In celebration of our tenth anniversary TEN! Darren & I escaped to California last week. We haven't done more than a couple single nights away since Andrew was born, so it was time. His parents generously watched the kiddos for us. Thank you so much! They had a marvelous time (we've been going through some serious Grandma-withdrawal around here!) & so did we. 
We flew out on Frontier Airlines to San Francisco via Denver. 
It ended up being quite the tour of transportation. After two planes & a subway we hopped on a San Francisco cable car. 
It was a little tricky with our luggage but a fun way to get a good view of the city.
We hopped off just three blocks from our hotel at Lombard Street. No big deal, right? Well, the maps we were consulting ahead of the trip obviously weren't topographical. In a city full of hills we stopped at the top of the highest & walked down a hill with a 40* grade! I felt like I was rolling down the street with my suitcase. We laughed to find it in the visitor guide later as an attraction. Guess we started out with a thrill! 
We stayed in a nice Comfort Inn the first & last nights of our trip earning us a free night! The last time we stayed multiple times was our family vacation of western Nebraska... they were running the same deal then. Nice bonus. 
That evening we strolled down to Fisherman's Wharf. It was my first view of the bay... beautiful. So many boats, seagulls, pigeons, people, & the ever-present fog to hang over the bridge. 
The Boudin Bakery was making some very impressive bread creations. They also had an alligator as big as Andrew. ;) 
Boats everywhere. 
Pier 39 is host to a ton of shops, restaurants, & tourist attractions, including wild sea lions that like to hang out on the docks. Unfortunately, there was only a small crowd while we were there but they were still fun to watch. 
We enjoyed our fanciest dinner of the trip that night at Fog Harbor Fish Market. Darren had some very tasty prawns scampi & I enjoyed the best sourdough breadbowl of super fresh clam chowder I have ever tasted. Sure beats the Chunky Soup version! 
We stopped by Ghirardelli Square for some free chocolate samples & delicious ice cream (even though we were freezing!) for dessert. Even though it had been in the 80's outside of the bay area, it was in the 60's where we were. I had to strongly resist the urge to buy a sweatshirt or knitted hat from the street vendors... but I bet those guys make quite the haul of unsuspecting tourists like me. What a fun first day.
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