City by the Bay

Last weekend, we were in San Francisco! I know I say this every time, but it was a blast! I guess it helps that I have such a cute travel buddy😍. We got back on Monday morning, and we were exhausted! Our flight took off at 6 am, so we had to leave our hotel at 4am- not ideal, but I made it to work on time, so I really shouldn’t complain.

When we arrived on Saturday, we hopped on the BART, and everything was going well, but then I let my guard down. I was holding onto my suitcase, the train stopped, I let go for a second to grab my wallet from my backpack, then we started moving. Well, my suitcase has four wheels, and those four wheels performed very well for their intended purpose... all the way down our car. There was a very nice man towards the back who caught my rogue luggage before it could do any damage. Thank goodness for helpful humans!

Our first stop once we were settled was the Golden Gate Bridge! This was my second time in San Francisco, but I didn’t get to see it when I was there before. The bridge was on both our bucket lists, and it did not disappoint! Mason was particularly infatuated with the bridge (his favorite color is red, so it was only fitting that he accidentally wore his red shorts and carried his red backpack).

   Fun fact: The Golden Gate Bridge is actually painted “International Orange”, which I thought was fascinating. I was always under the impression that the color came from wear and tear (like the statue of liberty), but it turns out that the color was intentional!

I feel like we did a good job seeing the most touristy parts of San Francisco in our 48 hours, we hit the Golden Gate Bridge, Ghirardelli Square, the Fisherman’s Wharf, Alcatraz, Bay Bridge, Union Square, The Painted Ladies, rode on the cable cars, and ate soup in a sourdough bread bowl. It was a lot to do, but I am so glad that we were able to see everything that we were hoping to see!

Here are a few Pro Tips for traveling in San Francisco:

1. Do not rely on the cable cars as your main form of transportation if you have a time crunch. The lines were super long the entire time we were there, but it was totally worth the wait!
2. Plan your trip to Alcatraz at least one month before you go. We got really lucky with our tickets (some people cancelled their trip and Mason was watching that like a hawk.) If you don't get tickets, and no one cancels, they have 100 standby tickets every day during the summer but only 50 during the winter, the only catch is that you need to be in line by 5:00 am, so that when the doors open at 7:30, you can get tickets for the day.
3. The Italian Homemade Company is AMAZING!! I mean, so well done! I generally stay away from ordering pesto because I love it, but if it's even slightly off, I don't like it, but this pesto was so good! They added a little lemon to the sauce, and it made the dish that much better.