Alcatraz/Chinatown/Union Square

This morning we got up bright and early to catch our ferry to Alcatraz. It was a little hard to wake up, because we stayed up late last night watching the Temple of Poi Fire Dancing Expo at Union Square. We decided to check it out after seeing a huge crowd on our way home from dinner (which took a long time because we went to a Japanese restaurant where we had to use chopsticks - no forks available - and neither of us was very proficient at this). After looking the show up on the internet when we got back to our room, I realized that we had seen some of the finest fire dancers in the world. Fun!
Although we were tired, we had a great time at Alcatraz and the weather was perfect.
After we got back, we walked around Fisherman's Wharf and then headed to North Beach to eat lunch at a French cafe. From there we headed straight to Chinatown, where Brandon was determined to eat. He did not want a touristy American Chinese place, so we stopped at a place that seemed like a local hot spot.
In St. Mary's Square, about to take a bite of Dim Sum
It makes my stomach turn to post the following picture of a fried chicken foot, especially after witnessing Brandon's reaction to taking a bite of it.
After our Chinatown eating adventure, we walked through Union Square to do some leisurely shopping. Here's a picture of Union Square from the top of the 7-story Macy's.
Tomorrow we head home. We have had such a fantastic trip, and it was a much needed break. But for now, we plan to enjoy our last night on the town!

Muir Woods/Sausalito/Golden Gate/Coast

I have to admit we are a little tired after today. We had absolutely gorgeous weather, and we took full advantage of it. It seemed as if the entire city of San Francisco was out biking, jogging, or hiking . . . this is a very active town. The day began with a drive over the Golden Gate Bridge to the Muir Woods.
The Redwoods in the Muir Woods were pretty amazing. I would love to come back and do hiking and biking in this area. The drive was beautiful through a state park.
The bikers were absolutely incredible, and we saw some of the biggest calves we have ever seen. This guy, however, needed a little push from his buddy to make it up the hill.
Next we made our way to Sausalito to have lunch. We enjoyed looking at all the sailboats.
After lunch we did some hiking around Hawk Hill and got some beautiful views of Golden Gate and the city.
Our next stop was the coast and Cliff House, where we warmed up with Irish coffees.
After returning the rental car (which we loved . . . after about 200-250 miles of driving it only cost us $19 to fill up at $2.45 a gallon!), we stopped by the Gold Dust Lounge for some happy hour margaritas.
Tonight's plans include a Japanese restaurant and walking around Union Square, followed by a lot of sleep! Thankfully we don't have much on the agenda tomorrow . . . just Alcatraz.
We miss you Brutus, but we are glad to see you are having a nice time back at home.

Napa Valley/UC Berkeley

Today we got up early and ate breakfast at a 24-hour diner to get us geared up for a big day (which, despite being the "best breakfast in San Francisco" according to the window, was nothing more than a glorified Waffle House . . . except a side order of two eggs cost $6.10). I was a little nervous about renting a car - our only other experience with a car rental lasted all of ten minutes on our honeymoon. However, everything went smoothly in our little Yaris.
Because the rental car had to be picked up by 8:30, giving us an early start, we decided to stop at Cal Berkeley on our way to Napa. The campus was beautiful, and we got to see California Memorial Stadium.
Brandon at the football practice field
Before we started visiting wineries, we ate a delicious lunch at the Oakville Grocery.

The first winery winery we visited was V. Sattui, which had been recommended by Sarah and Blake, and we had a great tasting. After that, we went to a very small winery called Goosecross, which had been recommended to us by the couple we had Irish coffees with the night before. When we got there, we mentioned that this couple had sent us, and we got a generous tasting for free. The wines were absolutely fantastic, and we would recommend this winery to anyone visiting Napa in the future.

The third and final winery we visited was Mondavi. Here are a few pictures we took while waiting for our tour.
On the way back to San Francisco, we got a beautiful view of the city from across the bay before going over the Golden Gate Bridge. We had a nice dinner at an Italian restaurant a few blocks from the hotel, and we are heading to bed to rest up for another big driving day tomorrow. We are going to make good use of our last day with the rental car. The agenda includes the Muir Woods, Sausalito, Golden Gate Park, and Highway 1. We will keep you posted!

San Francisco

We had a great first day here and covered a lot of ground. We explored Chinatown, North Beach (Little Italy), Fisherman's Wharf, Ghirardelli Square, Lombard Street, and Union Square.
Breakfast was at Dottie's True Blue Cafe, where Brandon had a lamb fennel sausage, roasted garlic, tomato, spinach, and goat cheese omelet, and I had an egg scramble with bacon, tomato, scallions, and blue cheese. Grilled homemade buttermilk dill bread was served on the side.
Brandon at the gates to Chinatown
Brandon looks like a giant in this picture

Washington Square
These are some of the adorable sea lions playing at Pier 39.
View of Alcatraz from the top of Lombard Street
Us with Lombard Street in the background
We went to the Buena Vista to have Irish coffees and eat dinner. We ate with a couple who has lived in the area for 30 years, and they gave us some great advice in terms of things to do and wineries to visit. They also made Brandon's night when they told him that he definitely looks older than I do.

After dinner, we walked down to the waterfront for the sunset.
We ended the night with the world famous Hot Fudge Sunday in Ghirardelli Square.
We took the cable car back to The Orchard, our hotel, and are now back in our cute room! Brandon went down to the front desk and got Sideways from the free DVD library to prepare us for our day in the wine country tomorrow. Goodnight from CA

New Blog!

We are going to try the blog thing out . . . more to share special occasions and pictures with long-distance family and friends than to bore anyone with the day-to-day details of our lives. Feel free to comment on pictures and posts and keep in touch with us!