Visiting San Francisco - Alcatraz and Chinatown

Friday was a whirlwind day for us in San Francisco and there is still some of the best stuff left. Where I left off, we were getting ready for our trip over to Alcatraz. Our visit to Alcatraz was the only thing on our agenda that we set in stone before our trip. Needless to say, we were excited.

The whole Alcatraz experience was really incredible. As the island is a National Park, it is very well run

 

^creepy/cool

Tickets to Alcatraz can sell out weeks in advance sometimes so it's best to buy in advance. During the weekends, you're likely not going to be able to walk up to the window and get tickets. Buy early. Also, you can choose between a day tour or a night tour. We chose the night tour because that sounded cooler, but the day tour would be just as interesting and is a few bucks less. For the day tour, a few more parts of Alcatraz are open and you can take your time exploring, just keeping an eye out for the ferries back. The night tour has the same tour of the prison, but they add a few extras. There are presentations and speakers you can listen to about various different talks throughout the night. You also get to see the SF skyline lit up which is just beautiful.

After Alcatraz, we decided to get dinner in Chinatown with our friends. My friend asked around her grad program to see where the best Chinese food in Chinatown is. We came to Hang Ah. It's was a good price and good food. Maybe not the most amazing meal I could have, but I still enjoyed it. Compared to some of the rumors I've heard about overpriced food, this was a really good option if you are set on the Chinatown experience. We were too tired to explore the rest of the area, so we just went back to our place and passed out! I'll share more soon!

Visiting San Francisco - Coit Tower, Lombard Street, and The Wharf

The second day of San Francisco was spent getting the tourist-y stuff out of the way. Also known as the most exhausting day of the trip. If you weren't aware, San Francisco has A LOT OF HILLS. My iPhone told me I walked over 20,000 steps that day. Wild!!

We started the day out at the Ferry Building. I was dying to try Blue Bottle Coffee. However, that line was HUGE and just didn't seem worth it. So we walked over to Peets coffee, I got a latte and was a very happy camper.

After sitting outside for a bit, taking in the beautiful bay breeze, we decided to tackle our first mountain of the day by going to Coit Tower. According to Google Maps, it's about a two block walk. With about a 1000 steps... 

However, the view was totally worth it.

Once you go inside, it's a small admission fee and an 80-year old elevator ride up and the views get even better.

We scaled back down and decided to head over to Lombard Street. Basically, down one hill and up another. To Adventure!!

^Lombard Street (the curvy part) is a street to the right at the top of the hill. 

And it's not really all that exciting. Mostly just a bunch of people all getting photos. Just like me... 

So we decided to walk over to Ghirardelli Square. It's nothing spectacular, but it does have a few chocolate stores and you get a free piece of chocolate just for stopping in. Also, it's really close to the cable car trolleys if that is something you are interested in. 

By now we are hungry and go in search of some seafood! To the Wharf!

We ate at some awful restaurant but we were so hungry, it didn't really matter. Later I bought some sourdough bread from Boudin (amazing) and it became a great snack for the rest of the day.

We wandered around some shops and headed over to Pier 39. It was a lovely day as the weather was perfect. The Wharf is probably not something I would do again, but it was good to cross it off the list.  It touristy isn't your thing, I would definitely just skip it altogether. 

We wandered around getting ready for our visit to Alcatraz!!

I'll post more about Alcatraz later! :)

Visiting San Francisco - Mission District and Alamo Square

Last month I took a trip to San Francisco and it was simply amazing! We went to visit friends who just moved out there and to explore a new city. It was an absolute blast!!



One thing I found especially challenging was figuring out what to do in the city. I felt simply at the loss for picking out the perfect things to do. So many guides felt to touristy or family oriented. I wanted to strike that balance between relaxing and adventurous - it was hard to plan, but I think I found just the right mix. My goal is to share what I did to help you if you are ever visiting San Francisco. By no means is this all you could do or even the best - but it's what I did and I hope you find that helpful.

We flew in to San Francisco on a Thursday and got in around 9am, so we had the day to explore. I'd almost say we got there too early because we hit that awkward time of arriving in the city (taking the BART from SFO) around 10am. We didn't want breakfast, but nothing was open for lunch. Our Airbnb let us drop off our stuff, but check-in couldn't happen for a few more hours. Luckily, we found a nice coffee shop just around the block from our Airbnb and had some chai and pastry while we waited.

We stayed in the Mission District at an amazing Airbnb. We were close to all the action but on a cozier street. So the first day, we decided to just explore the neighborhood. I asked for a few recommendations from our Airbnb host prior to arriving and she was super helpful. We set off to walk down Mission Street and then head back up Valencia.

First stop: Clarion Alley. The Mission is full of amazing street art and this Alley is covered all over with beautiful murals. It really gives you sense of the neighborhood and what people believe in.  I love how the art allows you to feel apart of the conversation around community issues.

Afterwards, we headed down Mission Street for some famous Mission Burritos. There are so many choose from, you could just pick which ever one you want. We went to Taqueria Cancun. So good! Yum. It's a pretty simple menu. Pick your dish, your meat, a few other things and you are set to go. 

Full from lunch, we decided to turn up Valencia street. Mission and Valencia are two streets that run parallel to each other. And boy they are like different worlds. The Mission street was lively and authentic. Valencia was more trendy and upscale. 

On Valencia is where you'll find lots more little boutique stores, coffee shops, and fancy restaurants. We popped into a lot of the shops and explored. It was good fun - but it definitely has to be your thing. For those who love shopping or just looking, this is the place to explore.

We also stopped by Dolares Park, which most of was under construction, and hit up Bi-Rite Creamery. It was perfect!

After exploring, we went back and settled into our home for the next few days. We unpacked, got situated, and decided what was next. We looked at my copious notes I made on One Note and decided to tackle Alamo Square and then hit a grocery store on the way back. 

I was just a little bit nervous, because I knew we'd have to tackle some hills to get there. The Mission is quite flat and easy to navigate, but crossing over to Alamo Square meant hills. Luckily, it really wasn't that bad. It was good practice and kind of fun to walk up the hills. And once we got there, it was just beautiful. The sun was starting to set and it was just perfect. 

Not gonna lie, once you get there - there isn't much to do. I mean, these are real houses that people live in. It had just rained, so we couldn't really picnic (like on Full House, obvi). But it was just so beautiful that once we took our photos, we sat on a bench and took it all in. It felt amazing. 

Afterwards, we headed back toward our place. Stopped a Whole Foods (so stereotypical) to pick up some snacks. We ate at a random burger restaurant - nothing fancy - and then just fell asleep. It was a perfect first day.