San Francisco Treat

Seems like I've been all over the place since I got back in California! Up and down all over this state, then there's Oregon and Washington in addition to seeing friends all over the central coast..ahhhh! I feel like I need a vacation from my vacation! 

Since I've been here, Dad and I have been pretty busy with our own adventures, so we were finally able to plan a day to hang out in which we picked San Francisco! To be more specific, Pier 39! It's about two hours from here, so it's not all that far of a journey (compared to going to Ventura or something like that), so we managed to talk about everything under the sun for the majority of the drive. Keep in mind, I haven't been to San Francisco in YEARS...I'm talking since about 2001. High traffic areas freak me out, so I had a hard time driving around there as well as Los Angeles due to crazy drivers. Yes, I'm a real Californian..I just don't like swapping paint with other cars.

When we came up on the main street for the piers (Embarcadero), I saw this sculpture called, "Cupid's Span". I really wish I got a better picture of it because it's so cool! It was built in 2003 by Claes Oldenburg. You can see the San Fran / Oakland Bay Bridge in the background...honestly, why didn't they make it as pretty as the Golden Gate?

As you keep rolling along, you'll come across another sculpture called "Raygun Gothic Rocketship". From what I read, it was supposed to have been removed earlier this month since it's a traveling sculpture, so it has another destination already lined up after San Francisco, but for some reason, it's still there. Oh well! At least I got to take a look at it :) Very retro and looks like a throwback to the 50's.

One thing I noticed (and loved) was that there were retro cable cars actually working! I mean, I know there's old fashioned cable cars that run throughout the inner city, but I wasn't expecting THESE! They were AWESOME! There was one that even looked like an old boat that ran by all the various piers. 

This was a cool perspective..new verses old :)

Luckily, it wasn't TOO busy even though there was still a fair amount of tourists. Not to mention, the weather was nice (high 60's) so we weren't dying with the heat while talking all over the place. 

 Of course, there's Alcatraz Island. Honestly, there's SO much history on that place, you should read up on it here. We considered going out on the island and taking a tour, but the line to buy tickets was insanely long..and honestly, I didn't wanna risk getting sea sick floating out there, lol. If you've watched "The Rock" or "Escape from Alcatraz", you got the best way of viewing it aside from actually going to the complex in person.

 Love this sculpture :) It's right outside the entry of the wharf. San Francisco's wharf became very famous because of the sheer mass amount of sea lions that set up shop there and decided they wanted to stay. If I didn't know any better, it's all the seals from Monterey that migrated over to SF and decided to stay. 

 Talk about riding in style, right!? You could opt for a speed boat tour of the bay, or you can have an old fashioned harbor tour on the boat that's docked next to the flame job.

Old Port Gate of San Francisco:

This is from inside the Hard Rock Cafe! Whenever I come across one of these cafe's, I always buy a bottle opener and sometimes a shot glass...but I mainly focus on the openers since they're all different and very unique :) Dad and I ended up ordering some specialty drinks so we ended up with "40th Anniversary" glasses that actually has a list of all the Hard Rock hotels all over the world. I was able to mark alot of 'em off my list, lol

This is "San Francisco Bath Salt Company (www.relaxtheworld.com) where they have barrels of various scented bath salts available for you to sniff and see what tickles your pickle. All of 'em have a name and description of what the ingredients are so it's able to help you narrow down what type of smell you're looking for.

Dad had a hard time figuring out which one he wanted....decisions decisions...

I found some humor in this... let's see if you see what I'm talking about: 

Dragons blood? Any relation to Tigers Blood? I wonder if it'll give me the power to make millions of dollars. 

After poking around for a bit and getting my nose stuffed full of various scents, I ended up getting a little container of Pomegranate which is nice and fruity, but it's not over powering.

For those of you who know my husband, Eric...you'll know how he's very vocal about how he likes to kid about red heads (aka Gingers) and people who are left handed. So, when I saw this store..I had to take a picture of it for him:

Another store I found actually carried life size replicas of "Zeldas" sword..totally up Erics alley!

One of Pier 39's icons is their old school two story carousel they have at the end of the dock. 

 

There was this really cook little pet boutique called "Le Beastro" which carries various little doggy things if you like decorating your house with a particular breed. Not only that, but they had collars, leashes, clothes, calendars..pretty much whatever you can think of. Of course, I had to pop in and check it out :) 

I tend to make my own doggy treats when I'm back in Belgium for my furballs, but I was running out of ideas as to what I can make. So, a long long time ago..I popped onto Amazon to see if I could find any sort of cookbooks for dogs (yes, seriously) and I saw the "The Doggy Bone Cookbook", but I wasn't wanting to pay about $25 for it (after shipping and what not). I basically forgot all about it because of the price. WELL...this pet boutique happened to carry it, and for a reasonable price! I snatched it up in addition to some silly car signs since I usually have a dog in the car with me when I run around and do errands. 

This gives ya an idea of how the recipes are. It even includes a doggy bone cookie cutter! 

Annnnd....like any good little Starbucks junky, I had to pick up one of the coveted "Starbucks City Collector" mugs since I had officially gone to San Fran! 

Now, I'm sure you're thinking, "Erika. Surely you went to check out the Golden Gate Bridge while you were there!"...indeed, I did.

Gorgeous, isn't it? Absolutely breath taking! Right?

Oh, not sure what you're looking at? Here..lemme help. The arrows will direct you to where the Golden Gate is. If you're able to get a clear shot of the bridge without fog...you, my friend, are very lucky considering there's almost ALWAYS fog near it, or masking it...in some way/ shape/ form.

There ya have it! My trip to San Francisco!