Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Recap of San Fran

I'm sorry I have been gone so long! Work has been insanely busy and there has been so much going on here at home too but that just means that I have a ton to write about! So here is the long overdue update from my San Fran trip from last month.

The weather was pretty miserable but I got a lot in during my 4 day visit. I had a basic plan put together for the weekend before I even landed. And who could be a better source then a local? I pulled suggestion from blogger sfgirlbybay plus some tips from Travel Channel's Samantha Brown and an awesome app that helped me to navigate.

Sfgirlbybay had some great shopping ideas. I headed up to Fillmore Street for a little shopping hitting up The Nest, Papersource, Browser Books, Kiehls, Marc by Marc Jacobs, Jonathan Adler and then over to Woodhouse Fish Co. for some yummy fish tacos. I really enjoyed the shopping here versus the main shops in the Union Square as I have the opportunity to shop at many of the same stores in NY and the Fillmore area is quiet with a lot less tourists (however I couldn't resist stopping in Anthropologie over in Union Square).


Our hotel was just a few blocks away from this little park on Clay and Davis that was heavily populated with these green parrots who became very friendly when offered birdseed. I believe that they populate many of the parks in San Fran.


You can't go to San Fran and miss Chinatown (the largest Chinatown outside of China). I picked up some delicious tea at the Red Blossom Tea Company and a pretty set of chopsticks.



I was told that I should not miss Fisherman's Warf but aside from the sea lions and the view of Alcatraz I could definitely have skipped it. I was thrilled to see the sea lions as just a few weeks before they had gone missing but it seems that a few have returned!

Unfortunately, tickets to Alcatraz's night tour were sold out for the entire weekend so next time we will plan ahead and order in advance.

Our first night we happened upon this cute little alley way of restaurants which is considered the French Quarter of San Fran. I think only one of the restaurants were French but it was so cute.

One morning I took off for a short walk that turned into a long afternoon of hill hiking and being very lost. I was totally exhausted and pretty sore the next day but historic homes and gorgeous views of the bay were well worth it.

One of my favorite places was the Ferry Building. I seriously went there 3 out of the 4 days. I had an awesome burger and one of the best milkshakes I have ever had over at Taylors Refresher. I also had a great time tasting a little something from each of the specialty shops and picking up a gardener's basket and a vintage style map of San Fran from The Gardner.


At Saturday's Farmers market there was gorgeous fruit, veggies, spices and flowers.


Other highlights to the trip included a mouth watering dinner at the Peruvian restaurant La Mar, a tour of Tcho's chocolate factory - more on that later and of course a walk through Haights-Ashbury.

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