5 Days in San Francisco, California

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It’s been a week since we got back from California. While our anniversary trip to Savannah, Georgia, looked a lot different last year for multiple reasons, we learned that we are different travelers now than we were before we became parents. Considering what a whirlwind visit I had when I last visited SF for a 36-hour business trip, this trip was definitely more slow-paced, with a lot more napping involved. After we knocked out our pre-trip planning, here’s how we spent five leisurely days in San Francisco:

Day 1: Celebrating

We woke up very early to make our 7am flight to the airport. The airline changed this flight several times, so we were glad it hadn’t changed again. While we could have done without the early morning wake up, especially since this was our actual anniversary, we really appreciated landing around noon. It gave us plenty of time to explore San Francisco!

Mind you, after dropping our bags at the Park Central San Francisco and grabbing lunch at the nearby Super Duper Burgers, we were bushed. We did get a chance to walk around Yerba Buena Gardens and see the MLK monument, but we spent most of the afternoon napping. I even pushed back our dinner reservation so we could rest a little longer!

Ultimately, we got ready to go out, and we had a lovely dinner at One Market Restaurant (definitely recommend) before heading to bed.

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Day 2: Shopping

We had high hopes for the day, with an early morning breakfast at Heist, but we found that the city doesn’t rise quite as early as we do! I was in need of another pair of pants, as the weather was colder than I’d expected, but all of the shops were still closed. We ended up heading back to the hotel until things opened up.

Once they did, we shopped until we dropped! We explored the nearby Metreon, which included a stop at the Target Open House, a cool game room where you can sample different systems and new tech. While out shopping, we also stocked up on snacks for the room, and I did eventually find a pair of pants. We even found a different Super Duper Burgers location, so we were able to grab the ice cream we’d been admiring the day before.

We ended up using the evening to relax in the room, watching TV and ordering in Gusto Pinsa Romana.

Day 3: Tasting

This was definitely our busiest day, as we had our Extranomical Tour! We got on the tour bus first, so we had our pick of the seats. There were about 30 people total, and once we’d scooped everyone from their hotels, we made our way to Muir Woods. This proved to be an amazing opportunity to see redwood trees, and I would absolutely recommend making the trip when you’re in the San Francisco area.

After about an hour and a half, we hit the road for wine country! Megan has a lot more experience with the ins and outs of wine tastings – check out her top wineries in Sonoma and Napa Valley – but we were grateful for the ease of the tour, as well as their focus on boutique wineries. We made three stops for tastings on our trip:

• Mayo Family Winery in Sonoma
• Kieu Hoang Winery in Napa Valley
• Trek Wine in Novato

We had grabbed a big lunch at La Casa while we were in Sonoma, so once we got back to the hotel – after a stop at the Golden Gate Bridge, of course – we promptly called it a night.

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Day 4: Exploring

We spent the morning planning out the rest of our must-dos for the trip, then hit the town. Our first stop was SAMS American Eatery, which was quite tasty, but turned into its own adventure – but that’s a story for another post! 😉 

From there, we headed to Alamo Square Park. This park is beautiful, and it had a ton of families there, many of them enjoying the same view we had sought out: The Painted Ladies. You might recognize these beautiful Victorian houses from Full House, and while I’m glad to have seen them, they aren’t worth the walk all on their own.

Fortunately for us, they were en route to our final destination. We kept going west, making our way through The Panhandle before arriving at Golden Gate Park. This park is a must-do! There was so much to enjoy here, from the Conservatory of Flowers to the Japanese Tea Garden. Highlights from our visit include the Rose Garden and the Shakespeare Garden. 

We Lyfted back to our hotel, snacking and watching TV before hitting the hay.

Day 5: Savoring

We started our last morning at the Ferry Building, scoping out the marketplace and grabbing coffees from Red Bay Coffee. I got a Red Bay Fog, which I would highly recommend, and I enjoyed it as we walked through Sue Bierman Park and on to breakfast. We were between two places, and we ultimately landed on Brioche Bakery and Cafe.

We walked through Chinatown to kickstart our midday break, as we made our way back to the hotel and watched The Princess Diaries (since it takes place in San Francisco). This gave us the energy to tackle the hills to get to the top of the famous section of Lombard Street in the afternoon!

Once we’d snapped sufficient pictures, we headed to Fisherman’s Wharf. We got dinner and Irish coffees at The Buena Vista, then scoped out the shops in Ghiradelli Square. We walked along the water, taking in a gorgeous sunset before Lyfting back to the hotel. It was the perfect way to end our last day in the city.

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