June 22, 2011

My San Fran adventure

After an exciting trip out to the west coast (San Diego), I was lucky enough to follow this up with a fun trip to San Francisco for almost 23 hours. I was stoked! I know I did a few happy dances in my apartment before I fully took in the fact that I was getting paid to walk around California cities I had been yearning to go to...

After my wonderful 4 day trip to San Diego, I flew my tired and jet lagged butt home (after a red eye... lets talk about a rough commute). I slept, I ate and I packed my bags again. In between trips I had ONE full day off (an early release and late start made it feel like 2 but I also had 2 commutes in front of me- killer!) and on that one day off I was going to my friends wedding. In Cincinnati. Now wait a minute... I'm sure you are thinking "Hey, no problem! You're a Flight Attendant... you fly for free, right?!?!"

Right... but so wrong. See between DTW and CVG there are flights but there are also an Insane amount of commuters (most from my previous airline). To make the wedding I got in my car and drove 4 hours to Cincinnati on Saturday morning. I doubled up on the wedding excitement and met my mom for lunch and went wedding dress shopping with her (Loud excited voice here) and Bought my Wedding Dress!!!! Hoorrrrrray! Then I had time for a short nap until I had to get ready, pick up my friend Cari (my date) and make it to the wedding. The next morning I had to drive Back to Detroit- to commute to Boston to the FLY to San Francisco. A million hours later we landed in SFO, walked outside and was hit by some serious chilly air. Yikes... where you all to tell me to pack a jacket??? Or even a long sleeve shirt?

My crew was really fun and wanted to go out for some late night snacks and a drink (or two). As tired as I was, I just could not say no! We headed a few blocks away for some serious Ham sandwiches and a few beers at Tommy's Joynt. We ended up hanging out until 2:30am which in my time zone was 5:30am....

As you can imagine, I hit the hay pretty hard after my long day and woke up a good 8 hours later ready to hit the streets. I grabbed a cup of coffee and some snacks at the Whole Foods right around the corner from the hotel and planned my attack. I decided since this was my first time here, I was going to hit some Tourist sites and act like a proper out-of-towner.


















First place I walked to was Ghiradelli Square. I was going to walk right on by all the chocolate but the smell was wayyyy to enticing. I had to get something so I opted for the Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate... seriously good! I got my first glimpse of the Golden Gate bridge and walked along the park and beach area to Fisherman's Wharf.



Again, no one told me to come hungry. I was walking past all the people chowing down on seafood and chowders... yum!





 I then headed over to Lombard Street... you know that really crazy crooked street that people love to try and drive down, yeah... that one! I figured since I had already walked so far, I should stroll on over and take a peak. I had to creep up this really steep hill to get there (lets work off that crazy good hot chocolate!) but once I did I was really happy I had. It's weird to say a street was pretty cool but I have to admit- this one was. I was in LOVE with the houses on this street however it must get pretty annoying drive up and down their street.





























After I was finished watching the cars, I walked back up the hill and on home to the hotel. I had to force myself to take a nap because I was enjoying the city so much. After my nap, I got ready for work and ran out to get a coffee for my red eye flight back to Boston. I was going to stop at Starbucks but another Flight Attendant had told me to head farther down the street to Philz Coffee. As much as I love my Starbucks I have to say I was enamored with Phliz. They let you pick out your coffee beans, grind them right there and make you an individual cup... so so good!

I'm heading back to San Fran on the 9th of July... so anyone have any reccomendations on what I should do this next time???

4 comments:

Null said...

I got tired just reading that. Sounds like it was an awesome trip though.

Yay for getting your wedding dress! Now that's some serious power shopping.

stephen said...

You should really take a ride on the cable cars, if you haven't already. Buy an all-day pass (it's better than the per-ride cost) and ride each of the lines to see the city in a different light.

I would also recommend a cruise around the bay (I'm a big fan of seeing the sights from the water).

Tom Seagraves said...

One word...Alcatraz!

Anonymous said...

I just love California and would actually love to live there. San Francisco is awesome isn’t it>!? Crazy winding streets, cable cars, great chocolate and killer views. LOVE. Did you get to see the seals?? I’ll get you a picture if you didn’t.