The Best of San Fran

Take a short picture tour of San Francisco with me. For more pics, check out my Facebook site. Darn blogger limits my picture memory!

We stayed with David, my BIL, at the Pacific Heights neighborhood in San Francisco. It was within walking distance to almost everything: the Fisherman's Wharf, the beach, and Golden Gate Bridge. Look at that view! The highest incline of any street was up to 31 degrees.

The Golden Gate Bridge in the fog as seen on our ferry tour.


It was so chilly and windy on the ferry, but had beautiful views of the bay city, Alcatraz island, and the Golden Gate Bridge.



The Crookedest St, seriously, that's its name and what it is. See how winding the street is behind us? There's a 5 mph limit. A flower-filled and picturesque place, the Crookedest St is the last part of Lombard St. in the Pacific Heights neighborhood.

Beautiful flowers abound in San Fran.

With my best friend, Shoreh, who just recently migrated from the east coast and is already calling Cali her home. It was so awesome seeing her! We spent the Fourth on the Pier and took a ferry to Sausalito, a city across the bay north of SF.

Another view of the GGB.

Bike the Bridge. Here's David with his roommate, Sameer. On Saturday, the four of us rented bikes and rode along the Pacific ocean, all the way across the GG Bridge, and into Sausalito. We had well-deserved ice cream cones in Sausalito before heading back to SF on a ferry with our bikes. It was a really fun day and awesome way to experience SF.

Stopping for a pic. . . and for me to catch my breath. Biking with 3 guys was hard, being an out-of-shape wimp didn't help either, but I made it!

View of Chinatown at sunset. We had two meals here, different days but same restaurant. It was very good but not anything that Dallas couldn't offer. Some restaurants looked very sketchy to me as in I wouldn't eat there in a million years.

Another day with BFF, Shoreh. Here we are on Sunday at the Fillmore St. Jazz festival where good food is to be had, and one can stroll around with wine or sangria in hand admiring the expensive crafts and brave souls singing karaoke.

Paul and I at the Fillmore St. Jazz Festival.

Food at the festival. Check out the size of those baked oysters! So yummy that I wish I had more.

Caricatures with Shoreh at Fisherman's Wharf. Such a tourist trap, but I don't care!

At the beach at Crissy Fields.

I love the beach, even the unswimmable, chilly beach of San Fran.

Our last meal in San Fran, oysters and clams at the Hog Island Oyster Company.

Oysters on the half shell at the Hog Island Oyster Bar. The best place for fresh oysters in SF. It was uber fresh and full of yumminess. I was never a raw oyster person, but that won my over.

San Francisco was simply wonderful. I am ever so grateful that David is there this summer and had such a awesomely located apartment and cool roommate (Sameer) to boot. We took over David's room and I can only hope the couch didn't do much damage to David's back. I thank Sameer for being so friendly and for letting Paul play with his PS3 every night. Apparently "Call of Duty" is a very addictive game for the guys. It made hubby's vacation that much better.

There are tons of things to do. Of all the touristy things to do, we didn't get to ride the cable cars. The one chance we had, the cable car was full! I would have also loved to take a tour of Alcatraz island, bike to Tiburon, visit Napa Valley, and I can always spend more time at the beach.

It really does take planning to have a good vacation. And I took pains to plan our itinerary and get to know the city beforehand. But no matter how hard one plans, it's always wise to leave a little room for chance. As for my big plans to see the fireworks at the Pier. Well, it didn't pan out. The night got so very cold, so we went home and had take-out Thai food instead, not very patriotic. It turns out the fog was so heavy, even people at the Pier didn't get to see the fireworks. I also wanted to see the adorable sealions at Pier 39, but unknownst to me, they had migrated elsewhere this time of year. Then there are good things that come unplanned, serendipities! While at Sausalito with Shoreh, it was Farmers' Market day so we got to buy the freshest berries and peaches. It was so good!

So, food is definitely a big highlight of of trip. Our first meal was at a hibachi grill place in Japantown, the restaurant (I don't remember the name) turned out to be owned by Rocky Aoki, father of model Devon Aoki. Don't ask me how I know these people, just the random facts I know! The next day, we ate at Scoma's, a nice sit-down dinner at the Wharf where we had large bowl of clams and seafood sautee with prawns, crabs, lobsters, scallops. The dish looked just as beautiful as it tasted, no pic that day 'cause I know hubby would be embarrased if I took a pic then. Then there was the fresh crabs bought from street vendors, clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl at Boudin's Bakery, dim sum at Chinatown, and oysters at the Hog Island Oyster Bar.

While we were gone, Hiro boarded at Petite Pooch Chateau. If only dogs could talk, but I assume he had a good stay there. The lady there told me Hiro had a "big personality." Now I wonder if that was her euphemism for "naughty" which is perfectly inline with Hiro's personality. Since I've been touting other commercial venues in this post, I will recommend Petite Pooch to anyone in the Dallas area looking for dog boarding places. This was a first for me and I had no idea where to pick, so I actually visited a few places as well as read online reviews. I liked Petite Pooch because it was clean, had a grassy yard, and only accepted dogs <30lbs.

Lastly, I have to say both Paul and I fell in love with the San Fran weather. We would move there in a heartbeat if it weren't for the outrageous housing prices and oh yeah, the little situation of employment. Coming back, the Dallas heat hit me hard, like hubby said today, Dallas "is next to hell." But home sweet home it still is!