We *Heart* San Francisco

Note: I apologize for the lack of posts lately...I have been so sad about my mom's passing last month (see my previous posting), but now I feel like I am back to normal, or thereabouts, and I am ready to resume filling the blog-o-sphere with my nonsense!  This is one of my posts I was working on before my mom's death.

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Recently the hubby had a doctor appointment in San Francisco so we decided to make a day of it and play tourist.  We are so fortunate (but, of course, I may be biased) to live near such a beautiful, exciting city....the city by the bay (cue Journey on your iPod and belt it out like you're Steve Perry ...you know you want to girlfriend!)

Unfortunately the one place we especially wanted to visit, the Legion of Honor museum, was closed for the day, so after his appointment we decided to go over to the Ferry Building to have lunch.  We lucked out and found parking practically across the street, and headed in to check things out.  Now, I will get off subject for a bit by saying if you haven't been to the Ferry Building then get yourself over there the next time you are in S.F.  There are some great restaurants, food specialty shops, home decor stores, coffee stands (HELLO...Blue Bottle is here!) and bakeries.  Samples abound and there is a wonderful farmer's market on Saturdays...but, parking does suck and can be expensive if you get a ticket so fill your meter--they are computerized now and you can even pay by smartphone so no excuse people.

Anyhoo...

We were sitting outside on the promenade (fancy word alert) watching the boats, the Bay Bridge, the seagulls, and lovers/friends/tourists/families just sitting and talking and having a great day just like us.  Sipping our coffees and eating our treats was wonderfully relaxing.

After a leisure stroll around the building, we took the Embarcadero (there is a great view of Coit Tower if you can peel your eyes away from the water...just look up!) and drove past the piers, deciding that if we were really playing "tourist" we should drive through Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39.  Now I say we DROVE by...we don't stop here because it is a typical tourist-y place and doesn't have any appeal to us, but we thought we'd give it a go anyway.  On our way over, we did see the America's Cup boats and viewing area. This was incredibly  C-O-O-L!!!  These boats are huge and the masts are so tall...I mean we are talking "stories" tall not "feet" tall....it was awesome to see some of the boats there.  (BTW....the U.S. ended up winning the series... U S A, U S A, U S A)

Our bay area adventure ended with a drive down the crooked-est street in America...Lombard Street.  It was fun because we were in my sporty car with the top down and the sun was shining and all the flowers were in bloom everywhere and it was so gosh, dang fun.  Okay so by now it was about 4:00pm and we didn't relish the idea of dealing with all of the traffic (ahhh...realities of being in the city) so we headed home and drove down Highway 1 south stopping in Half Moon Bay for a little drinky-drink (well for me anyway cause hubby was the DD) and a snack.

Highway 1 is one of the most beautiful drives, and the stretch from the bay area to Santa Cruz is not too steep or winding, and there are lots of little beaches to pull off and have a nice little picnic or walk.  Another great drive is Highway 35 between Woodside and Highway 92...simply breathtaking scenery.  Just past Santa Cruz we decide to stop at our favorite bakery in Capitola.  Gayle's is well known for some of the most delicious baked goods and to-go entrees, and we picked up some treats to take home.

Take the time to explore your own backyard, just playing tourist once in a while, gets you out and about and maybe we can appreciate how much there is to be thankful for....each and every day.