San Francisco and Beyond

The last weekend in June we decided to take a 3 and a half day weekend trip up to the San Francisco area.  We had a GREAT time exploring San Francisco, Napa Valley and Sonoma, and driving the scenic Pacific Coast Highway on our way back home.  We also took a TON of pictures.  So instead of telling you everything we did I'll give you a picture show instead.  (These pictures are in no particular order.)

Views of the vineyards as we drove through Napa and Sonoma.  This picture really doesn't do it justice; the area was gorgeous!

An up close shot of the grapes at the winery we visited.  They're tiny.

Our tour guide at Mumm Winery in Napa Valley.  This winery specialized in sparkling wines and since Mike and I tend to like our wine a little on the sweet side we thought this one was the perfect fit.  We weren't disappointed!

Inside the winery during our tour.  Those big metal canisters are all full of wine.

                                     

A shot outside of the winery after our tour.  

The winery had lots of outdoor seating to enjoy the sparkling wine and the beautiful scenery.

Sampling one of the wines.  Mike and I bought a bottle of bottle of "Cuvee M", a sparkling red wine.  It was surprisingly sweet. We were told Martha Stewart had recommended this wine to go with Thanksgiving dinner so we decided to save the bottle for Thanksgiving this year.

This is the view walking up Lombard Street in San Francisco.  Lombard Street is famously known as one of the curviest streets in the United States.  It's also very steep!  As a side note, aren't those pink flowers on the blue house so pretty?!

An appropriate traffic sign for this street.

One of the eight tight turns as you walk up Lombard Street.

The houses and flowers on the walk up were very colorful and well maintained.

A good visual of all the twists and turns to drive down this curvy street.

View at the top of Lombard Street.

It was windy up here!

View to the ocean from Lombard Street.

Fisherman's Wharf

Mike posing at Fisherman's Wharf.

We had lunch at a restaurant in Fisherman's Wharf.  I ordered a steak taco and chicken taco and Mike got the fish and chips. Both were excellent.

Mike had one particular fried fish that looked a little too much like a real fish.  It even had an area that looked like an open mouth!  He started feeling a little guilty eating it...but he devoured it by the end of the meal regardless.

Mike taking a nap at our comfy high-rise hotel in San Francisco.  The bed was so comfy and the views were excellent.  This was by far our best night in a hotel on this trip.

View from the toilet in our hotel :)

Alcatraz; We were planning on taking a tour but they were booked for 10 days out!

Stopping to smell the flowers.

We visited a wax museum near Fisherman's Wharf.  Here is a scene from the movie "Titanic" made out of wax!

Posing with Obama at the wax museum.

We went to a Giants baseball game.  They were playing the Cincinnati Reds (Mike's favorite team).

The Reds won!

Pigeon Point Lighthouse

Stopping to enjoy the view during our drive on the  PCH.

A sailboat race with miniature sailboats.  The owners operated the sails of the boats by remote control; the wind took care of the rest.

Seals lying out on a dock in Monterey Bay.

Hard to tell but there are at least 10 little crabs crawling on these rocks.

We ate at "Lou Lou's" in Monterey Bay which was highly recommended on Yelp.  The small cafe didn't disappoint.

Mike ordered clam chowder in a bread bowl and I had fish and chips.  Everything tasted delicious. I was surprised to find that I actually liked the clam chowder even though I don't tend to like seafood (unless of course it is fried to a crisp and no longer tastes like a fish).

View from the pier in Monterey.

The next few pictures were taken along our drive on the PCH- many were near Big Sur.

We stopped at this small resort to fill up our gas and grab a few snacks.  There were a few trails behind the resort that we explored, too.

Giant redwood trees in Muir Woods.

This gives you an idea of how gigantic the trees really were.

I match the scenery.

A small hidden beach we found along our drive.

A quiet little piece of paradise.

Pausing before climbing the many stairs up to the car.

The look of exhaustion after climbing the many stairs up to the car.

We still love each other even after a million hours in the car together.

More of those pretty pink flowers.

The ocean growing darker as the sun was setting and bringing a close to our weekend getaway.

We had a wonderful time in the San Francisco area and can't wait to go back.  We hope you enjoyed the pictures.  Thanks for checking in and goodbye until next time!