On Tuesday morning Nick is leaving to work in North Carolina for two weeks. I had hoped to be able to fly out an join him, but it's not going to happen.
I wanted to do something to "fill my cup", so to speak, before I embarked upon a two week journey of single-parenthood.
My jogging partner, and neighborhood "bestie", Stephanie, is moving back to Seattle the first week in May. Sniff, sniff.
So, we decided to take a "girls trip".
Allegiant Airlines had roundtrip airfare in to Oakland, CA for $120. We booked the tickets and didn't realize, until after the fact, that we were going over Easter weekend. Oh well. Our families survived just fine in our absence.
We flew out of the Provo airport. It was windy on the tarmac as we walked to the plane!
I was leery to fly with Allegiant. The internet is riddled with Allegiant Airlines horror stories. For $120, I was willing to take the gamble, especially considering that no children would be involved in this trip.
Fortunately, we didn't have any problems. I'd fly with Allegiant again, just not with children. The flight attendants were really mean to the young Mom's travelling with children.
Also, they squish you in to the plane like sardines!
I tried to take a picture of how little legroom there was. The picture actually makes it look like there was more than there really was. So, take my word for it: things were tight.
Day 1: Stephanie and I landed in Oakland, and picked up our compact rental car. It was a Chevy Spark. Frankly, I prefer small cars for city driving. I liked our little vehicle.
We drove to San Mateo, CA, and checked in to the Residence Inn I had booked. I reserved a studio-sized room. But they upgraded us to a two-bedroom suite. It was awesome! I wish we could have stayed here the entire trip!
But alas, it wasn't to be. Stephanie was a sport. I asked her if it would be OK if we stayed in a different hotel each night of our trip, and she said it was fine. The deal is, that our Marriott Elite status was upgraded to "Gold", with the stipulation: that we could keep it for two years, as long as we made 6 stays before the end of June. If we would have stayed at the RI for 3 nights, it would have only counted as 1 stay, toward Gold. But, if we stayed at 3 different Marriott-brand hotels, for the 3 nights we were there, it would count as 3 stays. Dumb, I know.
Anyway, Stephanie and I unpacked, relaxed, and then set out to get some dinner. I had scouted out a placed called Sole Ristorante Italiano. It had excellent reviews on Yelp. It was in San Mateo. It took a little work to find the restaurant, it was a tiny place! When we walked in, they asked if we had a reservation? No. We didn't. And I only counted 6 tables in the entire restaurant! Fortunately, they had one table available, and we got it. The last one.
Not 30 seconds after we sat down, another couple came in, and they were turned away because they didn't have a reservation. This same scenario played itself out over a dozen times while we were eating. I'd highly recommend this Italian restaurant, if you're going to be in the Bay area, just make sure you get a reservation!
We headed back to the hotel, and both settled down with books and TV. Travelling with Stephanie was a dream. She has a very easy-going nature, and she and I were evenly matched. We travel at the same speed. Both of us were happy to have "me-time". I didn't feel the need to jam-pack our schedule, and make sure that we were being entertained 24-7! It was bliss!
Day 2: I made Stephanie rise early. I was determined to get in to Mama's restaurant! Since, I hadn't been able to accomplish it on any of my prior trips to San Francisco. The freeway was deserted as we made our commute in to the city. We weren't the first ones in line, but we were able to get in right when it opened.
It was the best breakfast I've ever had! I ordered the Monte Cristo Sandwich. Paired with their famous raspberry jam, it was amazing. Stephanie and I also split an order of banana bread french toast. We probably looked like pigs, with all of the food they brought to our table, but I didn't care! It may be the only time I'll be able to eat there, and I was going to make it count!
After breakfast, we wandered up to Chinatown. Only, it was still very early, and nothing was open. We meandered down the steep streets and made our way to Ghirardelli Square. It just so happened, that on that part of our walking trip we followed the Barbary Coast trail. It wasn't intentional, but it was cool to see the seals marking the trail.
At Ghirardelli Square we bought chocolate. Then we walked down the Embarcardero. We made stops at Boudin Sourdough Bakery, took in the sights at Fisherman's Wharf, and ended up at Pier 39.
We saw the Seals.
I'd never ridden a famous San Francisco Trolley. Stephanie and I were not looking forward to the trek up the hill, back to our car. So, we bought tickets for a trolley ride. It wasn't as cool as I thought it'd be. But at least I can say I've done it.
We were dropped off near Chinatown, and the shops were finally open, so we took the opportunity to explore.
We retrieved our car around 2PM. Stephanie really wanted to eat some seafood, so we drove back down to Ghirardelli square, and ate a late lunch at McCormick & Kuleto's. Fortunately, their food quality hasn't decreased, since the buyout. Lunch was fantastic, and fresh.
I ought to mention that; the day before we left I developed a cold sore. I thought it was stress-induced. But after go-go-going that entire day, I think I was legitimately sick. I felt pretty crummy as we drove North, over the Golden Gate bridge to Marin County.
That night we were staying at a Courtyard in Larkspur, CA. The customer service there, was non-existent. I wouldn't stay there again.
So, Stephanie was very understanding. She was OK with me taking Nyquil and zonking out at 6PM.
I was glad I did too. I felt much better the next morning.
Day 3: Stephanie and I moved at a much more leisurely pace that morning. We got ready, and wandered across the street from our hotel to get breakfast. We ate at a place called Rustic Bakery. Man, nearly everywhere we dined on this trip "hit it out of the park". I had fresh-squeezed orange juice that was fantastic! We shared a croissant breakfast sandwich, and I finished my bfast off with a warm blackberry bread pudding.
From there, it was a short drive to Muir Woods, to see the redwoods.
And our real adventure began...
As I mentioned, Stephanie and I work out together 3 days a week. We've been doing it consistently for a year now. As we were walking through the forest we noticed a sign that showed a hiking trail. It was called the oceanview trail, and showed it as a 2.6 mile loop. We figured we'd give it a try, since we weren't averse to physical activities. The hike was a pretty good grade. Add the extreme humidity to the exertion we were engaged in, and you have a recipe for sweaty girls. We were soaked very quickly.
We climbed uphill for a LOOOONG time. Eventually, we hit a highway. Steph pulled out her phone, and used it to ascertain information. We found out that we had hiked over 2 miles; and that the only way back to Muir Woods, was the way we had come! A poorly marked trail, if there ever was one.
The best part of the whole thing was that we had parked half a mile away from the Muir Woods entrance. Apparently, all National Parks were free over Easter weekend, and Muir Woods was packed! We didn't have to pay to enter, but we had to park far away.
Stephanie and I both felt disgusting when we made it back to the car. Fortunately, I had purchased a cheap t-shirt in Chinatown; so I had something to change in to. But the two of us trying to be discreet, and change in our little car was comical.
We had spent a lot more time at Muir woods, than we had planned to. Sadly, this meant that we didn't have time to go to the Legion of Honor Art Museum.
Instead, we found that we only had time to get luch, before we needed to make it to our Alcatraz tour.
Stephanie and I both wanted to eat at McCormick and Kuleto's again. So, we drove to Ghirardelli square, and parked again.
We walked in to the restaurant, and noticed that they were serving a buffet. The cost was $70/person. Too steep, even for my splurge-y girls weekend.
Our only other option was a nearby diner, Lori's Diner.
It wasn't great. Service was slow.
By the time we paid our check, we found that we had 10 minutes to make it the 1.25 miles from Ghirardelli Square, to Pier 35.
We nearly missed the boat! Literally.
It's a good thing Stephanie and I are used to running together. Because that's just what we did! We booked it down the boardwalk!
Sweaty and gross, again.
But we made it. With 30 seconds to spare.
We were the last ones to board the Ferry to "The Rock".
I'd have to say that the Alcatraz Tour was my most favorite excursion on our trip. I enjoyed the audio tour.
An average cell. If you think this one was sparsely decorated, you should see solitary confinement!
A view of the city, from Alcatraz. They said that the city was so close, that the inmates could often hear the people of San Francisco laughing and singing during times of Celebration, such as New Year's Eve. In 1906, when the massive earthquake hit San Francisco and destroyed over 80% of the city, it was barely did any damage at Alcatraz.
Did I mention that it was a hike of 1/3 of a mile from the ferry to the entrance of the prison? Plus, we had to walk the 1.25 miles back to our car, when the tour was finished.
We easily did a half marathon that day. We were beat.
Our last night there, we stayed at a Courtyard near the airport in Oakland. There was a 7 foot high, wrought iron fence that went around the parameter of the hotel. I purposely booked the hotel room in Nick's name, that night. No reason to advertise that it was just us two ladies, travelling.
Day 4: We had to be up at the unholy hour of 4:30AM, to be sure that we made it to airport in time for our 7AM flight.
The night before, Stephanie took her life in her hands, and ventured in to the store at the gas station in Oakland where we stopped to put gas in our car. She purchased pop tarts, so that we'd have something for bfast the next morning. I'm glad she did, because we didn't have time to get anything at the airport.
We came home to reality.
But we had a good time, while it lasted.
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