San Francisco- Ferry Building

Hello Blog World!

Sorry for the lapse in posting! Life has been interesting to say the least. I will update more, I swear.

So, our last day in San Francisco, we stopped by the Ferry Building. 

Actually, we started with breakfast in Chinatown at what would have been a great place if the last minute lapse in service hadn't completely tanked the experience.

Anyhow, after a few shopping stops along Market (Minamoto and Andersen Bakery), we took the street car to the Ferry Building.

Oddly enough, this is one of the spots my mom had never been to and it's one of my fave places in the city. Great food and a fun, chill market. 

This visit, I bypassed my beloved Miette and Cowgirl Creamery in favor of the Hog Island Oyster Company and Humphrey Slocombe Ice Cream. Both awesome picks. 

We didn't care to eat on the patio so we didn't have to wait at Hog Island. We got a great table by the door (sweet view of the Bay Bridge) and split the rustic seafood stew, hushpuppies, and a small order of oysters. All delicious. 

We grabbed our fancy ice cream (mactcha-doodle, green tea and snickerdoodle) and headed up to the observation deck. Just like my last visit, the weather was beautiful. 

Such a great way to finish our trip!

San Francisco- Pier 39 & Fisherman's Wharf

My mom used to tell me stories about Pier 39 from several decades ago. 

Apparently, things have changed. She'd never seen the seals and sea lions on the platforms and having been back at least once on each visit, I was excited to show her around.

My earliest memories of Pier 39 were from my last trip to that area as a child. I took my mom by the seals and we grabbed snacks at Trish's Mini Donuts (a must stop for each of my visits).

After Pier 39, we wandered down to Fisherman's Wharf so I could share with mom my favorite lobster sandwiches. While we had planned to share one, we ended up buying two. While walking the first one to the picnic benches, we were attacked by seagulls who stole the sandwich.

Insanely, that has never happened to me on any of the trips before. It seemed like it had happened a lot that day since there were paper sandwich carriers everywhere and flocks of birds getting way too close to diners. Pretty awkward!

From here, we caught the cable car up Hyde Street and made a stop at Swensen's. This is the setting for one of my family's favorite stories. My dad once tried to drive a car down Lombard Street while holding a strawberry ice cream cone. He dropped it. On my last childhood visit, my dad made his second attempt and luckily, the rental car got away without a drop. He was pretty proud of that.

San Francisco- J-Town

I'm sure I've been through J-Town a number of times.

I'm not sure any of those times count, because I only remember the last time I was there.

We needed a trip to Daiso and though I've been to the one on Market St, that one was tiny and pretty poorly stocked. The one in Japantown was wonderful and actually had an amazing snack selection too! I even found my beloved Ramune melon sodas.

We made a last stop at Isobune for the floating sushi boats and it turns out, it's my friend Marissa's favorite sushi restaurant in San Francisco. 

San Francisco- Haight Ashbury

I've passed by this area several times on the tour buses, but never got a chance to stop.

Some of my fave pics of my trips have been from here (granted, from the top of a double decker bus passing through here) and I always wanted to explore the colorful buildings and shops.

We took the Muni bus over and I did make one quick stop first at Chantal Guillon (another place I wanted to check off my three year old San Francisco checklist). 

While the area was cool and there were lots of great shops, the smell of weed was overwhelming. Still, I definitely enjoyed the chance to get some great photos of the funky iconic signs!

San Francisco- Chinatown

My (just about) annual trip to The Bay was this year. My mom hadn't been back since I was 17. I was born in the Bay Area and my parents used to live downtown so it's kind of like home to her. We had been talking about going together for years and after the visit with Melissa last year, I told her that we would go this year for sure.

We got a great package deal on Expedia (seriously, about $500 for roundtrip airfare and hotel for two nights, two people). We took the BART to Union Square.

After dropping off our luggage, we headed over to Chinatown for breakfast.

We grabbed dim sum (to go) at my favorite little dim sum place, Good Mong Kok Bakery. It's really tiny and there really ins't anywhere to sit, but the dim sum is good and the portions are large. Plus it's REALLY cheap.

We walked around for a while and it was insanely crowded.

We also wandered past Eastern Bakery which is where my parents got their wedding cake a million years ago (ok, maybe 35 years ago). Apparently they are now known for their mooncakes.

Stay tuned for Haight Ashbury!