10 Year Anniversary Trip to SF–Days 1 & 2

On May 11th, Drew and I will celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary.  We went last week because we had grandparents available to babysit (my mom and Mimo on spring break). 

We waffled and waffled on where to go.  At first I had my heart set on going to an island resort, like our honeymoon in Antigua.  Drew was never 100% gung-ho for that plan though so we started talking about where else we could go.  San Francisco was someplace we mentioned.  The idea grew and we decided we both wanted to visit and so we booked our trip out west.  Drew has been to CA before but I had never been.

We left directly after church on Easter Sunday (April 8th) and we drove down to Charlotte.  We met Bob and Suzette and Bob drove us to the airport and then took our car back to his house.  We flew to Detroit and then on to San Francisco.  We got there around 10pm PST got our rental car and headed to our hotel.  We both slept a little but were pretty groggy by the time we got to our hotel at 11:30pm.  We checked in and gave our keys to the guy at the desk so the valet service could park the car and then headed straight to bed.  We don’t normally stay up until 2:30am (our time)!

We were both wide awake on Monday morning at 5:30am.  We decided to get up and get the day going.  We headed out to Muir Woods, just north of the city.  We took our first trip over the Golden Gate Bridge.   Muir Woods is where they have the big redwoods.  Like 250ft tall redwoods.  Drew was amazed at the height of the trees but I was more amazed at the width of some of the trunks.  When we got there the visitor center wasn’t open yet so we got in free (score!) and we had a nice, quiet walk through the woods.  When we were leaving there were tour buses full of people coming in.  It worked in our favor to not be able to sleep late!

When we watched the weather on Monday morning the very dramatic weather lady said that Monday would be the only dry day and the rest of the week would be a complete washout.  We were real excited to hear that forecast.  Because we heard that we changed around some plans and we did the other completely outdoor activity on Monday afternoon.  We biked the Golden Gate Bridge!!  We got our bikes after lunch and we rode down through Fisherman’s Wharf and along the Presidio and finally up on the Golden Gate Bridge.  The bridge was pretty busy – others must have seen the same forecast – but it was pretty neat.  Great views and just crazy to be riding a bike over the GGB.  Once we got off the bridge we rode down to the town of Sausalito, a neat little village on the bay.  We had ice cream at Lappert’s and our plan was to take the 6:10pm ferry back to SF.  We walked over at 5pm and were shocked to see the line of bikes waiting for the ferry back to SF.  We added our bikes to the line and then stood outside, freezing to death.  The wind picked up ahead of the incoming rain and it was so cold.  We got pretty nervous about making the 6:10pm ferry and the next one was at 7:20pm but we were supposed to have the bikes back at 8pm.  We didn’t want to get charged another night for the bikes.  We did not get on the 6:10pm ferry and Drew was ready to ride the bikes back to SF.  There was no way I could do it!  We waited out in the freezing cold and took the 7:20pm and called the bike company.  They ended up picking us up where we got off the ferry – 45 minutes after we got off the ferry.  Needless to say it turned into a very long day.  We headed straight to the hotel, without dinner, and crashed!

Tuesday we headed out of the city again, up to Napa Valley, to check out the wine country.  It was pouring rain but it worked out okay since we were mostly in the car.  We headed out there and Drew missed a turn so we ended up driving up through some of the Sonoma Valley.  We turned right and drove over the mountain range that connects the two wine valleys.  Drew thought this drive was really cool.  We made our way up to Calistoga and we stopped at Sterling wineries first.  This was particularly neat because you rode a gondola up to get to the winery.  You took a self guided tour and then you went to the tasting room.  Drew and I liked all the wines we tasted at this winery.  I even liked the red wine and I don’t normally like red wine!  We left there and we headed down the road to V. Sattui winery.  They have a neat little deli on the front of their winery.  We got a lunch from the deli and we were able to eat in the wine cellar.  They have beautiful picnic grounds but because it was raining we got to eat in the cellar.  We did a cheese tasting in the deli as well.  We finally made it to the wine tasting and neither of us particularly enjoyed the wines.  We really liked the place, but not the wine!  I guess we are not true wine enthusiasts because after the second winery we were ready to call it a day.   We got a taste of Napa (ha ha) and then headed back to the city, but first we stopped at Walmart.  No vacation is complete without a trip to Walmart.  ha ha!  We went back to the city a different route and this time we came back over the Bay Bridge.  We ended up driving all around the city.  We stopped by Alamo Square and saw the Painted Ladies (the famous houses in the background of the opening of Full House) and we drove through Golden Gate Park. We drove all the way to the Pacific Ocean, my first time ever seeing it.  We ate dinner at a place overlooking the beach and then we drove around some more.  Finally we headed back to the airport to drop off our rental car and we took the subway back to the city.  We called it a day and headed to bed. 

There was a baby deer on the way out of the park.  There were tons of people looking at it.  We couldn’t believe it was just sitting there and there was no mama to be seen.First time driving over Golden Gate Bridge!Driving down Lombard Street – the crookedest streetRiding bikes towards the GGB.Getting closer!On the GGB!View of San Francisco from the bridge.View of Sausalito.  Where we got a snack.This is when I was freezing cold and tired of waiting in  line for the ferry!First vineyard on Tuesday.I saw this and got out my ID.  Because I thought I was under 30.  I was pretty bummed when I realized I’m way over 30!  In the Gondola!Our wine tasting.Our second winery of the day.Coming back over the Bay Bridge.Alamo Square and the Painted Ladies (the group of colored Victorian Houses)Somewhere on the internet said this was the actual house they used for the Full House house.  Drew was not excited to be driving by and wouldn’t hardly slow down for me to get a picture!Driving through Golden Gate Park.Who knew there were bison in the GGP?Or a windmill from Holland?The Pacific Ocean!The beach was much different than the one I’m used to at Oak Island, NC!