Days 13 and 14: Save Me San Francisco!

"We took the highway to the one

up the coast to catch some sun..."

-"Save Me SanFrancisco by Train

In our last post, you may remember that we finally made it to the Pacific Ocean on July 5!  We made a short stop in a Pac Coast beach town called Stinson Beach.  It was such a cute town!  And the views were amazing!  After enjoying the best fish tacos we've ever had on the beach, it was time to hit the road for San Fran, and this was the view we were treated to as soon as we started to leave town.  The beach behind the car is Stinson Beach, where we had just come from.  

That view was just the beginning of the beautiful sights we would be seeing on Pacific Coast Highway!  We began our PCH journey right there on the road leaving Stinson Beach.  If only this area was just ten degrees warmer!  The water is so beautiful and inviting, but it's a little chilly for our preferred swimming temperature!  It was only in the upper 60s or low 70s while we were near the water.  But the views!  The driving!  This is definitely a place we'll be back to see more of!

 

Our beautiful coastal driving came to an end for the day with another great view - the Golden Gate Bridge!  We drove over the Golden Gate Bridge to get into the city and begin our San Francisco adventure.  

Driving into the city to our hotel was an experience!  We very quickly became aware of those famous San Francisco hills!  Every street was a steep up and a steep down!  Not a stick-shift-driver's dream, but it WAS fun!  And again, those views!

Our hotel in San Fran was the Hotel Zeppelin, and it was awesome!  It had a funky, rock-and-roll theme going on with really modern furnishings and fun designs.  There was a cozy sitting area in the lobby with a bar and a fireplace, and an awesome and FREE game room in the basement that included ski ball, basketball hoops, ping pong, big screen T.V.s and more!  We were located just a short walk from Union Square and one of the trolley lines.  We were able to walk to Fisherman's Wharf in under 30 minutes (which wasn't bad considering THOSE HILLS!)

We spent our first evening in San Fran at Fisherman's Wharf.  We walked the hills for the first time, and it was a workout, but we made it!  We found an awesome coffee and truffle shop called XOX Truffles on Columbus St.   They make the chocolate truffles by hand right there in the shop, and they are phenomenal!  After a quick dinner of fish and chips, we were ready to continue exploring!  Our first great find was Musee Mechanique - an arcade full of original arcade games and entertainment from the past 100+ years!  Many of the machines still operated on old-fashioned prices as well!  It was like a museum and arcade all in one.  We had a ton of fun just wandering through the place looking at all of the old games, but it was also really neat to be able to pop a quarter - or less - into a machine and play a game from our childhood or a game that was older than both of us combined! 

When we came out of the arcade, we caught sight of Boudin Bakery's flagship location.  We weren't up for another meal so soon, but we took advantage of the free museum, where we learned all about the history of the Boudin bread company and their sourdough starter.  We grabbed a small loaf to take back to our hotel room with us, and it made a DELICIOUS snack later that evening with some meat and cheese.  Yum!  After Boudin, we bought tickets and waited in line for a cable car ride back to our hotel.  It was worth the wait for the one-of-a-kind experience.  RJ got to ride on the outside of the car, and Kerri sat right next to the brake man, so we got the full experience between us!  

On our second day in San Francisco, we took a long walk toward the Pacific Heights section of town for an appointment with a stylist from Mod Cloth in their retail shop.  RJ booked this as a surprise for Kerri because he is a pretty amazing husband!  While we were in this area, we took a walk to see the Full House house, which was recently purchased by the former producer of the show.  It's a beautiful house that looks just like it did back in the 90s!  We also found a couple of tasty treats in this part of town.  Our favorite was La Boulangerie de San Francisco, where your mocha comes in a BOWL!  Yes, a bowl!  Can you see how happy Kerri is about this?  

We ended our second night in San Francisco with a baseball game at AT&T Park.  After seeing this stadium on T.V. for years, we couldn't resist catching a game here while we had the chance.  It is just as beautiful as it looks on television!  Gotta love a ball park with a view!  We finished off our last night in San Francisco with a walk to Union Square, which wasn't far from our hotel, to check out the shopping and enjoy a quick ice cream.  Time to get back on the road in the morning!