San Francisco, Day 1

Russ and I got the great opportunity to take an amazing, week-long trip to San Francisco and Sonoma! We piggybacked my work trip to Sonoma for the race and extended our stay so we could explore both places. I had never been to either place and Russ had only been to San Fran once to visit family in high school, so we were both super excited. And it was the first time we had both been away from Tyler this long (9 days!!)...we were excited for the time away, but knew he'd be in great hands with Granna.

I did a LOT of planning and researching for this trip and was determined to fit as much into this trip as we possibly could. We flew out on Wednesday and it took all day to get to San Fran. We checked into our hotel (Hilton San Francisco Union Square) ordered room service and called it a night since we had an early and jam-packed day the next morning.

On Thursday we grabbed breakfast early at the cutest little place across the street from our hotel the start off our day. We took our first cable car ride down to the Pier for our Alcatraz tour. All the research I read said to do Alcatraz early in the morning because the island gets really crowded. We took one of the early morning ferries and spent the morning exploring. I love a good audio go-at-your-own pace tour and we both were so surprised at how beautifully landscaped the grounds were. It was amazing to think about the high-profile criminals that were kept secluded there just a couple miles off the coast of San Fran. They said that you could hear the sounds and even the smells from the bay from the prison.

View from our first cable car ride.

On the ferry leaving for Alcatraz.

Obviously the wind was crazy! :)

The exercise yard.

Baseball field

There was a little side door off the exercise yard that had this gorgeous view!

Where the most dangerous criminals were kept.

Reading about the attempted prison break.

The bar spreader used.

Site of the cafeteria.

Al Capone's cell.

I was really glad we went to Alcatraz the morning, because it was getting really crowded the longer we stayed. We caught the ferry back and headed to Scoma's for lunch. I did research on places to eat, too, and we wanted authentic San Fran seafood on the bay and Scoma's did not disappoint!

After lunch, we checked out the original Giradelli chocolate shop and factory. Russ had never had Giradelli chocolates before and was a fan! We also explored touristy Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39 where the famous sea lions live!

After loading up on chocolate, we made our way our to touristy Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39 where the famous San Fran sea lions sunbathe all day.

We headed back to the hotel and were wiped after our long day, but went to dinner out at Town Hall, where I had made a reservation. It was great but pricey. We crashed at the hotel afterwards after our crazy, busy, fun day!