San Fracisco Part Two
I think I'll end up with a separate post about the wedding, but we'll see.
I was in San Francisco for the wedding of Emily, one of my two high school best friends. Kim, my other HSBF, came in from North Dakota with her husband, Brian. They arrived late on the 14th and we had booked a bus city tour for Friday the 15th, followed by a tour of Alcatraz. The bus arrived to pick us for the tour at 8:30 Friday morning. It was mostly a driving tour, but we did make a few stops. We drove by Gharadelli Square and Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39. We drove the house from Mrs. Doubtfire on Stiener St. The first stop was at the Presidio for pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge. However, it was so foggy that day that we couldn't even see the bridge. I did get a cool picture of it disappearing into the fog. "Really, the bridge is in there somewhere." We went to Alamo Square where I finally got my Full House picture. Jeff didn't get the zoom down, but oh well. I'll have to coach him next time. ;-) We went to Golden Gate Park where we took another short stop. Kim, Brian, Jeff and I took that time to go through the Japanese Tea Garden. It was very cute and very pretty. Jeff wasn't impressed, but he's a boy. ;-) We drove through downtown, including the awesome City Hall, before returning to Fisherman's Wharf where the tour ended.
The four of us got lunch (very expensive sandwiches) before the tour to Alcatraz. Our ferry left at 1:45pm from the city to the island. We rode on the top of the boat on the way over there. Jeff enjoyed taking pictures and making movies on the way over there. (He made a lot of movies throughout the entire trip.) When we got there, we joined up with a tour led by a "ranger", billed as the unknown Alcatraz tour. We went through parts of Alcatraz from when it was a fortress. It was pretty cool. He showed us the spots where cannons and rifles would have been to protect invaders. We then went to a little room where soldiers would have gone to protect themselves from attack, warned that it wasn't an area where tourists were allowed to go because of the lead paint and asbestos. Nice. It was a cool little tour, altogether about half an hour.
After that was done, we went on the audio tour inside the prison. They had portable headsets with recorders that led you through a guided tour of the prison. I didn't know what to expect from the tour, but I did really enjoy it. It led us through the prison, including some rows of cells, the rec yard, cafeteria, etc. That was about an hour or so. After the audio tour, we walked around some more of the island and then down to see a short movie (Discovery Channel special) about Alcatraz. We caught the 5:30 ferry back to the city, this time sitting inside the boat.
We got back to our hotel around 6:30 or so and went to dinner at an Italian cafe up the road from the hotel. We had a nice little dinner and got to know Brian (and vice versa). After dinner, we walked the couple blocks up the crooked part of Lombard St. Uphill, of course. I nearly died and my boyfriend did not help me. Thanks, baby. We got back to the hotel around 9:00 or so and flopped into bed.
The next day was Emily's wedding. I'll make a separate post about that. The wedding started at 4:00, so we spent some time in the city first. We checked out of the hotel (and they still let us keep our car there). We walked down to Gharadelli Square and to Pier 39 from there. We got some chocolate for the mothers and free sample for us. At the Pier, we stopped to watch the sea lions for a bit, greatly amused by the ones fighting each other for space on their rafts. We had lunch there and then walked back to the hotel to head over to the wedding.
Kim, Brian, Jeff and I went to Muir Woods on the 17th. It was easy to get there, although we had to park quite a ways down from the entrance. The woods were very pretty. I like nature and everything, but there's not really much to say about it. Jeff was getting mad at me because I didn't want him to educate me on what we were seeing and I didn't want to read the signs they had every now and then. Whatever. We had lunch before we started the trail which was about a two hour hike. It was a pretty easy hike for the most part and we did a lot of stopping for pictures.
Jeff and I were staying at the hotel the rest of the time we were there, though Kim and Brian were leaving that night on the redeye. After Muir Woods, we went back to the hotel and checked back in. We left the car there and then went to dinner at a restaurant up the road from the hotel. Jeff and I split a gigantic crab. I had gotten crabs last year with P. and Sarah and I didn't remember it being so huge. It was a good thing we split it.
After dinner, we took a cable car to Chinatown. It was very crowded so we all to squeeze inside. It cleared out a bit at one stop and the driver asked if anyone wanted to move outside. Kim and I went outside, sitting not standing. We walked through Chinatown and then and then back to the hotel through Little Italy where we stopped for gilatto . Kim and Brian headed to the airport around 10:00 and Jeff and I went to bed.
The next day was a bit of a lazy day for us. We slept in a bit and hung around in the hotel room. Sarah came over around 3:00 to take us to lunch/dinner. She drove us up to Half Moon Bay and we had dinner in a little restuarant over there. I had shrimp quesadillas which were quite good. We stayed there for quite a while and it was about 7 or so when she dropped us back off at the hotel. I can't remember what we did for dinner that night, if anything.
Tuesday the 19th was our last full day. Sarah came to pick us up at about 11:30am. We went with her and the kids to the Science Exploratorium. Jeff was in heaven. He could have spent all day there if we'd had let him. Sarah stole private moments with me every now and then to tell me how great she thinks Jeff is and what a good match we are. She said that we're good foils for each other. Anyway, we went for dim sum afterwards which was a LOT of Chinese food. We got back to the hotel around 3:30 or so.
Sarah returned for us for dinner at about 6:00. Hmm.... too bad we weren't that hungry... We went to a place where P. knew someone who works there (possibly an owner??). Jeff and I split our meal and it was the perfect amount. We all got desserts (different) and shared them with each other.
Sarah arrived around 10:00 to take us to the airport to go home. S. finally opened her birthday gift that morning and loved it. She found the story of the airport security searching the bag to be quite amusing. We hugged goodbye, trying not to cry.
Our flight out was delayed by an hour because of the fog. This had me quite tense the whole time, worried that we'd miss our connection in Milwaukee. We had to stop in Kansas City, but because so many people had connections to make, they tried to get us back in the air quickly. I think we only stopped there for about 20 minutes. We got in to Milwaukee just in time; we got to the gate at 9:05 and our plane boarded at 9:15pm. Phew!
Overall, we had a great trip. Jeff and I bickered more often than usual which Jeff quite concerned, especially so soon after we decided to get married. I wasn't worried and I kept re-assuring him that all couples bicker, especially when you're together 24 hours a day. Jeff later said that this trip was when he realized he was no longer infactuated with me because of all the arguing. I found that funny that he felt the trip had been so rough on us when I had thought it was just fine. Traveling is stressful and when you're also worried about your best friends meeting the man you're going to marry, it makes it that much harder. But all went well and we had a good time.
Em's wedding will hopefully be posted tomorrow, but I also have homework to do and papers to be checked, so we'll see. :-)
I was in San Francisco for the wedding of Emily, one of my two high school best friends. Kim, my other HSBF, came in from North Dakota with her husband, Brian. They arrived late on the 14th and we had booked a bus city tour for Friday the 15th, followed by a tour of Alcatraz. The bus arrived to pick us for the tour at 8:30 Friday morning. It was mostly a driving tour, but we did make a few stops. We drove by Gharadelli Square and Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39. We drove the house from Mrs. Doubtfire on Stiener St. The first stop was at the Presidio for pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge. However, it was so foggy that day that we couldn't even see the bridge. I did get a cool picture of it disappearing into the fog. "Really, the bridge is in there somewhere." We went to Alamo Square where I finally got my Full House picture. Jeff didn't get the zoom down, but oh well. I'll have to coach him next time. ;-) We went to Golden Gate Park where we took another short stop. Kim, Brian, Jeff and I took that time to go through the Japanese Tea Garden. It was very cute and very pretty. Jeff wasn't impressed, but he's a boy. ;-) We drove through downtown, including the awesome City Hall, before returning to Fisherman's Wharf where the tour ended.
The four of us got lunch (very expensive sandwiches) before the tour to Alcatraz. Our ferry left at 1:45pm from the city to the island. We rode on the top of the boat on the way over there. Jeff enjoyed taking pictures and making movies on the way over there. (He made a lot of movies throughout the entire trip.) When we got there, we joined up with a tour led by a "ranger", billed as the unknown Alcatraz tour. We went through parts of Alcatraz from when it was a fortress. It was pretty cool. He showed us the spots where cannons and rifles would have been to protect invaders. We then went to a little room where soldiers would have gone to protect themselves from attack, warned that it wasn't an area where tourists were allowed to go because of the lead paint and asbestos. Nice. It was a cool little tour, altogether about half an hour.
After that was done, we went on the audio tour inside the prison. They had portable headsets with recorders that led you through a guided tour of the prison. I didn't know what to expect from the tour, but I did really enjoy it. It led us through the prison, including some rows of cells, the rec yard, cafeteria, etc. That was about an hour or so. After the audio tour, we walked around some more of the island and then down to see a short movie (Discovery Channel special) about Alcatraz. We caught the 5:30 ferry back to the city, this time sitting inside the boat.
We got back to our hotel around 6:30 or so and went to dinner at an Italian cafe up the road from the hotel. We had a nice little dinner and got to know Brian (and vice versa). After dinner, we walked the couple blocks up the crooked part of Lombard St. Uphill, of course. I nearly died and my boyfriend did not help me. Thanks, baby. We got back to the hotel around 9:00 or so and flopped into bed.
The next day was Emily's wedding. I'll make a separate post about that. The wedding started at 4:00, so we spent some time in the city first. We checked out of the hotel (and they still let us keep our car there). We walked down to Gharadelli Square and to Pier 39 from there. We got some chocolate for the mothers and free sample for us. At the Pier, we stopped to watch the sea lions for a bit, greatly amused by the ones fighting each other for space on their rafts. We had lunch there and then walked back to the hotel to head over to the wedding.
Kim, Brian, Jeff and I went to Muir Woods on the 17th. It was easy to get there, although we had to park quite a ways down from the entrance. The woods were very pretty. I like nature and everything, but there's not really much to say about it. Jeff was getting mad at me because I didn't want him to educate me on what we were seeing and I didn't want to read the signs they had every now and then. Whatever. We had lunch before we started the trail which was about a two hour hike. It was a pretty easy hike for the most part and we did a lot of stopping for pictures.
Jeff and I were staying at the hotel the rest of the time we were there, though Kim and Brian were leaving that night on the redeye. After Muir Woods, we went back to the hotel and checked back in. We left the car there and then went to dinner at a restaurant up the road from the hotel. Jeff and I split a gigantic crab. I had gotten crabs last year with P. and Sarah and I didn't remember it being so huge. It was a good thing we split it.
After dinner, we took a cable car to Chinatown. It was very crowded so we all to squeeze inside. It cleared out a bit at one stop and the driver asked if anyone wanted to move outside. Kim and I went outside, sitting not standing. We walked through Chinatown and then and then back to the hotel through Little Italy where we stopped for gilatto . Kim and Brian headed to the airport around 10:00 and Jeff and I went to bed.
The next day was a bit of a lazy day for us. We slept in a bit and hung around in the hotel room. Sarah came over around 3:00 to take us to lunch/dinner. She drove us up to Half Moon Bay and we had dinner in a little restuarant over there. I had shrimp quesadillas which were quite good. We stayed there for quite a while and it was about 7 or so when she dropped us back off at the hotel. I can't remember what we did for dinner that night, if anything.
Tuesday the 19th was our last full day. Sarah came to pick us up at about 11:30am. We went with her and the kids to the Science Exploratorium. Jeff was in heaven. He could have spent all day there if we'd had let him. Sarah stole private moments with me every now and then to tell me how great she thinks Jeff is and what a good match we are. She said that we're good foils for each other. Anyway, we went for dim sum afterwards which was a LOT of Chinese food. We got back to the hotel around 3:30 or so.
Sarah returned for us for dinner at about 6:00. Hmm.... too bad we weren't that hungry... We went to a place where P. knew someone who works there (possibly an owner??). Jeff and I split our meal and it was the perfect amount. We all got desserts (different) and shared them with each other.
Sarah arrived around 10:00 to take us to the airport to go home. S. finally opened her birthday gift that morning and loved it. She found the story of the airport security searching the bag to be quite amusing. We hugged goodbye, trying not to cry.
Our flight out was delayed by an hour because of the fog. This had me quite tense the whole time, worried that we'd miss our connection in Milwaukee. We had to stop in Kansas City, but because so many people had connections to make, they tried to get us back in the air quickly. I think we only stopped there for about 20 minutes. We got in to Milwaukee just in time; we got to the gate at 9:05 and our plane boarded at 9:15pm. Phew!
Overall, we had a great trip. Jeff and I bickered more often than usual which Jeff quite concerned, especially so soon after we decided to get married. I wasn't worried and I kept re-assuring him that all couples bicker, especially when you're together 24 hours a day. Jeff later said that this trip was when he realized he was no longer infactuated with me because of all the arguing. I found that funny that he felt the trip had been so rough on us when I had thought it was just fine. Traveling is stressful and when you're also worried about your best friends meeting the man you're going to marry, it makes it that much harder. But all went well and we had a good time.
Em's wedding will hopefully be posted tomorrow, but I also have homework to do and papers to be checked, so we'll see. :-)