Here is some rambling from our trip… photos here
Friday morning we left for our early flight (arrived late) and just made it on to our Jet Blue plane flying from Long Beach To Oakland. We arrived in Oakland to find it had just finished raining. We took the AirBART to the Bart Train to catch a cab to our hotel. We checked into our hotel (Hyatt Fisherman’s Wharf) freshened up and went for lunch at the Boudin bread bowl factory. We walked around and eventually made our way (via cab) to Union Square. Here Lori shopped (H&M) while I decided it was St. Patrick’s day and I should celebrate in a local Irish bar (they serve Murphy’s on tap… that’s how you know they’re authentic!) Later we returned to the hotel for some rest and had dinner at Tarantino’s.
Saturday we had breakfast and made our way over to the pier to catch a ferry to Alcatraz Island, If you haven’t been go, it’s a cool / unique piece of history (and not too expensive, get the audio tour), watch Escape from Alcatraz before you go and it’ll make your experience even better. Later we had dinner at A. Sabellas which is not cheap and the portions are not overwhelming but the service, view (up on the 3rd floor looking toward fisherman’s wharf) and food quality is spectacular (linguine & clams, scallops and salmon, can’t say enough good about them.)
Sunday we woke a bit earlier ate a quick breakfast and got on a tour bus to visit the wine country. Our bus driver / tour guide had a great sense of humor, he was super nice and a ton of knowledge. There are too many wineries up in the Napa / Sonoma counties so visiting a few can take all day. It’s a fun experience and because you’re on the bus you get free tastings. The whole buying wine from a vineyard is a bit of a scam, they want you to join their club so you can get the best deals (% off) and they always brag you can’t get their wine anywhere but there… some of their wines are of better quality than what you buy at cost plus or the market, we did buy a few bottles (it does help to taste the wine you buy first) but i’m still happier getting my wine at TJs or Cost Plus. After the bus ride, some returning traffic we took a quick rest and then went off to our final dinner of the trip.
Monday is a short day we have to be on the plane by 3, so to kill time before the shuttle comes to get us (no taxi-bart-airbart for us this time as it’s raining men, literally) we head back down to Union Square to visit my favorite (non mom and pop) Italian Deli (A.G. Ferrari) for a few good sandwiches and then begin our walking trek after a quick stop at H&M (the rain finally dies down). From there we walked up through China Town then across to the Embarcadero Mall coast. After making it back to our hotel we have a quick drink at the hotel bar and catch a shuttle to airport (the worst driver in the city).
I had an amazing time during this extended weekend the weather cooperated for us (and I was worried) giving us nice sunny but cool days. It’s nice spending time away from your day to day life with the one you love, we hope to be able to do something like this every year. .
P.S. Thank you to Donovan for not letting us eat frozen cake, it was also fun to be able to slice into your cake a year later in the comfort and privacy of your own home.