Ed and I just spent a wonderful weekend in the beautiful city of San Francisco to celebrate his 40th birthday. Ed had never been there before so we enjoyed 3 1/2 days of exploring the city, visiting different landmarks and indulging in fabulous food. We arrived Thursday in the late morning with the only hiccup being our late departure out of Salt Lake due to fog in San Francisco. We stayed at the InterContinental San Francisco hotel and had a beautiful room with a view of the bay and the north end of the city. They were able to get us an early check-in so we dropped our bags and proceeded to walk 6 miles - first stop, Nob Hill and Grace Cathedral ... my favorite place in the city
Friday was a cold and foggy day. We had a wonderful breakfast at a local cafe and then our adventure began ... taking city transit to the Golden Gate Bridge. After determining we really were in the right place to catch the bus and finding out after 45 minutes of waiting that there were 4 different routes that would get us where we needed to go ... and seeing Sharon Stone's ex-husband walk out of the San Fran Chronicle building and me almost losing my fabulous breakfast on the sidewalk after getting up close and personal with crazy rat lady (think crazy cat lady only with rodents - sharing her drink with them - and I really don't do rodents) and figuring out where to stand near the bus stop so we could flag down the approaching bus (they don't stop unless you jump in front of them) without standing where the urine odor was most oppressive - after all of that, it was a pleasure to climb on to a rather nice bus and ride to the bridge! Despite the temperature barely creeping past 60 and the wind, we were intrepid and set off to walk across the bridge.
Along with all of these other people and hundreds of bicyclists who were rather irritated by all of the pedestrians.
We made it to the other side, enjoyed a potty break, picture break and then buttoned up to walk back across only this time walking in to the wind!
Brrrr! I did find it rather refreshing though, seeing that I felt COLD at the end of July! Especially considering it was over 100 degrees at home right at that moment!
After our bridge adventure, it was off to the wharf - via cable car. This required venturing in to the heart of Union Square and getting yelled at by a homeless vet because we wouldn't tip him for telling us where a Wells Fargo was. Not that we'd asked him. Not that he told us any correct information either. The pan handling was much more aggressive than I'd ever seen it there in the past. Symptom of the current economy? It was fun to see the old school style to turn the cars around - wooden rotating platform.
Ed's first cable car ride
The view up the hill. We had a great dinner at the wharf but that was all that we did there. It was so cold and windy, we raced back to the cable car line and danced around to the melodies of a street musician to keep warm while we waited our turn. We were the fortunate two who got to stand at the back of the car going back to Union Square and enjoyed a lively conversation with the rear cable car operator.
Saturday was another full day. We took the cable car to North Beach and walked to Washington Park, then on to
Coit Tower.
They aren't kidding about the stairs.
Lots and lots of stairs
The gorgeous panoramic views from the top of the tower make the hike up the hill well worth it!
The sun was out and it was a beautiful day. Golden Gate Bridge was nearly obscured by fog but we had clear views of everything else.
We stopped at a small Italian cafe for lunch - a tiny, family owned place where we were the only customers who spoke English. Amazing
food. Then it was more walking through Little Italy and we worked our way to Lombard Street. We'd seen it from the top during cable car rides but you have to see it from the bottom to truly appreciate it. Of course, the approach from the bottom means you have to hike to get there. I earned every blister on my heels!
Sunday morning, the sun was out, the temperature was absolutely perfect, and it was time for us to go home. We snuck in one more walk to South Park and enjoyed brunch in a quaint French bistro. We were both feeling more homesick than we'd realized when we both melted at the sight of a
Westie tied to the fence outside the bistro. The San Fran marathon was Sunday morning so we weren't able to make our originally planned trip to Golden Gate park because that part of the city was closed off for the runners but we were able to see a lot of the city in the short time that we were there. We had managed to go our entire trip without seeing any of the stereo-typical residents that come to mind when singing YMCA, until our shuttle trip back to the airport. Suddenly, there on the street corner near the Mission district, full black leather regalia, guy after guy like they'd just gotten out of a meeting. It was the perfect send off!
Where has the time gone? My sweet little Livi who had a death grip around my leg when it was her first day of kindergarten is now a mature 6th grader who jumped out of the car and took off for class without even glancing behind her for one last goodbye. Today was the first day of school for Olivia and Harrison. Harrison said his first day of the 3rd grade was good. He's a boy - I was a lucky to get a one word response and not just a shrug of the shoulders! 
Ash enjoyed a walk around the park pathway with Aunt Tamera
