Keith was in San Francisco on business for a couple of weeks, so
Jill caught a flight up Friday morning and met him and Drew for
lunch. Good little Italian place, but quite a walk. That was just
the beginning of one heck of a walking day. He walked all the way
back to the hotel to get the camera and then along the waterfront
until we were downhill from the Coit Tower. Really downhill. We try
to find our way up the hill, but have to circle the cliff face some
to find stairs up it. Lots of stairs. Once up to the tower (thank
goodness for elevators), the views were pretty stunning.
Looking out over the bay from Coit
Tower
Pier 39 in the middle and Alcatraz
behind it
Golden Gate Bridge
Lombard Street from Coit
Tower
Jill with the Bay Bridge behind
her
Keith posing dorkily
Jill taking a break with Golden Gate
behind her
From Coit Tower, we walked down the other side of the hill and
then headed uphill to Lombard Street. Uphill, downhill, uphill,
downhill...
Lombard from the bottom
From the top
From there we walked across the backside of Lombard Street for a
while before catching the California Street streetcar back to the
hotel, through rush hour traffic. At least we rode the streetcar.
After a short break, we grabbed a cab to Pier 39 and walked from
there all the way to the end of Fisherman's Wharf and back. Pretty
touristy, but once back at Pier 39, we went and watched the Sea Lions
that took up residence on the docks. We spent an hour watching the
play and fight, and could have stayed longer, but it started getting
pretty cold.
Cascading Pillows
These two fought the whole
time
We found a place to eat on Fisherman's Wharf that wasn't as
touristy as some (they all were, though) and had a pretty good meal.
Jill got as much fresh crab as she could and I had seafood in a fish
broth.
We got up on Saturday and headed straight to Starbucks, like any
good San Franciscan would. From there to McDonald's for a healthy
breakfast. When we got back to the hotel, we decided that we didn't
want to walk anymore and called down for a rental car. Of course,
they wanted a few arms and legs, but we walked right down and picked
up a peppy little Hyundai (kidding about the peppy part). Straight
to Napa!
After stopping in Napa town center for winery maps and guides and
a tasty lunch of California style sandwiches (everything has roasted
peppers, sun-dried tomatoes and goat cheese), we headed to La
Familigia di Modavi. This a Mondavi winery growing Italian grapes.
Napa Valley
From there we headed down to the regular Mondavi winery where we
signed up for a nice long tour (very good) and a wine tasting (even
better). We learned a lot and were really having fun.
The vineyards at Modavi
These are grape flower buds
Every place had lots of roses growing and Jill spent quite a while
looking at the different types. Keith paid more attention to the
olive, plum and lime trees. And of course, the grapes.
Jill with a rose bed
From Modavi, we headed further up the valley to Beringer. That
was a little crowded and the wines they out for sample weren't very
good. Of course, they probably have better ones in the more
expensive tasting room, but we weren't up for it. We headed back
down the Franciscan winery, where some of the friendliest people were
working. And the wine was very good. From there, we decided we had
to see what V. Sattui was like. The place was packed. This winery
doesn't sell their wines outside of the winery (they're not that
great, really), but they have a really good deli and nice picnic
areas.
Vineyard and roses next to V.
Sattui
We started heading down the valley and made a stop at Dean and
Delucca (spelling?) for a little espresso for Keith and some snooping
around. Jill got Keith some good sausages for his birthday. We
headed to the only restaurant in that part of the valley that didn't
take reservations, but the wait was already an hour and a half at
5:30, so we decide to just head back to San Francisco. Traffic going
back was pretty heavy and it took a long time to get back to town,
and we were real hungry when we got there. I suggest we try the
Gordon Biersch brew-pub, but when we get close, we find out there is
a fireworks display over the bay and we can't even get close.
Frustrated, we head back to the Financial district. We see the
Tadich Grill sign from a ways off and decide to see if they are still
open. Luckily we just make it before they lock the door and we
settle in for a fabulous meal. Jill gets a rice, cheese and lump
crab meat baked dish and Keith gets the Cuppiono, seafood in a red
sauce (somewhere between Marinara and fish broth). Awesome. And
great service.
On Sunday morning, we exchange a couple more arms and legs for the
over night parking for our cheapy rental and head to Golden Gate
state park. The weather is overcast and cool, with a light drizzle
every once in a while. Of course, we had our bagels and San with
us.
Jill in the rose garden at Golden
Gate
Tree. That's it, really.
Hard to believe we are in the
city
After our short stroll in the park, we fill up the rental (gas
really is higher in California) and turn it back into the hotel. We
stroll through Union Square in a downpour and then kick back at the
hotel until putting Jill in a car to the airport, and Keith sadly
heads back to work. |
