Weekend in San Francisco

It was Sunday night when we got a call from Kenny's friend in Houston, Doug Helm, who said he was in San Francisco for the next two weeks with his wife Erin and their 4 month old Alivia. At the last minute we decided to drive up to spend the weekend with them.

Our adventures started at the Ferry Terminal where we met them for breakfast on Saturday morning. The weekly Farmer's market was taking place so we spent some time looking around at the different stands and trying different fruits, although it was very chilly out. They had every fruit and vegetable you could imagine! We also bought a loaf of fresh rosemary & basil Italian bread.

Next, we walked a few blocks over to China Town. It had narrow, crowded streets and every sign was in Chinese. There were souvenir & tea shops, as well as some shops selling authentic Chinese apparel. From there we walked up a hill (there are many in SF) and over to Union Square. Union Square is a busy, downtown shopping area with much to see. By then the sun had come out and it had warmed up. We ate lunch at Sears Fine Foods and shared a plate of sourdough french toast. Little Alivia was such a good traveler, she hardly complained at all.

After lunch we ventured over to the Mission District. It is named for the Spanish missionaries that first moved to that area. One of the main characteristics of the Mission District is the large number of murals on the sides of buildings. Supposedly, the murals started appearing due to a movement in the 70's, but today they don't know whether to deem them graffiti or art. Since the Mission District is known for their good Mexican food, we decided to try it out for ourselves at dinner.

Needless to say, by the end of Saturday, after all of the walking we had done we were all very sore and worn out! We ended the evening by taking the trolley back to Fisherman's Wharf and getting a hot chocolate at the Ghiradelli cafe.

Sunday morning we met again for breakfast, but this time at the Boudin Sourdough Bread Factory. Kenny and I had visited here on our honeymoon and loved it. We toured the factory, where you can watch them preparing and baking the bread. They have a great restaurant and a store where you can by cookbooks, aprons, sauces, and Jellies.

After breakfast we said our goodbyes, as Doug, Erin & Alivia were going to meet another friend that lived in the city. Kenny and I decided to do some sight-seeing by car, especially since we were still so sore. We drove up to Coit Tower, which has wonderful views of the city and the bay. Next we did some antique shopping and walking around, then drove over to see the famous Painted Ladies, Lombard Street, and the Golden Gate Park.

On Monday morning, Kenny went into the San Francisco office of his company to do some work and meet up with his colleagues there. We took two of them out to lunch at the Tadich Grill. While Kenny was at work I checked out the shops at the Embarcadero Center across the street.