I Left My Heart in San Francisco

San Francisco... what a great city! I had such a great birthday weekend and it's all because of Ryan and the beautiful city that is San Francisco.

On Friday, we were up bright and early and headed to the airport... but not before Ryan ran a red light haha. (It was a turning light but Ryan drove straight on through... 5:45am is too early for us apparently!). We got to the airport a little earlier than necessary, but better early than never! So we got to SF and somehow figured out the Bart quite easily. It took us literally to our hotel's front door. We stayed at the Park 55... I somewhat recommend it... it was high-end and beautiful but there was a nice big... ahem... white stain... on the blanket on the bed and when the ladies came back at 2am in the connecting room to ours it was like they were laughing in our own room. It was soooo loud! But other than that, it was a great hotel. Perfect location right in Union Square.

So Friday we spent at Union Square. It was my birthday so we went to a nice restaurant for dinner (we saw a commercial for the restaurant - ANZU - that had a great vegetarian meal for me!). Then after we went to the Cheesecake Factory for birthday cake - however, there was a 1.3 hr wait so we just took 2 pieces to go! Which was perfect - cheesecake in bed while watching a movie. Perfection! It was a great birthday.

Then Saturday we were up bright and early to catch our boat tour on the Red & White Fleet that went under the Golden Gate Bridge and around Alcatraz. What a great thing to witness! The Golden Gate Bridge is beautiful and it was just so nice being out on the ocean watching the sealions and dolphins and smelling the amazing sea air. I always thought I was an ocean person. I was born to live near water. Unfortunately, Alberta doesn't have any. Maybe one day I'll live closer to water!

So we got back at about noon and walked around Fisherman's Wharf for a couple of hours then took the F Train back to our hotel (only $1.50/person/direction! What a deal!) to get ready for the ball game. Go Giants! We even won. It went to 13 innings which I wasn't too impressed with since it was SOOOO COLD!! I mean... you have no idea how cold it was. My feet had icicles. SO COLD! But I loved the baseball game and the atmosphere and how fun and exciting it all way. And being terrified the ball was going to hit me straight in the mouth. Haha!

So Sunday morning we got up early again and headed back to Fisherman's Wharf (F Train!) and went to Alcatraz. Ryan was pretty pumped to go there, but I didn't really care one way or another - I'm not big on history. Anyways, I highly recommend everyone to go there. The things you learn, the things you see. The history that is in that place.... Al Capone, The Bird Man... all these horrible men living in these walls so many years ago. We were there for a few hours, and ended up leaving because we were pretty hungry. I should open up a hot dog stand there - I'd make a killing!!

So then after we walked around Fishermans' Wharf some more - I mean, we walked EVERYWHERE. We were even walking closeish to the GGB, but it seemed like such a long way that we turned back and went back haha. We're wimps, eh?? We walked up to the Crookedest Street and then to Ghiardeli's. It was a pretty great day. We stopped and had a beer at a little cafe that had a live singer. He sounded so great, he even made U2's "One" sound better than the original, which I didn't think was possible!!

Sunday night we went to an Italian restaurant called Puccini & Pinetti's. It was seriously the best meal I've ever had in my life. Just thinking about it is making my stomach growl. I highly recommend it. That was our night!

Then finally on Monday: we just hung around Union Square waiting for 2pm before we could leave for the airport. It was a great day; breakfast at Lori's Diner and a "quick trip" to Forever 21. Honestly, it was the best end of a great trip - a relaxing day walking around Union Square.

Anyways, a great trip!! Photos on Facebook!!!