Last year (2019) two of my cousins, one on my mom’s side and one on my dad’s side, one living in San Francisco, CA and one living in Santa Rosa, CA, were getting married, one in August and one in October. I had never been to San Francisco or Northern California (farthest north I had been was San Luis Obispo for a filed hockey tournament) and within two months, I would be going to San Francisco twice! It’s one of those things that just bizarrely work out that way but we made it a point to make vacations out of them.
The first wedding in August was on a Saturday. I get a pretty low amount of PTO from my full-time job so I could only take off 2 days- Friday and Monday, since we planned to take a full week for the wedding in October. My husband was not able to come with me on this first trip and I went with my Mom and my Dad. My Mom and my Dad were both able to stay that following week and traveled down the coast to visit some friends, one in Solvang (which they HIGHLY recommend) and ended at their friends in Orange County. I however, only stayed for a ‘long’ weekend, arriving around noon on Friday and left early Monday morning. Even though it was a short amount of time, we got to see and do a lot! Now I am happy to share how doing and seeing San Francisco in a weekend is totally doable!
Breakdown of the weekend:
Friday:
-Flew into SFO around noon
-Rented a car at the airport
-Checked into our hotel (Hilton San Francisco Financial District)
-Walked around Chinatown/ate in Chinatown
-Walked to Coit Tower
Saturday:
-Walked to Fisherman’s Wharf (saw Lombard street from foot)
-Ate a corndog at a pier at the Wharf like Mia Thermopolis
-Wedding at the City Club of San Francisco
Sunday:
-Spent morning/early afternoon at Presidio Park
-Visited the Golden Gate Bridge (from base of Presidio Park)
-Painted Ladies (as seen in Full House)
-The 16th Avenue Tiled Steps
Since it was my cousins wedding and I was there with my parents, we did do a lot all together with my family. We wanted to see a lot but we also only had so much time with our family that almost all flew into San Francisco. When we walked around San Francisco I mainly did that with my parents and we would usually leisurely wander around and have a general area that we aimed for. San Francisco is very walkable but yes, there are lots of giant hills. I mainly walked in my Vans sneakers and they worked great.
We stayed at the Hilton San Francisco Financial District because it was the hotel with the room blocks since it was close to their venue. However, it was a great hotel, centrally located, and the view from the room was beautiful. From our hotel we were able to walk to the Wharf without an issue, China Town and Little Italy were right near us, walked to the Coit Tower (inside was closed by the time we got there that evening), got to see Lombard street while walking to the wharf, and saw so many cable cars (trolleys) while walking around. Yes, all very exciting things for first time San Francisco tourists!
I somehow always make a vacation based on a movie that I loved- this trip was the Princess Diaries and I was determined to be like Amelia Mignonette Grimaldi Thermopolis Renaldi PrinCESS of Genovia eating a corn dog on a San Francisco pier and I succeeded (LOL). They are located in the Wharf at Pier 39.
A car was helpful to have since we also wanted to see so many things that were not close together. So for times’ sake, it helped to save time and get certain places quicker. On Sunday, we mainly went everywhere in the car. My absolute favorite thing we did was the Presidio Picnic at Presidio Park. (My cousins wanted all their friends and family that stayed over to come to the park the day after the wedding to continue the celebration!) On Sundays, usually from the end of March to the end of October, there is one giant picnic at the Presidio Park. The park itself is in such a pretty location, on a large grass area that goes on a gradual hill so the higher you are on the hill, the more you see of the bay and the Golden Gate Bridge. It is also located right next to the Walt Disney Museum….I didn’t even know it was a thing there so it was a very pleasant surprise! Yes, I am Disney and Disney Parks obsessed. Anyway, the Presidio Picnic has live music, bars that serve wine, beer, and some specialty mixed drinks, corn hole boards set up, and there are tonsss of food trucks (their site says 25+) of all different foods lining the perimeter of the park. My favorite food was the empanadas! You can bring chairs, blankets, dogs, babies, and set up your spot and stay there all day. You can drink outside. I repeat, you can lay in the sun, overlooking the bay, with the Golden Gate Bridge in view, eating good food, while legally drinking OUTDOORS. That is unheard of in New Jersey.
We stayed at the park for most of the morning and early afternoon then went about our day to do some more sight seeing. Thanks to our cousins being locals, we learned a lot about the area before we even came and we were told that August is known as Fogust (kinda like June Gloom in San Diego) because the it usually stays very foggy that whole month. We really lucked out with having beautiful morning and afternoon weather but around 2 or 3pm some days, the thick fog would roll in closer to the bay and make it much colder out. After the park we drove to the base of the Golden Gate bridge and by the time we got there, it was a foggy bridge shot but still pretty!
From there, we went to see the painted ladies which you will probably know from the opening credits of Full House. There’s a small park across the street from them that has a great view of all of them.
We then drove to the 16th Avenue Tiled Steps. They are 163 steps decorated with these beautiful mosaic artwork tiles and when you get to the top you can see such a beautiful view and an even better view if it’s not foggy out!
It was a whirlwind trip but well worth it! We got to see and do a lot while still not rushing everywhere just to say we saw things. If you happen to be in the area or on a trip to wine country and want to take a day or two to explore the city, what we did can all be done in 1 or 2 days. Happy traveling!!
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