March: 36 Hours in San Francisco

Brian was able to get a Friday off in March and we decided to take a quick trip to San Francisco. This city is 5 hours south of us and I had never been there. Brian lived there as a child while his dad was stationed at the Persidio right on the bay. Therefore we invited his parents to come along. It was a whirlwind trip for us. We hired a sitter for the kids and from start to finish we were gone only 36 hours. But we saw enough for 3 days. Our trip down included a stop in a little town called Williams that is right in the central valley and is known for it's olives. They have fantastic restaurant there called Granzella's and we stopped for the yummiest sandwhich ever!

Then we drove into downtown San Francisco and stopped at a beach on the ocean. Next was a trip over to the Golden Gate Bridge where Brian and his dad replicated a picture that was taken 30 years earlier. We had a good chuckle. We also could see downtown and the bay along with a great view of Alcatraz. We then took a little drive over to Sausilito and over to the more remote side of the bay. Then, back over into town we visited Golden Gate Park. The flowers there were beautiful. Then it was a trip down memory lane as we drove around the Persidio and even stopped at their old home and took pictures. The Persidio is now leased out to individuals to live in and is no longer used much for military housing. It is very costly but very beautiful. Then it was a trip over the crookedest street in the U.S. Lombard street. We then met my sister and her husband who happened to be vacationing in San Francisco for dinner that night on Pier 39. We had a wonderful meal, shopped on the Pier and even saw a ton of seals! We stayed in a fancy hotel in the shopping district and boy, I forgot how noisy a busy down town is at night. It was so noisy I couldn't even sleep! The next day we met my Michelle and Andrew and we all went to China town to shop. It was a fantastic trip!