I Left My Heart In San Francisco

I would have to say that my favorite day in California was Monday...we all rode the BART into the City by the Bay. I thought it would be fun to go to Chinatown since it is Chinese New Year, so Dad and I looked it up and found some fun places to check out. I was a little worried that it would be crazy crowded, but it wasn't at all. We walked past all the souvenier shops, found the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory, oohed and ahhed over the red lanterns hanging everywhere, and ate some great mu shu pork at Chef Jia's. The only disappointment was that the "street fair" turned out to be ratty game booths run not by the local Chinese but by people who looked like they were pulled off the nearby street corner. Not quite the cultural experience we were hoping for. Also, the little Chinese outfits that I thought were for American Girl dolls turned out to be wine bottle cozies. Other than that, it was "filled with sights and smells that overwhelmed us." In a good way.



It was still early in the day, so Stephen suggested we head to Coit Tower. He warned up about the steep hills and stairs, but we were up for the challenge. He wasn't joking. It was quite a workout. But so worth it. The view was amazing. It was a perfect, clear day, and we could see the whole San Francisco area, from the Golden Gate Bridge to Alcatraz to the East Bay. On the east side of the hill we saw some steps leading down. People were heading down, so we decided to follow, even though we didn't know where they lead. It turns out they were the Greenwich Street Stairs, which go right down Telegraph Hill between cute houses and beautiful gardens. We were also fortunate to see the famous "Parrots of Telegraph Hill." We walked right out the the Embarcadero, went out on Pier 2 to take some more pictures, and then walked back through downtown to the BART station. All in all, we walked almost seven miles and saw a lot of the city. We had beautiful weather, Jenna did great, and we burned enough calories to not feel guilty about our dinner at Sweet Tomatoes on the way home. I have now added this day to my list of the best days of my life...something I may blog about later. In the meantime I am just grateful to have had a day worthy to make the list!