Sausalito and San Fran Recap

We usually do bed and breakfast places or medium priced chain hotels when we travel. Our last trip to San Francisco did not give us a great night's sleep while we were in a downtown B&B. Stacie found a nice place to stay in a quieter part of town on this visit. We made Pacific Heights our base and stayed at the Hotel Drisco. Well played babe! This place had the best service we have ever experienced. It really was one of those places that had no problem getting you what you asked for and recommending things you didn't know were available. It is conveniently located a few blocks from the entrance to the Presidio, my favorite part of SF.

Our first order of business was to visit Muir Woods. We did not have enough time to visit last time so made plans to hit it early. It is a short distance north of the Golden Gate Bridge. When we got to the parking lot, I realized it was not the park I was thinking it was. We went in to the gift shop and looked at books on the park. It was a very nice park, but we had just spent a few days in redwoods already so it was nothing new. I was thinking this was where the Giant Sequoias were. You know, the place where you can drive cars through the trees. Oops, I was only off by 250 miles. We will have to do this when we come back for Yosemite some time in the future. I'm sure Muir Woods is a great place to visit if you are sticking closer to the city, but we decided to go do new stuff instead.

On the way back south, we stopped and did a little of the Marin Headlands area in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area near Sausalito. This place was huge and we could have easily spent a day here with all of the hikes. We just did the stuff we could drive to and then went in to Sausalito for lunch.

For activities this time, we spent most of our time in the northwest corner. We walked around Golden Gate Park, hiked trails near the Legion of Honor and had a drink at The Beach Chalet Brewery.

The food in the city was great and it was easy to find good Italian within walking distance. We now have another awesome dish to try and recreate. We had carpaccio di zucchini at Jackson Fillmore Trattoria. This stuff was the bomb. We also really enjoyed our entres, but I don't remember what they were since the appetizer was so fantastic.

Photo dump:

Obligatory cable car shot with Alcatraz in the background.

Stacie at the beach entrance of Golden Gate Park.

Japanese Tea Garden

Palace of Fine Arts. The easily recognized dome is on the other side. It was being pressure washed so it didn't make for a good picture.

Taking a break on Cliff Trail over by the Legion of Honor.

How's that for a driveway?

Here is some info I gave Jordan for his upcoming visit, so I figured I would share it with the rest of you:

San Francisco is a cool place to visit. The first time we went (10 years ago), we rented bicycles from Blazing Saddles and rode from Fisherman's Wharf all the way over to Sausalito. We went through the Presidio, Crissy Field, Fort Point, over the Golden Gate bridge and in to Sausalito. We had a meal there and then took the ferry back to Fisherman's wharf. I had a blast. Stacie did except for riding bikes over the bridge. She did not like that at all. She would have been better if we just walked the bikes over the bridge because she is terrified of heights and I can be a little tight when you have a speeding biker coming at you from the opposite direction.

Walking around SF can be plenty, but if you want to go on some nice trails with good views of the bridge, go to area around the Legion of Honor. It is the northwest corner of the city on the Pacific Ocean side.

I had been before for business without Stacie and went to Alcatraz with some work buddies. I thought it was very interesting. Coit Tower on Telegraph Hill gives you good views of the city. Tip: the Japanese Tea Gardens in Golden Gate Park has free entrance on M,W, and F from 9AM - 10AM, otherwise it's $4 per person.