California Love! Part 2

August 02, 2018

California Love! Part 2

Are you going to San Francisco?

We did and we loved it! We left LA and drove up the number 1 Pacific Coast Highway to San Francisco. The drive was looooong and if we were to do it again, we would drive up the 101 through California until Cambria and then go back to the PCH to drive through Big Sur.

Once we go to San Francisco we realized it could not be more different than LA. The main difference is that it is very easy to walk around. We felt like we got to see a lot more of the city, although again, we only scratched the surface in each neighborhood. My three favourite parts of San Francisco were Chinatown, The Castro, and wandering around near the Painted Ladies.

I was most excited for Chinatown because I love going for Dim Sum. San Francisco's Chinatown is the largest in the USA and was one of the first. It was really fun walking around exploring the shops and grocery stores. We chose Eastern China Restaurant for Dim Sum and it turned out to be a celebrity fav, previously hosting President Obama, Stephen Hawking, and Yao Ming. The steamed pork buns and the shrimp dumplings were our favorite of the dishes we ordered.

For nightlife we hit up Bourbon & Branch, a super cool Speak Easy downtown. We got seated in "the library", you entered through an unmarked side door. Once inside, there are huge bookshelves filled with old law books, a wooden bar and seats around old bourbon barrels. The bartenders can make any drink you ask for. The music and decor match the 1920s style really well. We had a great time. Sadly no pictures because they have a pretty strict no photos rule. If you go to San Fransisco you definitely should check it out!

The Castro was also a really cool neighborhood. It houses the LGBTQ museum as well as come great bookshops, bars and restaurants. We went into Dog Eared books and they had a great range of used and new books including some awesome kids books that taught about acceptance and LGBTQ history.

We also drove across Golden Gate Bridge in search of Redwoods. We didn't find any, but we ended up on Muir Beach. The waves were awesome (but cold) and it was a relaxing morning spent reading and napping.

The Painted Ladies are a row of Victorian and Edwardian houses that were repainted in the 1960s, set across from Alamos Square. Theyre set back on a classic San Francisco hilltop. Perfect place to grab a pic for the gram!

A few things we missed on this trip, was Alcatraz and a ride on the cable cars, I'm sure we missed a lot more but we still had a great time.