June 2018

After a year away from any extensive traveling... it was a successful week on a first ‘couple trip’ for Brett and I. We enjoyed the diverse and delicious food, plenty of wine and beer, surprisingly sunny days, and minimal arguments in our time in San Francisco and the Bay Area.
The first day was probably the most ‘trying’ as Brett realized once we had made it all the way to our AirBnb that the clothes in the suitcase were not in fact his. This led to a return to the airport and a runaround to finally locate the guy who had also walked away with identical, but incorrect suitcase. I think Mr. Kanuka will be checking his baggage tags a little more carefully in the future.. at least when he’s traveling with me!!
We made up for the delays in the first day with a full ‘tourist walking tour’ on the second day.
Starting at the ferry building...

Along the Embarcadero..

To Pier 39...

And the seals...

Fisherman’s wharf..

Ghirardelli Square...

Lombard Street and cable cars...

The stairs up to Coit Tower...

And finally, Chinatown and some delicious (and adorable) Dim Sum...

Day 2 was all about the bridge.. we rented bikes to head across the Golden Gate Bridge...

Then re-fueled with a chowder bread bowl..

Before heading out to Alcatraz...

The island has a great view of the city, and the prison tour was fantastic.

Our third day was arguably my favourite because it was focused on wine! We took a tour of Sonoma and Napa Valleys. The tour focused on smaller, family run wineries.. meaning a more refined wine making process. And you can only buy wine at the winery or in a wine club.. super exclusive, I know! Anyways, it was beautiful and delicious and we had a great time all day long. It also didn’t hurt that the majority of the rest of the group were fun Aussies!

The next day we nursed our wine hangovers at the Giants game...

We continued the sporting events with a Warriors game. Western conference finals game 3 against Houston! The arena was electric and the Warriors played a great game..

We also took a walk in Golden Gate Park...

And Alamo Square...

And visited the Palace of Fine Arts..

We spent the last couple days getting out of the city, first to the redwood forest at Muir Woods National Monument...

And a hike out of the valley at the end of the day...

And lastly, a drive south along the coast..

All the way to Pebble Beach Golf Course and 17 Mile Drive in Monterey.

This concludes the highlights of our first adventure together. San Francisco, it was a slice!