Our must see/do was the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, and the Hop on Hop off bus. After that, we just let the exploring take us around this fun city.

GHIRADELLI SQUARE
I was really hoping there was a chocolate factory tour here, but instead it’s some cute shops, a couple restaurants and of course some great ice cream – and the atmosphere is fun. We actually visited this area more than once – but only overpaid for shakes once!

PIER 39
Someone told us that seal watching at Pier 39 was a highlight of their trip. So we walked down to the pier expecting an industrial area with seals. We were surprised to find Pier 39 as a shopping and eating area and it wasn’t until we walked through the whole pier that we found the seals on the backside of one of the buildings. Oddly enough, the seals were just as fun to watch as people had said! The kids named them. They told stories about them. They were invested in the seals – so much so that we returned the next day to continue the seal saga!

LOMBARD STREET
The crazy crooked street was more steep than I imagined – which is true for most of the streets in San Francisco. I think it said it was a 27% grade and I’m pretty sure freeways warn you when it’s 6%! I can’t imagine actually living on that street with the amount of tourists that want to drive down it everyday.

CHRISSY FIELD
We found this area riding our bikes back from the Golden Gate Bridge so we stopped to play for a while. There were so many kite surfers and we marveled at their skills and even more importantly their willingness to get in waters that I’m pretty sure cause hypothermia. We were all a little chilled by this point but that didn’t stop the boys from creating an adventure. Before long, socks and shoes were off and they were running across the sand. What you don’t see is the rest of us huddled in the corner trying to find refuge from the wind and stay warm.

These pictures were only an hour and a half a part at Chrissy Field and yet the weather turns so quickly.

BOUDIN BAKERY
This is right on the water at the Wharf and let me tell you, you’ll want to grab bread every. Single. Day. They have an area where you can watch the bread being made and I could have sat in that warm area, enjoying the sweet aroma of bread all day. I’m pretty sure we stayed for 45 minutes, but it could have easily been longer. We also found it a great place to grab dinner.

Every night we retired to our hotel at dark. And every night we found ourselves in the courtyard enjoying the most peaceful atmosphere. We’d turn on the fire and chat. The kids would play ping pong and lawn jenga. And then when they tired, they would head to the rooms to watch movies while we continued to sit right here. It was my favorite and I looked forward to it every night. One night we even grabbed some dinner and brought it back to the hotel so we could start our fireside early!

The last morning we were there, we had plans to board a cable car. But we had seen most everything we wanted to see, so instead we found ourselves at Musee Mecanique by Pier 39 – an antique coin operated arcade. (They had games new, old and really old!) We gave a few dollars in quarters to each kid and we passed the time away until it was time to return to the airport. We Skee ball contests, and driving competitions and saw some old arcades that warned of being offensive in nature! I was skeptical that it would keep the kids interest and I was happy to be wrong. Arcade for the win!

This little scooter saw so many miles. We brought it in our suitcase for Briggs to ease some walking on his little legs. We underestimated the hills and sidewalks in need of repair. Which means most of the time one of the other kids was using the scooter for fun while Briggs was a champ and walked without a single complaint.

There was really only one area that didn’t live up to our expectations – and I’m sure it was us and not the area – but Chinatown was a disappointment. Years ago, I went to Chinatown in Philadelphia and it was awesome. So many cool shops and it was really clean. This was not the same experience. We heard that San Francisco’s Chinatown is the largest outside of Asia – but it just didn’t peak our interest. But they did have some cool murals! And some decent Chinese food.

We really did have such a great time. Some tried warning us of how much the city had changed in the last couple years and how dirty every thing was with homeless people abounding – that just wasn’t our experience. We came and we conquered and we left with nothing but good things to say about the area and dreaming about the Boudin Bread.