san francisco: day five

On our last day in California, Kurt and I had the morning free before heading to the airport, so we dedicated that time to  exploring a little bit of Oakland. Some parts of our walk were a little barren, but we liked the Grand Lake neighborhood, having breakfast at Monkey Forest Road and lunch at Boot & Shoe Service. And before we knew it, we were back on a plane to our normal east coast lives, dreaming of that California sunshine. 

Thanks for humoring my blast from the past travel posts! See days one, two, three, and four.

san francisco: day four

On our fourth day in San Francisco, Kurt and I decided to do some walking around. I wish we had had more time to explore like this, but the city is so spread out, it's hard to cover much ground on foot. We started out explored the Ferry Building Marketplace then walked up to Telegraph Hill. We heard really good things about Hayes Valley, but since it was a bit of a hike to get there and we had limited time and the public transit is less than efficient, we hopped in a cab. [Now, I've gotten used to NYC cabs which have a reputation for being pretty intense, but add in a daredevil driver and San Francisco's hills, and it was the most terrifying ride I've ever taken. I swear we were airborne off some of those hills! Thank goodness for good brakes!] Finally, we made it to Hayes Valley (which is, in fact, very cute) and had ice cream made right in front of us at Smitten and then strolled around some of the shops before stopping for a beer.

That evening we met up with some of my college friends across the bay in Oakland for a drink at Bar Dogwood. We were excited to explore a place a little off the beaten path (some call it the "Brooklyn of San Francisco") and even got an Airbnb apartment for our last evening in town. 

See days one, two, and three!

san francisco: day three

On our third day in San Francisco, Kurt and I rented bikes to tour a big loop around the city. We rode through the Mission, learned how to follow the wiggle (those hills are killer!), saw the Painted Ladies (fulfilling all my Full House childhood dreams), meandered through the Panhandle and Golden Gate Park, and stopped for lunch in Inner Richmond at Pizza Orgasmica. In the afternoon, we rode through the Presidio (saw dolphins!), Crissy Field, Marina District, and the Embarcadero. Finally, we stopped for a quick peek at Redwood City's cute downtown.

See day one and day two!

san francisco: day two

Our second day was gameday! We took some time in the morning to stroll around Stanford's campus and have breakfast in Palo Alto (I could almost feel myself getting smarter being in the same zip code as all those tech-y kids!) before heading to Berkeley for the game. We soaked up lots of sunshine at the hilltop stadium but bundled up once the sun went down (Bay Area weather is crazy!). Luckily, Ohio State won 52-34 so there were smiles all around at the end of the game. Go Buckeyes! 

See day one here!