San Francisco

On February 18th we took a trip to San Francisco. We had been planning this trip for a while with our friends that we hung out with when we lived in Flagstaff. It was a couples trip, our friends that went along had arranged for their families to watch their kids. We had such a good time. We purchased the plane tickets and paid for the hotel on a Monday and then on Wednesday (2 days later) we got the call about Jackson. We debated going on the trip (mostly Cody - I was all for going) and then decided if Jackson hated it at least we could just stay at the hotel the whole time!! So the couples trip turned into a one kid trip!! Jackson was perfect. Half the time you would have never known he was there. He mostly hung out in the stroller asleep, he would stir, we would feed him a bottle and then he would go back in the stroller. I think he cried maybe a total of 3o minutes on the whole trip!!

Day One:

Jackson was perfect on the plane!! Here he is with his first wings!! It is definitely a lot more difficult going through security with a baby and all the gear that goes along with that!!!

Right after we landed and checked into our hotel (we stayed at a really nice Holiday Inn in the Fisherman's Wharf area) we headed over to Ghiradelli Square. You can't go wrong with chocolate. Every time you went inside the shops they gave you a free sample of chocolate. We went in and out several times on the trip!!

Jackson, Cody, Me, Stephanie, Lance, and Rich (Linsey took the picture) digesting all the chocolate we just ate!!!

Once we were done at Ghirardelli Square we walked up to Lombard Street. It was definitely a walk up!! The streets were very steep!!

Here we are at the top of Lombard Street

Here we are at the bottom of Lombard Street

I went to San Francisco with my family when I was a child and I remembered Lombard Street being longer than it is!!!

After we went to Lombard Street we walked back down the hill and realized we needed to buy passes for the trains, buses, trolleys, and cable cars. (If we were smart we would have bought these before we hiked up to Lombard Street because we could have rode up to it!!) We hopped on the trolley and went to the cable car museum. It was very interesting.

Jackson, Me, Linsey, and Stephanie at the cable car museum

The MEN at the cable car museum

So the joke for the trip was "When in Rome"... I am sure you can guess what that means since we were in San Franciso... and by the picture below!!!

After the cable car museum we headed to the mission district for a burrito at a place Lance had found. Sorry no pictures of this excursion. We probably didn't want to pull out the camera in fear that it would have been stolen!! Lets just say that the bus ride to the mission district was scary and thankfully the burrito was worth it and gave us lots of stories to tell about getting there!!! The burrito place had some windows boarded up and looked like it might have been closed. It wasn't but you basically walked in ordered your burrito and walked out, no room to eat!! There was a nice rickety table outside that we were able to eat at. After the mission district we headed back to the hotel. Rich, Linsey, Lance, and Stephanie went to go see Wicked. Cody, Jackson, and I just hung out around our hotel.

Family picture in the hotel room

Cody and Jackson doing what they do best - napping together!!

Day Two:

We got up and ate breakfast at the Hollywood Cafe. It was a little breakfast place that had really good food!! Then we headed down Fisherman's Wharf toward the ferry to Alcatraz.

Along Fisherman's Wharf

Also along Fisherman's Wharf

On the ferry to Alcatraz

I really enjoyed Alcatraz. The tours were very interesting. I learned that the Native Americans in 1969-1971 occupied Alcatraz in protest for being pushed off their land. There was a retired FBI agent that was doing tours and when he was younger he swam from Alcatraz to the shore!! He told about the escapes/escape attempts from Alcatraz. Then we went inside and took the audio tour.

Alcatraz

In a tunnel under Alcatraz that was in the movie "The Rock"

The men at Alcatraz

Cody and Jackson were bad - they got put in a cell!!

The whole family behind bars!!!

After we were done at Alcatraz we rode the trolley up to Chinatown.

On the trolley...how many people does it take to carry all the baby stuff?? It was a good thing we had friends with us to help tote all our stuff around!!!

Chinatown...see the trolley going by

Chinatown

All of us in Chinatown...Jackson is still with us he is just tucked in the middle of the people in the stroller

Jackson enjoyed the little baby carrier we borrowed

Such a cutie!!!

After we left Chinatown we went to Pier 39 and ate dinner at the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. The food was good and we had a really nice view. After dinner we walked around the shops at Pier 39. We all bought some saltwater taffy at this candy store. It was really good and we couldn't stop eating it!!

Day Three:

We got up ate breakfast at the Hollywood Cafe again and headed to the Golden Gate Bridge.

On the bus to the Golden Gate Bridge

Golden Gate Bridge

We walked across the bridge. It was very windy and really loud due to all the traffic going over the bridge.

Walking the bridge and trying to stay warm from the wind

All along the bridge there were signs by phones that said Crisis Counseling...There is Hope Make the Call...The Consequences of Jumping from this Bridge are Fatal and Tragic (they must have an issue with this???)

After the Golden Gate Bridge we headed over to Golden Gate Park (which is not by the Golden Gate Bridge). It is a really large park that has a museum, botanical garden, Japanese Tea Garden, and all kinds of other things.

At the Japanese Tea Garden...only the ladies went in since it cost money to go into the Japanese Tea Garden

At the Japanese Tea Garden

There was an nice outdoor area where they had a stage for outdoor plays and stuff. It was really pretty.

Sitting on the steps next to the outdoor stage

We left the Golden Gate Park and headed over to see the Painted Ladies. They are the row of houses that are always in postcards and were in the beginning of Full House.

The house on the far left is up for sale for $1 shy of $4 million!!!

After we saw the Painted Ladies we headed over to Ike's Place for a sandwich. When we got off the bus to find this sandwich place we were definitely in the gay district. The city had put up rainbow flags on the light poles and there were drag queens being escorted down the street. Supposedly they were being entered into some kind of competition. Nice!!! I guess Ike's Place was featured on some show on the Travel Channel called man vs food. You had to wait in line on the street and there were only a few menus that got passed through the line as you waited. There were over a 100 sandwiches to choose from. We waited a fair amount of time and then we ended up riding the train back to our hotel to eat the sandwiches. It was worth it... it probably was the best sandwich I have ever had. I had the Ex-Boyfriend!!

Waiting for our sandwiches at Ike's Place

After we ate our sandwiches and were very full we decided to go back to Ghirardelli Square and get this dessert called the earthquake that was huge!!

Don't worry we shared it!!

I was trying to feed me and Cody!!

Rich licking the plate clean!!

After we ate the sundae and were all about to explode we walked down to Fisherman's Wharf to the Boudin Bakery to get some sourdough bread and I bought some Clam Chowder to sample with the bread. Even though we had to heat the soup up in the microwave in the hotel room and had no spoons the soup and bread were very good. We finished up the night just hanging out in Rich and Linsey's hotel room and watching the Olympics. I never knew how long a curling match could last!!! That is a sport that I don't understand at all!!

Day Four:

Our flight left pretty early, so we just got up and flew home!! Unfortunately Lance and Stephanie had to fly back to Maryland and I guess they got home really late because one of their flights got delayed.

Me and Jackson on the plane...he was sooooo good!!

We had so much fun on this trip!! Thanks to Lance and Stephanie for finding all the deals and planning everything out. They are really good trip planners. I will say I am glad that I have a car and don't have to rely on public transportation. Linsey and I definitely didn't enjoy some of the bus rides. At one point I was in the very back of the bus with Jackson and I am pretty sure there were some drug deals or even drug use going on back there. I did not make eye contact and could feel the eyes staring at me from all directions. I moved the minute another seat opened up!!

Can't wait for the next trip!!