A couple of weeks after returning from Bar Harbor (see previous post), cousin Deanna and I took a little 3 day trip to San Francisco. She was given a membership in World Ventures Travel Club and this was her reasonably priced Welcome Trip. We stayed right downtown at Union Square ...Parc 55...very nice hotel with an elaborate breakfast buffet....thankfully included in our package. Breakfast was served in their Cable 55 restaurant and such a lovely place to begin the day with the sun beginning to shine and the City beginning to awaken. (I always remind to click on the photos to enlarge)
We arrived on Friday early morning and made the decision to rent a car at the airport, keep it all day, then return it that evening 3 blocks from our hotel....cheaper than alternative ways to get downtown. We used that day to drive to Sausalito for lunch, stopping at Fort Baker (part of the National Park Service) to take photos.
Going away from the City, make an immediate right at the end of the bridge and take the road down to Fort Baker 
Sausalito was just a hop-skip-and-a-jump from Fort Baker and we were delighted to find Scoma's...famous at Fisherman's Wharf...at water's edge. Food was great! Deanna had the halibut and I had the clam chowder.
After Sausalito and a revisit to Fort Baker, it was back to the City...to find dinner: Trader Joe's for wine and olive bread...Costco for Triple Cream Brie. I was driving and I can assure you finding both in DOWNTOWN San Fran was not easy. Even though Google gave good directions, if we didn't SEE it, the streets dictated work-arounds. We travel on a retiree budget, so no matter where we are, dinner is usually a good wine, a loaf of great bread and a buttery brie.
With 'dinner' in hand, headed toward our hotel to drop off our purchases and then return the car with a short walk back to the hotel.
On Saturday, our package included a trip to Sonoma wine area...much less crowded than Napa. We boarded a bus early to begin the ride. At this point, I should say that bus tours are never my choice...as I've told my travelin' friends..."I don't want to see the world through the glass windows of a bus"..but sometime it's the way one has to do things. The two photos below are my attempts to capture what we were passing at 45 mph...lol
Sausalito and North of there
There were two wineries. I have no recollection of the name of the first, but the grounds were quite nice....................
wine.....not so much :(
Then we went to the village of Sonoma. The wine tasting was in a store front, but it was given in a delightful and fun way...with pretty good wine. However, it was Sonoma and it's 1846 Plaza that captured my heart.
After a sandwich at the Sonoma Cheese Factory,
I wandered off alone to begin on one side and walk completely around the Plaza to take photos of the entire 4 blocks.
Too soon it was time to get back on the bus and head back to the City. Deanna and I did one of my favorite things and took a walk to see the City at night, with the lights sparkling, fewer people and some store still open.
Macy's theme this year was Peanuts characters...nationwide, I guess, since we saw the same on our Thanksgiving trip to NYC
the photo on the left
was just across the
street from our
hotel
Been a long day and olive bread, brie and wine were awaiting us in our room. :) :)
Sunday morning and our plans included the Embarcadero and Fisherman's Wharf. However, MY plan was to have a whole Dungeness crab at a sidewalk table on Fisherman's Wharf...and to see something at the end of the day that neither of us had been to before ;-)
The Embarcadero....
 |
Next up Fisherman's Wharf!
....and I did find my whole Dungeness crab
We left in search of a bus and, after asking several folks, we determined the bus number for us to take to the Museum of the Palace of Fine Arts....new ground for both of us. I now have an app called Moovit, which can give you bus information for any city. also San Fran has a phone number you can call 415-673-6864 and if you tell them where you intend to go, they will give you a plan with bus numbers. The latter info came from a very nice bus driver. :)
We were certainly glad we didn't give up on our quest....the photos below will show you why. The night was closing in and we didn't have as much time as we wanted, but it was soooo worth the trip.
If ever you are in San Francisco, don't miss this amazing site.
Caught the bus back to Union Square before it was dark....pleased with our day. On the way into the hotel, we made arrangements for someone to pick us up at 4 a.m. with SFO as our destination.
When we got back to the room, I was hungry but Deanna was not. Looked on my phone for something close and just across the street, in the Westfield, was an Italian place with great reviews so that sounded good for ending my day.
Cupola Pizzeria,
4th Floor, Westfield San Francisco Centre
TRIPLE YUMMO!!!!!
Ordered the Carne....the fior de latte was like Fresh Mozzarella.
Ordered a glass of
beni di batasiolo barbera d'alba,
piedmont 2012. In October 2014 we had stayed at a turisimo in Piedmont just outside of Alba where there were hills covered by vineyards as far as the eye could see. That memory made the wine taste even better.
It paid off to get on the early plane out ....got First Class and had a terrific onboard breakfast of French toast with fruit compote..
GREAT TRIP!!!!
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