Spring Travel: 24 hours in San Francisco

Ferry Building

One of the reasons I like to visit San Francisco so often is because there is no better place to walk, shop and eat. I can think of no other city where I know exactly every stop I would make if I was dropped off there for 24 hours. Ideally, I would hit the ground running by catching a 6am flight from Seattle to be down there in time for breakfast. We always fly into SFO because it is easy to catch BART and ride it into the city. By 9am I would be walking around the Ferry Building and if I am lucky enough to be there on the weekend I would enjoy the Saturday market spilling out all around the building. There are so many incredible places to check out in the Ferry Building, but here are a few of my favorites:

Cowgirl Creamery: Steamed caramel milk is a must try.

Roli Roti Gourmet Rotisserie: they have the most delicious sandwiches and roasted potatoes.

Roli Roti sandwich

He who wore the poncho had a bigger smile

On our last day in San Francisco, we awoke to blue skies and this great view out or hotel window.

A morning run to Tartine Bakery, followed by a stroll through Dolores Park. It is here where we saw the ugliness of humanity. No joke, the aftermath of the Fourth of July and the amount of refuse was the equivalent to hundreds of people living in the park for a day. I cannot fathom what type of person literally walks away from a mound of trash they have created, but they should be punished. A good punishment would be no access to the park for a year.

We made the mistake of ordering separate treats. I almost made myself sick trying to eat all of mine, but ended up throwing away half. I really hate wasting food, so I wanted to give it to a homeless person, but where are all the homeless people when you need them?

The view from Dolores Park.

On a whim we decided to ride the Rocket Boat, I immediately thought how much my little sis and Dad would love this ride. We did not know quite what to expect, but it was a high speed, fun little thrill ride and a good way to get out on the water. I have never been good at taking advice, so when they recommended putting on a poncho I declined, but wrapped it around my legs.

After a good amount of cruising, they purposefully (in my opinion) ended the ride by splashing everyone. Needless to say, the man sitting next to me wearing his poncho thought it was pretty funny.

One of the best things about San Francisco is that we never have to rent a car. We can take BART directly from the airport to downtown and just about anywhere else we want to go.

As most trips to San Francisco go, this one was last minute. We had planned on camping in Southern Oregon and paying a visit to Crater Lake, instead we flew over it.

I enjoyed snapping photos not only mid flight, but as we landed, the last one looks like we flew on a fighter jet, but alas we did not.

What are some of your favorite touristy things to do in San Francisco?

Stars and stripes

This year the Fourth of July consisted of a pancake breakfast at church, BBQ with extended family and fireworks over San Francisco Bay.

I love how festive everyone was dressed at the pancake breakfast, especially Cameron's Grandma with her stars and stripes shirt. Together Cameron and I had red, white and blue on.

The flag raising ceremony.

At the breakfast, you had your choice of maple syrup or strawberries with whipped cream on your pancakes. I thought strawberries were much more festive.

Cameron's aunt was kind enough to invite us over for a delicious family BBQ. We were also able to see Cameron's cousin, Mike one last time before he went off on his mission. If you want to feel short just stand between these two tall handsome men.

Later that evening, I had some fun messing with the fireworks setting on my camera during the fireworks show. I had fun trying to capture them right before they would explode into fireworks.

After the fireworks the traffic downtown was crazy. We were glad we decided to stay downtown for the evening.

The perfect Summer day

At four thirty in the morning I donned my summeriest outfit and boarded an early morning flight bound for one of my favorite places. I just knew it was going to be a good day. By ten we were splitting a sandwich and roasted potatoes from Roli Roti. Usually, the thought of meat before noon makes me choke, but waking up a couple hours earlier than usual rearranges ones eating schedule.

Something Cameron and I excel at is making happy memories. We have more fun, take more pictures and have experienced more things than many people do in a lifetime. I feel blessed to have married such an easy going and adventurous travel companion.

The Ferry Building's Farmer's Market is a feast for the senses. They have thought of everything, and even have valet for your groceries. If you buy too much, they will gladly watch it while you do the rest of your shopping or have lunch.

I was on a quest to try the Steamed Caramel milk from Sidekick. It was different, delicious and delightful all in one. Instead of messing with a paper sleeve, the whole cup had a corrugated protective wrap, this was ingenious to me.

Even though we were traveling, we could not go home empty handed. We decided to purchase a bouquet of lavender for Cameron's Grandmother and then caught wafts of the fragrant buds throughout the rest of the day.

I believe this was the first time I wore shorts (except for when we were in French Polynesia) for an entire day this year.

Several street performers like to paint themselves silver or gold and act like statues and then tourists like me snap their photos. I think it is strange, but to each its own.

For one of the first times in a long while, the fog never really lifted to reveal the Golden Gate Bridge. You can see it peeking out on the top left hand corner.

Sundae, milkshake or ice cream cone is always the big decision at Ghirardelli. Summer and ice cream seem to go hand in hand though, so ice cream won out.

Based on the less than stellar weather we have been having this year in Seattle, the blue sky was such a wonderful sight.

We ended the day sharing an outdoor meal with Cameron's Grandmother. She is such a gracious host, so kind and everything a grandmother should be. Even at ninety two she still remembers to mail us cards on our birthdays, holidays and our anniversary. She is my role model for aging gracefully and always looking so pulled together.