This past Christmas, Dave and I opted to enjoy one another's company traveling after the new year, rather than buying each other stuff. Last week, we returned home from San Francisco, where we explored the town up close to take a multitude of photos, and indulge in fine dining. We had an opportunity to visit my sister and her family, Uncle Mike, and Grandma Vera.
Where do I start? The trip was overwhelmingly wonderful to say the least, and so much happened in five days!
We began our adventure with a drive along Hwy 1...windy and long, but well worth the scenic view. We stopped at Hearts Castle and took a tour. There, I adopted Dave's camera (Canon 30D w/ 85mm f/1.2 L lens) and took some photos of my own. It has a very small range of field, and was a bit tricky to learn in a fun sorta way. Our guide gave a bitchen tour, and the castle was as unbelievable as I remembered it.
We later made our arrival to Hotel Majestic, where we've always stayed. The hotel just missed the terrible fire following the Great Earthquake of 1906, making it an oversized antique. The hotel lives up to it's name! The charming details and friendly staff keep us faithful to The Majestic. We were immediately upgraded to a junior suite upon request. Our room was very romantic and really does have that "rich uncle's mansion" feel. We felt very much at home with a sweet four post bed, a cozy fireplace, and a claw-footed bath tub.
Then, there was the food...mmm, food! Dave cleverly posted a request for recommendations on Chowhound.com. We were able to make pretty good estimations between our responses and wireless internet.
The first night, we went to Perbacco, a fairly new italian restaurant. We were mesmerized by the food and impeccable service in an ultra vogue ambiance. We also happened to be conveniently sitting next to the owners, whom Dave paid compliments to. Another place worth noting was Fishermans's Grotto Number 9, an old school seafood restaurant that has consistently had great food with a a nice view of Fisherman's Warf. For our last night, Dave saved the best for last: La Folie, the supposed the creme de la creme of all french restaurants in the area. For the first time, I sampled a foie gras that was so tasty to my pallet. I ordered a 3 course meal, while Dave enjoyed 5 courses. We were able to choose each course from various categories and had paired up wines accordingly with the assistance of their sommelier. Our server was extremely friendly and well acquainted with the food. We swapped our plates as we usually do, and had a heck of a time. The whole experience was a genuine class act and the restaurant certainly lived up to it's reputation.
We visited my sister and husband, Keith, on the second night, and saw our 11-week-old niece, Karydis. Dave led a compulsory photo shoot of the family, while I dressed up our stuffed monkey (long story) in Karydis's onesie and attempted to keep their dog, Lilah out of the way. I tried to get a smile out of Baby Karydis with our dancing monkey, but my outlandish humor served our niece no purpose, nor was I any good at keeping the dog in check. Afterwards, Keith and Merrilee took us to a very nice Mexican restaurant called La Pinata, where I ordered my standard cheese enchilada dish, which was outstanding. With a boozy margarita in one hand and an adorable cooing baby in my lap, I was in in heaven. It is always thrilling to see my sister and her family, and we are adamant about the next visit.
We also got to see Dave's mother's brother, Mike, who lives in SF, and his daughter Lauren. We were treated to Cafe Tiramisu for a tasty lunch. We were fortunate to catch our scholarly cousin Lauren, who was home from college, and was frantically preparing for a semester abroad in Paris (Bonjour Lauren!). Uncle Mike entertained us with some humorous stories about his past times working in a hospital. He is a wonderful story-teller with a terrific sense of humor, and is always most interesting to listen to.
With only a few hours remaining in the city before our departure, we visited Grandma Vera. She will be turning 95 next month, yet like Uncle Mike, is a master story-teller. She has an outstanding recollection of the past, which is so impressive considering how forgetful I am at the age of 27. Her stories play a very important role in our family and know that through them, there is much to learn. I was honored to personally listen to her. She has great physical beauty, and is very likable because she is so cheerful and optimistic. She is very proud of Dave and gave us a lot of encouragement. We only spent a couple hours with her, before she had to prepare for dinner. I was sad to leave because I wanted to hear more stories, and only hope that visit wasn't our last.
To make a long story short, we visited: The Explortorium, Chinatown, Fort Point, Point Bonita, Treasure Island, and San Francisco City Hall. We took advantage of the cable cars near our hotel and visited the Cable Car Museum. We also hung out at a drum n' bass club one evening...a little different from and much smaller than the scene in Los Angeles.
The best part about the trip was my husbands presence, and the memories created. He worked very hard to make the trip a reality, and he did a fine job, which I can't thank him enough.
Category: General()