Save Me, San Francisco
Nov. 12th, 2011 10:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bunchofgrapesAt the end of April, I flew out to San Francisco for a few days of vacation. My cousin flew down from Portland and we met up at the airport. She definitely got the better flight deal but I didn't care. I love San Francisco.
My first trip out there was back in April of 2003. I supported a small department in Monterey and my boss and I flew out to meet with the manager and some of our Navy customers. We flew in to Oakland on JetBlue, got a car, and then drove down to Monterey. The plan was to drive back on Friday and spend some time in San Francisco before flying out on Sunday. I loved that trip and always wanted to go back. It took seven years but I finally made it. And nearly the same time of the year too.
This trip the plan was to fly into San Francisco on a Wednesday, get a car, take a day trip to Monterey and Carmel, see some sights and then fly back on Sunday. I would have liked to stay longer but my cousin had to get back. We ended up staying in the same hotel I stayed at back in 2003. The location was excellent (Bush and Powell) and we could walk to just about everything. And we did. That's the great thing about San Francisco. You can eat all you want because you will definitely be walking it off. It helped too that only one of the cable car lines was running because it meant we had to do a bit more walking but both my cousin and I were very okay with that. It also helped that there were a slew of great restaurants near the hotel and many of them were an uphill walk on the way back to the hotel. It reminded me a lot of my trips to Italy where I ate great food but came back a couple of pounds lighter.
The best walk happened the day we took the cable car to the Fisherman's Wharf. We walked down to see the sea lions on Pier 39, took in the view of Alcatraz, then walked all the in the other direction to Ghirardelli Square. We had ice cream then decided to walk it off - up Hyde street for one of the best views in San Francisco, then down Lombard Street for another great view and finally back to the cable car to take us back to our hotel. The entire trip we had gorgeous, gorgeous weather but this day, and all that walking we did, that was the best day.
Everything about this trip was great. My cousin and I grew up together so we've always been close like sisters. We don't always see eye to eye but we get along really well and she's a foodie like me. One of my other favorite highlights of the trip was meeting up with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
tos_lover. We met at Akiko's, a sushi restaurant near our hotel. Of course with my cousin there we couldn't fangirl Paul Guilfoyle like we would have otherwise but we still managed to work in a conversation or two. My cousin is used to my obsessions so she was pretty good about it. tos_lover is an amazingly cool person and I hope that we can meet up again, this time without the cousin so we can fangirl Paul Guilfoyle. But if my cousin's along, we can always talk hockey or football or Las Vegas. I can't remember how long we spent in the restaurant talking but it was a long, long time.
My cousin really wanted to go to Carmel and I really wanted to go to Monterey so we left early one morning and drove down. My memories of Monterey were really of Pacific Grove, a little town next to Monterey, and a restaurant in Pacific Grove called Fishwife. Back in 2003 I had the best calamari ever there and I wanted to taste it again. The drive down to Monterey is beautiful. We made a few stops on the way and honestly, it was when we stopped here that I felt all of the East Coast stress melt away.
The whole reason I wanted to go to Pacific Grove was to stop at a park that I remembered from 2003. We were there at the same time of the year and I was hoping the purple flowers would be in bloom again. And they were.
We took the 17-mile drive through Pebble Beach, past the lone Cypress, to get to Carmel, had lunch, did a little walking around, and then headed back. I wasn't particularly impressed with Carmel the first time I went there but the restaurant my cousin wanted to go to was very nice (see, total foodie) and we spent most of our time there. On the way back we stopped at Pacific Grove again so I could go to Fishwife. Here's the calamari (after we ate most of it). It's the most tender, most delicious calamari I've ever had. Ever. And I've had a lot of calamari in my life. See how ginormous it is?
Other than the calamari, my other favorite thing at Fishwife are the Fisherman's Bowls. It's rice, black beans, Caribbean cabbage drizzled with a ginger sesame vinaigrette and garnished with fresh veggies, salsa and tortilla spears. Both times I've gotten the Mazatlan with shrimp brushed with lime and chipotle chile and then grilled. It's just yummy! And yes, I really did fly all that way just to go to that restaurant.
One other amazing food find was Dottie's True Blue Cafe. My cousin had heard of this place on Diner's, Drive-In's and Dives and it wasn't too far from our hotel so we had to try it for breakfast. It would fall into the Dive category, with a very tiny dining room that's back to back to back with tables, and a kitchen that takes up a good portion of the place. We got there around 9am and as we expected, there was a line. But the wait was well worth it! I had this pecan french toast that was amazing and I don't recall exactly what my cousin had but she got this chili cornbread that we were both talking about just the other day. This place will definitely be on our list for our next visit.
Another day of our trip was spent driving across the Golden Gate bridge. We went to Sausalito but it was so crowded that we ended up skipping it and just heading over to the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, a park that provides incredible views of San Francisco, the bridge, and the bay. It's just a beautiful park and again, we had the chance to do a little hiking under a cloudless blue sky. The next trip were going further north, to Muir Woods.
I'm not sure what it is about California but whenever I fly west, I always feel the stress and tension go away and then once we fly across the Mississippi, it comes back. Maybe I need to move to the West Coast.
My first trip out there was back in April of 2003. I supported a small department in Monterey and my boss and I flew out to meet with the manager and some of our Navy customers. We flew in to Oakland on JetBlue, got a car, and then drove down to Monterey. The plan was to drive back on Friday and spend some time in San Francisco before flying out on Sunday. I loved that trip and always wanted to go back. It took seven years but I finally made it. And nearly the same time of the year too.
This trip the plan was to fly into San Francisco on a Wednesday, get a car, take a day trip to Monterey and Carmel, see some sights and then fly back on Sunday. I would have liked to stay longer but my cousin had to get back. We ended up staying in the same hotel I stayed at back in 2003. The location was excellent (Bush and Powell) and we could walk to just about everything. And we did. That's the great thing about San Francisco. You can eat all you want because you will definitely be walking it off. It helped too that only one of the cable car lines was running because it meant we had to do a bit more walking but both my cousin and I were very okay with that. It also helped that there were a slew of great restaurants near the hotel and many of them were an uphill walk on the way back to the hotel. It reminded me a lot of my trips to Italy where I ate great food but came back a couple of pounds lighter.
The best walk happened the day we took the cable car to the Fisherman's Wharf. We walked down to see the sea lions on Pier 39, took in the view of Alcatraz, then walked all the in the other direction to Ghirardelli Square. We had ice cream then decided to walk it off - up Hyde street for one of the best views in San Francisco, then down Lombard Street for another great view and finally back to the cable car to take us back to our hotel. The entire trip we had gorgeous, gorgeous weather but this day, and all that walking we did, that was the best day.
Everything about this trip was great. My cousin and I grew up together so we've always been close like sisters. We don't always see eye to eye but we get along really well and she's a foodie like me. One of my other favorite highlights of the trip was meeting up with
tos_lover. We met at Akiko's, a sushi restaurant near our hotel. Of course with my cousin there we couldn't fangirl Paul Guilfoyle like we would have otherwise but we still managed to work in a conversation or two. My cousin is used to my obsessions so she was pretty good about it. tos_lover is an amazingly cool person and I hope that we can meet up again, this time without the cousin so we can fangirl Paul Guilfoyle. But if my cousin's along, we can always talk hockey or football or Las Vegas. I can't remember how long we spent in the restaurant talking but it was a long, long time. My cousin really wanted to go to Carmel and I really wanted to go to Monterey so we left early one morning and drove down. My memories of Monterey were really of Pacific Grove, a little town next to Monterey, and a restaurant in Pacific Grove called Fishwife. Back in 2003 I had the best calamari ever there and I wanted to taste it again. The drive down to Monterey is beautiful. We made a few stops on the way and honestly, it was when we stopped here that I felt all of the East Coast stress melt away.
The whole reason I wanted to go to Pacific Grove was to stop at a park that I remembered from 2003. We were there at the same time of the year and I was hoping the purple flowers would be in bloom again. And they were.
We took the 17-mile drive through Pebble Beach, past the lone Cypress, to get to Carmel, had lunch, did a little walking around, and then headed back. I wasn't particularly impressed with Carmel the first time I went there but the restaurant my cousin wanted to go to was very nice (see, total foodie) and we spent most of our time there. On the way back we stopped at Pacific Grove again so I could go to Fishwife. Here's the calamari (after we ate most of it). It's the most tender, most delicious calamari I've ever had. Ever. And I've had a lot of calamari in my life. See how ginormous it is?
Other than the calamari, my other favorite thing at Fishwife are the Fisherman's Bowls. It's rice, black beans, Caribbean cabbage drizzled with a ginger sesame vinaigrette and garnished with fresh veggies, salsa and tortilla spears. Both times I've gotten the Mazatlan with shrimp brushed with lime and chipotle chile and then grilled. It's just yummy! And yes, I really did fly all that way just to go to that restaurant.
One other amazing food find was Dottie's True Blue Cafe. My cousin had heard of this place on Diner's, Drive-In's and Dives and it wasn't too far from our hotel so we had to try it for breakfast. It would fall into the Dive category, with a very tiny dining room that's back to back to back with tables, and a kitchen that takes up a good portion of the place. We got there around 9am and as we expected, there was a line. But the wait was well worth it! I had this pecan french toast that was amazing and I don't recall exactly what my cousin had but she got this chili cornbread that we were both talking about just the other day. This place will definitely be on our list for our next visit.
Another day of our trip was spent driving across the Golden Gate bridge. We went to Sausalito but it was so crowded that we ended up skipping it and just heading over to the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, a park that provides incredible views of San Francisco, the bridge, and the bay. It's just a beautiful park and again, we had the chance to do a little hiking under a cloudless blue sky. The next trip were going further north, to Muir Woods.
I'm not sure what it is about California but whenever I fly west, I always feel the stress and tension go away and then once we fly across the Mississippi, it comes back. Maybe I need to move to the West Coast.
