Caution: You might be hungry after reading...

On Wednesday, Niki and I took a little road trip to San Francisco!!

Niki was an awesome tour guide and looked up everything that we wanted to do prior to heading out there. We didn't have a solid plan and and the day ended up being perfect! I think that has to do with the fact that we had no time limits and there was no rush to be home before dinner. (Thanks Walt for taking care of the kids!).
I really enjoyed the alone time with Niki and exploring the city. I had been there once before about 10-15 years ago and remember going to The Warf but since that is so much like the Seattle waterfront we chose to "tour the world" instead.

Welcome to The Coit Tower.
It was built in 1933 with funds (about 1/3 = $133,000,00) from the Lillie Hitchcock Coit's estate.
The tower was built in memory of her and the San Francisco firemen.

The elevator ride up (210 feet) pretty much freaked me out because I don't do well with people I don't know standing really close to me and in small spaces. Niki is afraid of heights but she was okay and even looked out the windows.

Moving on to Ghirardelli Square...

After the long car ride into the city (thanks to the Giants game that was going on.. that we didn't know about until the next day) we stopped for a light snack at the Crown & Crumpet. It's located in Ghirardelli Square.

Niki enjoyed Peach Oolong tea with 2 small scones and I enjoyed decaf french press coffee with 2 crumpets. It was quite delightful even though we felt a little under dressed. ;-)

You won't believe it...!! In Ghirardelli Square is a Kara's Cupcakes. The reason I am SO excited about this is because during this pregnancy I have been hooked on cupcakes. Not just normal ones from home but the very special, melt in your mouth kind you can get in little bakeries. Back in Seattle the place I currently love is Trophy Cupcakes. Did I mention that I've been watching Cupcake Wars on the Food Network as well? (thanks Nick for watching it with me!). Anyhow... Kara's Cupcakes was ON Cupcake Wars!! Which is why stopping by this little shop made me SO excited. Niki and I purchased a lemon cupcake filled with lemon and a chocolate cupcake filled with caramel. We saved them for the next day.

A San Francisco treat. Ding. Ding.
This was my first time taking a ride on a street car. We rode on all 3 different lines throughout the day. The funniest thing about this is when I was riding on them.. baby Jonesey would MOVE around a ton. I feel her moving around quite a bit now but there was a very big difference when I was on a car. It was loud and bumpy.. but such a fun way to get around the city!


Moving on China Town....

When walking a few blocks to China Town, Niki and I saw a Google car!! It had a large ball on the top of it and about 10 camera lenses in it. Niki is going to be looking for us on Google street maps later on.

Welcome to the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory.
This is a very small, hole in the wall factory and produces about 30k cookies a day! Each of the women in this picture make about 10k each. It was very warm in this shop but I'm very glad we stopped in.

Very sweet man.. I'm assuming he was the owner or co-owner.
Niki and I bought a bag of plain and a bag of mixed with vanilla and chocolate.
YUM!

Lunch time at the Snow Garden restaurant.

Chicken Chow Fun with egg rolls on the side.
To keep it light since we would be heading to Little Italy later, Niki and I split a lunch plate. She recommended Chow Fun which I had never had before. I really liked it and plan on trying it again.

Moving on to Little Italy or also know as the North Beach area.....

Nothing like a pregnant chic trying to pick up a street car. ;-)

Ding. Ding.

Behind me is The Saint Peter & Paul's Cathedral across the street and to the right was a nice little park that Niki and I laid down in the grass for about an hour.. thinking about how lucky we were to be in San Francisco where the temperature was in the 70's and not 108 like it was in Sacramento. Walt, Niki's husband even told us that the A.C. in their house started to trip a breaker since it was working so hard to keep the temp. down in the house.

I like this picture because you can see Niki and the Cathedral in my glasses.

She was checking out some of the reviews on the cafes in the area to see which one we should eat at. We wanted something small and Soprano style. ;-) Okay, maybe it was just me wanting the Soprano style.

Our free appetizer. It was the best I've ever had at an Italian Restaurant.

Niki had FRESH gnocchi with fresh pesto on it. It tasted like butter and melted in our mouths. It was by far the best gnocchi we've ever had.



Moving on back down to Beach Ave.. to Ghirardelli Sqaure......

Did you really think that we would wrap up the day and not enjoy a hot fudge sundae from one of the Ghirardelli ice cream stores?!?

A perfect ending to a fun filled, sisters spending time together day.

Thanks Niki for all the research and planning that you did to make this day so awesome!!

Niki was pretty bummed that this was my view of the Golden Gate bridge on our way home. We took the Bay Bridge into the city planning to take the Golden Gate home with a great view of the city. We didn't end up leaving the city until about 7:45 that night and I guess the term they use here is.. the bridge was "socked" in. Who would have known.. I had never heard that term before.. must be a Californian thing. ;-)
Socked... a.k.a. fogged in.



My next appointment is on Monday afternoon. I will post next week with an update on baby Jonesey and I.