San Francisco 2015 & 2016

In both December 2015 and 2016, I traveled to San Francisco for a little break before the holidays. Before then, I've only been to California once. My parents really enjoyed San Fran when they went, so my sister, cousin, friend and I had to see it for ourselves. We only stayed for four days, which was plenty of time to see the basics of the city.

This was a cute, fun little vacation that I will always remember.

What I saw:

1. Golden Gate Bridge
2. Painted Ladies (the houses)
3. Chinatown
4. Lands End National Park
5. Lombard Street
6. Fisherman's Wharf
7. Ghirardelli Square
8. Japanese Tea Gardens
9. Haight and Ashbury (Where the hippie revolution started)
10. The downtown area/trolley
11. Alcatraz Island

I would definitely go back to San Fran in a heartbeat. The weather was perfect (55-65F in December), though it did rain pretty hard the second time I went as I stepped of the plane.
Food options were surprisingly scarce, in my opinion. It seemed like there were more burger places than any other kind of restaurant. Ghirardelli is a must for chocolate and ice-cream lovers -- it's heavenly! The city has public transportation that is fairly easy to navigate, and if there is not a bus nearby, we would use Lyft or Uber to get around.

The Golden Gate Bridge is a breathtaking sight from Crissy Field and the visitor's center, as well as great views from the bridge looking out into the bay. Too bad I was not able to drive across the bridge, for we did not rent a car during the trip.

Fisherman's Wharf is the equivalent to Chicago's Navy Pier, but with a lot more cute shops, more sights to see and more fun all around (no offense, Navy Pier). There is an In-N-Out burger not to far from the Wharf (just to let you know, since that is the only one in downtown San Fran). One of the restaurants in FW is called "Wipe Out" which has an amazing clam chowder that should not be passed up. As you walk toward the boardwalk, you can see sea lions bask in the sun, yell, and play on floating rafts. They are quite a show (literally I watched them for an hour out of pure entertainment)!

Alcatraz Island has a lot of history. The whole island had an eerie feel to it and the prison itself was rundown (but well kept). There was a guided tour that showed everything that was on the island, which was very interesting. I am glad I got to learn more about American History through this day tour.

Union Square is a public park/area that has a huge christmas tree in the middle (of course during the christmas season). The first time I arrived, everybody and their brother was dressed as a Santa Claus (or grinch or elf) because it was the annual Santa Bar Crawl. I laughed at the sight for quite a while, since I was not expecting it.

Lombard Street has a beautiful view of the city from the top of the street that you can see both Bay Bridge and Golden Gate Bridge. Also Chinatown is very scenic with traditional decorations outside each store and restaurant.

And lastly, Land's End National Park was the perfect way to incorporate nature into this city exploration. The park has scenic views of the ocean and greenery surrounding the beaches. There are trails that take you to another view of the Golden Gate Bridge -don't miss that opportunity.