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San Francisco Part 1

 
Oh San Francisco. What a wonderful time I had there. It was absolutely beautiful the entire time. Sunny, warm, gorgeous. Plus getting to spend a few days with Jacalen and Patricia = So much fun! We definitely need to do more girls trips! This will be a mostly picture post

 
I arrived late afternoon and the bus dropped me off near Fishermans Wharf and I walked over to where we were staying. Oh, it was gorgeous outside, but with my bags and such I was a bit warm. Not expecting that in February!


Patricia arrived a bit after I did and we had the evening to ourselves to do whatever we wanted! It was so nice out and we were staying in the Marina District so it was just a short walk down to the water. Beautiful!







 
After wandering along the waterfront for a bit it was time for some dinner! We happened to find the Plant Cafe and I got a plant burger with fries and a salad. Really tasty! Afterwards we went to get a drink and noticed the bar had trivia on Tuesday nights - and we would be there Tuesday night! So we would definitely have to go back and check that out. 
 
The next morning Jacalen arrived bright and early! Yes! Having a girls weekend was awesome. 

 
After fueling up with a good breakfast it was off to explore the city. First we walked along the water towards Fisherman's Wharf



 
 
The park by Fort Mason

 
Fort Mason from the park



 
It was gorgeous out! Perfect day for wandering

 
Alcatraz, but that is for the next post



 
I always forget how much I miss the water until I am by the water again. 

 
Stop by Ghirardelli and then it was on to Chinatown (I lived in Seattle for too long - I almost wrote the International District) 

 
So many stairs! So many hills to climb! Not quite used to that here in Berlin



 
Chinatown!



 
Lunch stop at Enjoy Vegetarian Restaurant. Some veggie chicken strips w/ string beans. So tasty!

 
Vegetable chow mein

 
And broccoli beef. 


 
So tasty! And a nice break after walking all morning

 
We didn't really explore Chinatown before lunch as by the time we got there we were too hungry. We decided on food first then exploring. I loved going in all the shops and spying on all the things


 
We were wandering and saw this shop with Dragon's Beard candy. 

 
You can watch them make some in the shop window. We didn't really know what it was, but why not give it a try? So we bought a package and...I really liked it, but it was a tad difficult to eat. Patricia had no problems, but Jacalen and I both put a piece in our mouth and then...it was like my mouth was glued shut! I couldn't move my mouth at all and oh my goodness, I was dying laughing. It was just...I can't really explain it. You had to let it sit in your mouth a bit before you could chew it. Apparently Patricia had experience with similar treats so she had no problems. Oh, we laughed so much trying to eat this stuff. It was tasty and you should definitely give it a try if you see it somewhere as it is fun!

 
When we ate our second piece Patricia took some photos of us trying to eat it.


 
This is a particularly good one of me! I am a Dragon's Beard monster!





 
Yeah we didn't have any fun



There were a lot of these fancy shops in Chinatown. Like super expensive decorative things - like a life size horse statue, or crazy chandeliers and stuff. Most of the stuff is so over the top I don't know who would really buy it, but it was fun to look at (and be careful not to knock anything over! Everything was like thousands of dollars). 


We thought the Dragon's Beard candy would be the highlight of the day, but we didn't know what what Uncle G had in store for us! We had been wandering around Chinatown and thought we could use a break. Maybe get some tea somewhere and we walked by Vita Leaf Tea and thought why not? So we walked in and were the only customers and there was a long bar and we were not sure what to do. Just take a seat? Order from someone? Don't know. Then Uncle G came over and was just like sit, sit and proceeded to make us tea after tea to taste. I don't really know that I can explain how much fun this was. Uncle G was hilarious and just kept going on and on. Telling us stories about what to do when we are out at the clubs, guessing how old he is, telling us the correct way to brew tea, everything was done in such a fun way. Oh we laughed so much. I loved Uncle G!




Uncle G making some tea


We did at some point get some more people who came in to try some tea, but none of them lasted very long. 



We were there forever drinking tea and having a good time. Really we could have sat there for a lot longer, but eventually Uncle G had to go. I brought some tea home with me and the Jasmine is my favorite I have ever had. So so tasty! I am so glad we stopped in and tried some tea! Afterwards though it was like we were on drugs or something. You should have seen us try and walk down the street...I don't know what was in the teas they made us, but it was interesting! Highly recommended!!


Patricia's!


Star struck!



Patricia's friend had recommended the margaritas at the Gold Dust Lounge so we stopped by for some drinks. 


After drinks it was time to find some dinner, so we headed back towards our hotel


The crazy windy street - we only went by after dark as we were too tired the next day to make a trip by there


Dinner at a Thai place. I have no idea which place it is as I didn't write it down and don't remember exactly where it was. It was tasty once we added some spice to it.

Our first day in San Francisco was a lot of fun. We walked all over the place and were pretty tired by the end of the day. Chinatown was more fun that I expected - the Dragon's Beard candy and Uncle G made it a day to remember! Next up - Alcatraz

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