the san francisco treat, day 2(+)
So our second day in San Francisco, we decided that we would take a trip up through wine country. How could we be so close, and right near our anniversary, and not take the trip up?!? With some great advice from our concierge, we decided to head up through Napa Valley and come back down through Sonoma Valley. Talk about the views!!
But first we had to check another thing off of our list and drive over the Golden Gate Bridge!
What a cautious driver!
Then we stopped for some breakfast at a local little mom & pop kind of store and then headed for WINE! We ended up stopping at almost a dozen wineries over the course of the day and tried over 35 different wines.
Here is a picture of J outside that winery.
And this friendly cow greeted us as we were driving up to the winery, so we decided to get a picture with it on the way back down.
Here is Josh at an organic winery that we stopped at.
And a picture that we took in Napa. The scenery is so picturesque!
This is the entrance to Sterling Winery. You take a tram up to the actual winery but we didn't hang around long enough for that. But the entrance was so beautiful that we decided we needed a picture!
And here we are in the vineyards of Sterling...so beautiful!
Then we headed toward Sonoma and found another cute and small winery as well as a place with all sorts of olive oils, basalmic vinegars, honey, mustard, etc. Needless to say, Josh enjoyed the tasting about as much as he does on Sundays at Sam's! But we got some fun stuff there before heading to the town of Sonoma. They have a quaint little town square and happened to be having a mexican-themed party in the square park. We intended to find a restaurant but could not pass up the amazing food!! This might have been our favorite meal...that or the chinese from the night before...but either way, it was fantastic!
After this, we got some Mexican ice cream and headed to a cheese shop where we got a few blocks of cheese with the intention of having wine and cheese at some point during our trip. (That didn't happen but J still enjoyed the cheese!)
Tree hugger...
(I can't figure out why this one is sideways.)
We were fortunate enough to see lots of deer during our little hike. Here is a buck eating...you can barely see him but look for his antlers.
Then there were two fawns who hopped over the fence and onto the hiking path. J got really close to them and I was waiting for a reinactment of THIS so I stayed away! I was staying on the daddy's good side! But seriously, isn't it so sweet!?!
Here's me being silly and trying to be a little hiding tree dweller...mind you, it had been a LONG day and we were both a little silly by this point!
US being tree dwellers together. :)
Finally, we headed back down Route 1 (the PCH) to see the gorgeous views of the water. We pulled off at a lookout point and walked down the path to a cliff. It was freezing but the view was worth it!
After this, we made our way back into the city and found a little local pub to have dinner in. You can imagine how exhausted we were after 2 very full days, plus travel, so we turned in early so that I could get ready to work. On Monday, I had visits down near Golden Gate Park, so after lunch, the alum that I was visiting with took me to Alamo Square so that I could see the Full House houses. Silly, I know, but I always think of them when I think of San Francisco, so I really wanted to see them! They were beautiful and J had no interest, so I was glad that she gave me a little tour.
What a cautious driver!
Then we stopped for some breakfast at a local little mom & pop kind of store and then headed for WINE! We ended up stopping at almost a dozen wineries over the course of the day and tried over 35 different wines.This particular winery (which wasn't our favorite because of the prices) was suggested by the concierge and it was gorgeous and the wine was great!! But with prices up around $140/bottle (and lower, too, but not by much), I thought the wine should probably give me a massage or something, too!
Here is a picture of J outside that winery.
And this friendly cow greeted us as we were driving up to the winery, so we decided to get a picture with it on the way back down.Here is Josh at an organic winery that we stopped at.And a picture that we took in Napa. The scenery is so picturesque! This is the entrance to Sterling Winery. You take a tram up to the actual winery but we didn't hang around long enough for that. But the entrance was so beautiful that we decided we needed a picture!And here we are in the vineyards of Sterling...so beautiful!Then we headed toward Sonoma and found another cute and small winery as well as a place with all sorts of olive oils, basalmic vinegars, honey, mustard, etc. Needless to say, Josh enjoyed the tasting about as much as he does on Sundays at Sam's! But we got some fun stuff there before heading to the town of Sonoma. They have a quaint little town square and happened to be having a mexican-themed party in the square park. We intended to find a restaurant but could not pass up the amazing food!! This might have been our favorite meal...that or the chinese from the night before...but either way, it was fantastic!After this, we got some Mexican ice cream and headed to a cheese shop where we got a few blocks of cheese with the intention of having wine and cheese at some point during our trip. (That didn't happen but J still enjoyed the cheese!)After finding our favorite winery of the day on our last stop in Sonoma Valley and loading up with a few bottles of wine from there, we headed to Muir Woods. A coworker had told me about it and I knew that Josh would love it because of the Redwood trees, and then someone else mentioned it while we were tasting so we decided to check it out.
Here's big tall Josh looking little bitty beneath the gigantic trees.
Tree hugger... (I can't figure out why this one is sideways.)We were fortunate enough to see lots of deer during our little hike. Here is a buck eating...you can barely see him but look for his antlers.Then there were two fawns who hopped over the fence and onto the hiking path. J got really close to them and I was waiting for a reinactment of THIS so I stayed away! I was staying on the daddy's good side! But seriously, isn't it so sweet!?!Here's me being silly and trying to be a little hiding tree dweller...mind you, it had been a LONG day and we were both a little silly by this point!US being tree dwellers together. :)Finally, we headed back down Route 1 (the PCH) to see the gorgeous views of the water. We pulled off at a lookout point and walked down the path to a cliff. It was freezing but the view was worth it!After this, we made our way back into the city and found a little local pub to have dinner in. You can imagine how exhausted we were after 2 very full days, plus travel, so we turned in early so that I could get ready to work. On Monday, I had visits down near Golden Gate Park, so after lunch, the alum that I was visiting with took me to Alamo Square so that I could see the Full House houses. Silly, I know, but I always think of them when I think of San Francisco, so I really wanted to see them! They were beautiful and J had no interest, so I was glad that she gave me a little tour.As a side note, she took me by her office which is a gorgeous Victorian style that she owns, much like these houses, and coincidentally, Anne Rice used to own the home and wrote Interview with the Vampire in the room that she uses as her office! Pretty cool!
On Monday afternoon after my visits were through, we headed down the PCH so that we could meet Jeremy for dinner. We stopped by a beach along the way and took a few more pictures.
Talk about some cliffs! I'm afraid of heights and had images of the car running over cliffs at many different points. Freaky, but beautiful!
Finally, on Tuesday, after a long day of visits, we were lucky enough to get to meet up with Jeremy again for our anniversary dinner! They got to visit for a bit before I was done working and it worked out so well that we could meet up! Who would have thought that trips to the entire other side of the country would have brought us together, but we were so glad it did!
Here they are outdside. We ate at a Jamaican restaurant and I got tipsy...on one drink! But it was a great anniversary dinner!
It couldn't be an anniversary (or a day at all, for that matter) without me pestering J a little bit. Doesn't he look cute in his sweater?! Jeremy poked fun because he wears pink but I happen to think he is pretty dapper!
And here is a pretty bad picture. But it had to be posted because it's our only one together from the night. And, for the record, I did pack a really cute dress but didn't feel like running into Starbucks to change, so yes, I am wearing a suit. Very romantic.
As a side note, can you BELIEVE that it has been 2 years!?!?!? It has seriously gone so fast! It feels like about 3 weeks ago that we got married. I'm proud to say that we are as happy as ever and enjoying every minute of marriage. I am one lucky girl! I couldn't have molded a husband better if I tried! I'm proud of our marriage and I'm thankful for having such a wonderful husband as well as the best in-laws a girl could ask for and I think Josh would say the same about Shell and my family! Our support systems are amazing and they lend to a very happy little life in the Wright household!
Happy Anniversary J!
The island from the ferry. There were so many sailboats and speedboats and every other sort of boats out that day. It was gorgeous!
Inside the prison
Behind bars
Josh in solitary confinement!! Spooky! (It's lit up because of the flash.)
Got a dark one
Me being creeped out inside the solitary confinement cell. Is there an orb around me?!?!?
Views from the island
This is one of the cells of an escapee. You can see the vent that he escaped through still uncovered and the head was recreated for America's Most Wanted but the room is set up like it was at the time of their escape. I loved every second of Alcatraz. It's crazy to stand in a place and think about what happened there many years ago. The audio tour was great and seeing the cafeteria, prison grounds, warden's house, etc. was fascinating.
Then we walked some more. This hill doesn't look that steep, but let me tell you, it WAS!! Talk about working those glutes!
Here's another view of one of the roads
And here are some pictures of Lombard Street, the crookedest street in America. We did not drive down it but we did walk down it and I was cringing just waiting for someone's brakes to go out.
After that, we decided to take a cable car. You can't NOT ride a cable car! Plus, I was singing the San Francisco treat song allll day (just ask Josh how annoyed he was), so it was a must-do.
We got a good spot right on the back. I wanted to do the side steps, but I was pretty scared just being on the back. I kept thinking Josh was going to fall off the back. So this was a good spot where we got to be outside but were still somewhat protected from falling off of the dangerous 3MPH speeding trolley!
I could play once it was stopped!
Here we are in front of the chocolate wall at Lindt.
