Trip to San Francisco: Day 1

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Early on Christmas Eve,* we headed to the airport for our holiday trip to San Francisco.  We weren’t sure what the airport traffic would be like, so we figured we’d go super early, in the event that it was nuts.  Although we ended up having to try two different offsite parking locations to find an available spot, we breezed through checking our bags and security, leaving us with some time to kill. 

Thankfully, we were in Terminal 4 (the Southwest terminal), which features lots of food and beverage options.

Like the Barrio Café


Making notes in my trip notebook with a giant pen


And Four Peaks!

Eventually, we were underway!  After a short delay in Orange County, we arrived in San Fran and headed to our residence for the next few nights, the Westin St. Francis, right next door to Union Square.


Riding the BART to Union Square


The Westin St. Francis
Also, Union Square with a giant menorah and tree


Overlooking the madness of the lobby from the mezzanine

We were able to check in and unpack just a bit, but since we wanted to hit the town (and find lunch), we headed out pretty quickly.  In the time we were inside, it started to rain, and since we forgot our umbrella in Phoenix,** we popped into a local Walgreens to buy one.  We joined the queue of folks waiting to ride the cable car, which, thankfully, had just gotten a bit shorter due to the inclement weather.


Rain can’t dissuade us!


The cable car turnaround at Powell and Market streets


Riding the rails

We hopped the line down to Ghirardelli Square, hoping to eat at the Buena Vista.  Sadly, their kitchen closed at 1:30 for the day, and due to our unexpected layover in the O.C., we missed that window.  Instead, we wandered into Ghirardelli Square proper, hoping to find some food options.  We ended up sharing a few delicious appetizers at McCormick and Kulato’s, including lobster bisque, crab cakes, and baked brie.


Looking out to the Bay


Ghirardelli Square

After our late lunch break, we wandered around Fisherman’s Wharf for awhile, stopping at the Boudin Bakery…


Feeling crabby


…and to see the sights.


That’s Alcatraz through there.



The San Fran skyline from Pier 39, including the Transamerica Building.
Also, an awful lot of seagulls

Since it was chilly, we grabbed some hot drinks at Pier 39 and headed out to one of my favorite San Fran sights – seeing the sea lions!


Getting ready for sea lion hugs!


“Bork!  Bork!  Bork!”

After Pier 39, we caught the historic streetcar and rode to the Ferry Building, to wander around before our dinner reservation at OneMarket.


Riding the streetcar


At the Blue Bottle Coffee Company inside the Ferry Building.
Which was closed.  Oh well.

Most of the stalls in the Ferry Building were closing up early due to the holiday, so after doing a quick check on the location of dinner,*** we headed back to the hotel for a quick nap and change of clothes.  Dinner was at OneMarket, which was delicious.  We started out with appetizers of fresh oysters (awesome) and lamb tongue (weird, kind of tasted like bologna), had arugula risotto (me) and duck (Chris) for our main courses (both outstanding), and had a gingerbread concoction for dessert (also great).  We headed back to the hotel via the Muni Metro and to bed!

Later!

Amy

 * So early the sun wouldn’t rise for another few hours…

 ** Where we use it ALL the time.

 *** I’m glad we did, as we assumed it was the same restaurant where we ate with Mom and Aunt Denise a few years back.  It was NOT the same place, and that would have made things rather awkward later that evening.

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