Living Faithfully: Robinson Family Adventures: San Fran with my Man

Besides my husband loving what he is doing for a living, him being a pilot has some great perks for me too. When we found out his schedule for January he saw that he had a 26 hour layover in San Francisco, so he invited me to come with him. Free airfare, free hotel (because his company pays for the hotels he stays in on his trips)...I was in!

My in-laws so graciously offered to watch the boys with a little help from my parents too. It was a quick trip lasting from Tuesday morning to Wednesday late evening, but it was the perfect getaway for Kyle and I. San Francisco is the neatest city and there is so much to see and do. Kyle's sister Katelin and her hubby Charlie are stationed in California about an hour North of San Fran. They met up with us for the day and we had a fun time exploring with them.

So this is our adventure...San Fran in a day:)

Kyle and I started the day with a walk along the bay. We were waiting for Katelin and Charlie to pick us up and it was a beautiful morning and the hotel was set right off the water. On our walk we took in all the water views and it made us miss Savannah and living so close to the water.

Biggest carousel I have ever seen

After our walk, Katelin and Charlie arrived and we headed straight to Pier 39 on Fisherman's Wharf to get some lunch and see the scenes. I love the atmosphere of the Pier. Even though it was the beginning of the week it was still busy. The warm temperatures of the day prompted shop owners to have their doors wide open and the smells wafting from the stores were tongue tingling, mixed in with the scent of sea salt of course. You had your basic souvenir shops, seafood restaurants, jewelry boutiques, art galleries, and a ton of other places. It was an interesting area full of culture that is native to San Francisco and other seaside cities.

Sea lions...a ton of them! Boy oh boy were they smelly and loud!

Can you see Alcatraz in the background?

The Rodney Lough Art Gallery was inspirational to any type of photographer, whether you are amateur, hobby, or a professional. I wish I could have been able to take some pictures of the pictures that he took because they were indescribable. Katelin and I thought to ourselves...these places actually exist on Earth? The scenes he captures truly look out of this world, they are that beautiful. I could have stayed in there for hours, but my hubby on the other hand could not.

Boudin's Sourdough Bakery...everyone told us we had to try the bread,

so we did and I sure was glad that we did. Very yummy and I

love how they mold the bread to create creatures...very cool!

One baker making sea turtles

We saw this sign and it lured us in. I love old fashioned arcades. Only wish that

each game cost a penny like it did way back when the arcade first opened.

Charlie trying to sneak a peak of what belly dancers do on their day off lol.

Taking a stab at arm wrestling...did I win? Nope! I even

picked the easiest setting. Man is that man in the mask strong!

Taking a whirl at the Kiss-o-meter

It said our kiss was timid....pfffff timid? No way!

Another view of Alcatraz

We decided to take a tour of the USS Pampanito submarine and it was my first time in one.

A broom was fastened to the top of the submarine

The broom signified victory when in combat

Very steep stairways

Very tiny doorways

San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge in the distance

Coit Tower "towering" over San Fran

Steep streets

Lots of trolleys

I believe that Bridge is called the Bay Bridge

Lombard Street is supposedly the world's crookedest street. After we drove down it, it is only one way, Charlie dropped us (Katelin and I) off at the bottom so we could take a picture.

All of the public transit buses run off these power line sort of contraptions

that are connected to the buses...kinda crazy! One sound I will remember from San Fran is the "zippppppp" noise that comes from the sound of the buses connection to the line.

San Fran's painted ladies by Alamo Square

After we left Fisherman's Wharf we did a lot of driving around just to check out the city and explore. The architecture is so interesting and something only you will see in San Fran. The hills are high and steep and you don't see too many SUV's driving the streets because parking spaces are tight and usually sideways. Katelin and I concluded that San Fran would be a great place to live if you didn't have kids. It is a fun, artsy city but there aren't a ton of places for kids to play except concrete slabs. The parks are beautiful, but they are very hilly and there isn't a whole lot of flat ground...or at least we didn't see any anywere.

As the sun was setting we walked around Alamo Square Park and could see city views for miles. I loved seeing the transition of the city from day to evening...slowly the soft glow of the night lights created a whole different look to the city. It was very romantic!