Happy Thanksgiving!

To everyone today. We miss you all and hope you have a safe and peaceful holiday.

We love you!

Thanks and Happy Birthday to Grandma

I was remiss in sending a huge thank you to Grandma who spent 4 days with the boys so I could take my trip to San Francisco. Without her the trip wouldn't have been possible so Grandma, thank you so very much. The boys had a really great time with you and I cannot stop talking about San Francisco!

ALSO! Today is Grandma's birthday so happy happy birthday Grandma! We hope you have a nice day and do something fun! We'll call you soon!

Love,
us

Additional pictures

Here are some pictures that we thought we'd share as well. Thanks for stopping by!

Day 3 - Sunday - SF

Well again we were up around 6:30 in the morning but this time we had to be! It was our Alcatraz day and we wanted to get a good meal in before all the walking. We ate downstairs in the hotel and they had a full breakfast this morning...fantastic! We drove down to Pier 39, parked the car, then hiked back to Pier 33 where you catch the boat (can't call this yacht a ferry) to THE ROCK. The ride took about 12 minutes (not that we were counting or anything) and it was cold..again! When we arrived we listened to one of the Park Rangers explain the "rules" then go through his list of "suggestions" and then we were off. Honestly, this is a must see at some point in your lifetime. The views are absolutely spectacular and the history is amazing...for instance, did you know that in the late 60's (1969) Indians occupied the rock for 19 months? See! I would have never known...and HP2 suggested we take the audio tour which I would recommend to anyone who has not yet been. After our tour we had lunch at the Crab House back at Pier 39...omg delicious! Their crab chowder is phenomenal! CHUNKS of crab, not just shreds..seriously, that is a must have if you ever get there! Now we're back in the hotel room, soaking our feet from all the walking we've done this weekend and taking it easy the rest of the day. Just as an aside - when I finished typing this entry the first time around Phil decided he wanted to take yet another walk to the marina near the hotel! The last picture (with me talking on the cell phone tp JG) is during our stroll. My flight departs at 6am tomorrow morning so I need to get to bed early early tonight...Pictures below!

Day 2 - Saturday - San Francisco

Well since I'm still on ET I was up and ready to go at 7am PT (which is really 10am MY time) on Saturday morning...needless to say, Phil wasn't too happy but he was a good sport. :-) Our 1st adventure began when we realized that in order to get to the Golden Gate Bridge you actually have to drive through the center of SF, there is no highway around the city. It took us, I would guess, a good 45 minutes to get through the city and to the bridge. Once we got that out of the way it was smooth sailing to our first destination, Muir Woods, where the redwood trees are. On our way we stopped for breakfast at the DipSea, a great restaurant on the north side of Sausolito that looks much smaller on the outside than it actually is inside. It was very cozy, had a nice atmosphere, and tasty food. We then proceeded on to the park, spent a few hours in the drizzling rain, and walked about 2 miles through the redwoods. It was an amazing sight and I'm sure the pictures I add on to the blog when I return will never do it justice. Around noon, after we decided we had had enough of the rain, we drove to Sonoma and visited Viansa Winery & Italian Market, Gloria Ferrer Champagne Caves, the Olive Oil Company, Buena Vista Winery, Sebastiani Vineyards & Winery, and Ravenswood Winery. I had tastings at Sebastiani and Ravenswood. Since Phil doesn't drink wine he seemed happy being my DD...thanks honey! Sonoma was nothing like I thought it would be. I guess I pictured something like Tuscany and to see the Vineyards surrounded by older homes in almost a neighborhood setting was off to me. Unfortunate for us also was the fact that the weather kept getting worse and worse as the day went on. Later that evening after we had gone back to the hotel to clean up we met Al and Jacqueline for dinner at the Elephant Bar in Burlingame. We always have such a great time with them. We all agreed that another Vegas trip is in the near future..JG, let's start planning! Oh yea, and we saw some guy who plays for the 49'ers but I couldn't begin to tell you who he was. That's all folks! Here are some pictures from Day 2:

Day 1 San Francisco

I departed Atlanta at 8:30am, arriving SFO at 10:46am (thank you Jacqueline) :-) Phil surprised me at the airport, we made a quick stop at the hotel to drop off my bags, then headed to Pier 39. We had a great lunch at Pier Market Restaurant, I had a salmon sandwich and Phil ate chiopini which looked absolutely delicious. Afterwards we walked the pier and took pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, and then the sea lions. They are SO cool! We walked down through Fisherman's Wharf and toured two really old ships (forgot the names but I'll find them later) then walked on to Ghirardelli Square where we had a great cookie and took a break to rest our feet. During our walk back we decided to take a double decker bus tour over the Golden Gate Bridge (HELLO COLD)! We had about a 1/2 hour to hang out before the tour departed so we walked across the street to this really amazing lamp shop, Shades of Tiffany, where I spent WAY too much money on a lamp for the living room. I have to say though, it's PERFECT! love it love it love it. Anyway, so we board the bus and start driving. Of course we're on the top so we're getting blown away by the cold air. I wrapped in one blanket, then later two (you'll see a picture). It was a great tour and lasted about 1 1/2 hours. When we got back the sun was setting, getting even more chilly, so we stopped by a local shop and picked Phil up a long sleeve shirt. We walked back through Fisherman's Wharf where we sat and listened to a local artist sing and play the sax while we ate breadbowls of chowder...OMG delicious! What a day! 1 down, 2 to go! Here are some pictures: