even said it was one of the best steaks he has ever had) and Jay had salmon. The dessert menu didn't really strike our fancy, so Jay decided to introduce me to the Thai dessert of sweet rice & mango with Thai iced tea. Thai restaurants make me nervous with all their peanuts but it was a tiny little place & I felt safe. Jay was a very happy husband eating this stuff:

We were having way too much fun to go to bed, so we searched for an Irish bar for some Guinness. Mmmmmmm....

And then we just got goofy:

We even did Blue Steel:

Ahhhh Johnny Foleys...you got the best of us that night. You even got my purse as I left it there. Thankfully you are awesome & locked it safely away until the next morning. I have a love/hate relationship with Johnny Foley.

Let's just say it was hard getting out of bed on Sunday morning. And I wasn't thrilled to be back in the bar, but I was very happy to get my purse (and camera!) back! 

We sadly left San Francisco & grabbed the BART back to the airport for Phoenix. 

It's trips like these that I just love! Spontaneous & fun-filled, but most importantly it was some real quality time with my very best friend. 

xoxo

Weekend Update: The San Francisco Treat! (Part Two)

After our afternoon nap, we headed back out for more fun! We took the 30 Bus to the Cow Hollow district to find some bars that Jay had read about online. This one - La Barca - was known for its famous margaritas.

They had two different types available - a traditional version and another version that is made more like a martini. I opted for the former, Jay for the latter. I think I'm now a true margarita lover because I liked both! Jay's was definitely stronger, but just as delicious!

Next we walked to City Tavern because we heard it was the place to be - that is for the under-30 crowd! We figured we'd still give it a shot & it ended up being a great atmosphere with cheap beer for happy hour! 

After City Tavern, we decided to walk around and check out the neighborhood. We walked by some very cute shops & boutiques before stumbling upon Jovino - a quaint wine cafe. We took a seat at the bar & ordered our drinks. I saw that they had a "famous sangria" so asked the bartender about it. He warned that it might be too sweet so gave me a sample. Wow. It was like melted sherbet. Not really what I was looking for, so Jay picked out a nice red wine for me and he had a beer. We chatted with the bartender and then decided we better head back towards the North Beach (San Francisco's "Little Italy") district for our dinner reservation. 

Here we are on the 30 Bus again. It was THE bus for us - if we weren't walking, we were on a cheap $2 ride on the 30! 

Our reservations were at The Stinking Rose restaurant. This restaurant is famous for it's abundant use of garlic. They use over 3,000 pounds per month!

I loved the area they sat us in. We had our own little private booth along this corridor:

For our appetizer we had "Garlic Soaking in a Hot Tub" which is garlic cloves, roasted in olive oil & butter with a hint of anchovy (you couldn't taste the anchovy - I swear!). It is served in a hot skillet with fresh focaccia bread to spread it on. 

For my main course, I had Garlic Roasted Prime Rib...

...and Jay had the Silence of the Lamb Shank:

Both were delicious!

For dessert we of course had to order the garlic ice cream. It's strangely good and comes with a caramel mole sauce that we got on the side.

It was the perfect way to end such a wonderful day!

Day 2 coming up soon!

xoxo

Weekend Update: The San Francisco Treat! (Part One)

The story goes like this:

Sometime Sunday afternoon

Jay: Don't we have those non-rev tickets from Lynn somewhere? I think they are expiring soon. 

Amie: Oh yeah - they're in that box over there....

Jay: Here they are - and yeah they expire May 6. So where do you want to go?

Then we talked for a few minutes about Seattle, Portland or San Francisco for a weekend getaway sometime soon. 

Tuesday-ish

Amie: So when do you think we should go? Two weeks from now?

Jay: I was thinking we should go this weekend....

Amie: Oh sweet! I probably should talk to work about getting a day off...

Jay: Let's wait a bit...I'll check on hotels, etc. 

Amie: We can always go Saturday and come back Monday...or Friday and come back Sunday...

Thursday Morning

Jay texts Amie: I'm thinking San Francisco!

Amie texts Jay: Awesome! When are we going? Friday or Saturday? 

Jay texts Amie: I was thinking Friday...

Amie tells work she won't be coming in the next day. 

Thursday Night Before Bed

Jay books hotel.

Friday at 7am

Amie and Jay's flight departs to San Fran for the weekend!

Ok, now that you have the scene set, here's the first installment of our trip!

Arriving at the BART station & pimpin' it....

It was a PERFECTLY sunny and warm day which can be rare in this city with all it's fog! We had a nice & pretty short walk to check in at our hotel. We booked at the King George Hotel from a deal we found on TravelZoo. By the way, I love TravelZoo - it's where we got our hotel for our Montreal trip too. It was a great rate for this last minute booking and the King George was a really cute boutique hotel - I liked that it had character :) Jay and I called it the "Georges a Cinq" the whole weekend ala the movie French Kiss. Just pretend we're saying it with a nice strong French accent....

A quick freshening up and we were off! Well, more like UP! We decided to walk up the street our hotel was on - Mason Street - up towards Nob Hill. It was a fantastic workout! 

At the top of the hill were beautiful views of the city along with Grace Cathedral...

It was built with serious inspiration from Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris and is also famous for it's Ghiberti doors (which I remember learning about in Art History class!).

Magnificent inside:

After our visit to the Cathedral we started looking for a place to have lunch. One of my favorite things about San Francisco are the flowers that most corner shops have for sale on the sidewalks! There is fruit in most of the windows too! I can just imagine living here and walking by my favorite shop every day buying an apple and maybe some daisies...ahhhh....

Back to reality! We had worked up a serious appetite by this point and ended up having lunch at Nob Hill Cafe - a tiny Italian restaurant located right near the top of Nob Hill. We got there just as it opened, so we had a cozy little window table which was perfect! I had a white cheddar, apple and pancetta pizza and Jay had pasta with garlic tomato sauce. Both were very good! The only thing is that the pictures we took inside were pretty dark, so instead you get a picture of the outside...

Our next stop was Chinatown which was such an adventure!

We found our way to this tiny alley in search for something in particular....

The Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory! It is tucked away with a tiny little entrance that we didn't even realize was "the" place until an old man motioned for us to come inside! It was very cramped quarters and VERY hot! We had to pay 50 cents for each picture, so since I paid $1, I'm getting good use of them & posting both for you! 

This poor lady must have been so hot! She didn't even flinch having us right up there in her personal space to take the picture. I'm sure she's thinking, "Darn tourists..."

We went on a search for Durian. Those of you who have watched "Fear Factor" (hello 2001!) or "Bizarre Foods" might have heard about this stinky/yucky fruit. We were hoping to be able to find a place where we could try a piece of it...

...but it took us several fruit stands before we even found them! And they were up on this shelf with this dusty alarm clock. We decided to try Durian some other time....

We stopped at this tea shop for a free tea tasting. The lady there was awesome! She brews tea so fast and was full of knowledge about the benefits of each type of tea. Some were really good (rose!) and some were nasty (Angel!).

We ended up picking 3 of our favorites and left $50 poorer....(oops!)....

After a long day, I needed to sit down!

We walked by Union Square Park on our way back to the hotel for a much-needed nap. They had a beautiful installment of these heart sculptures that were so pretty I had to snap a picture!

More to come soon - the day is just halfway done!!

xoxo