After we finished exploring Sausalito we all made our way over to Muir Woods. We got off the highway and made our way up the winding roads and rolling hills filled with Eucalyptus trees and amazing views. Once we reached the annex parking lot of Muir Woods, seeing an abundance of parking spots quickly confirmed our decision to have an early morning. Anyone who has been here before knows parking here is an absolute nightmare. Both the parking lots are usually filled and people have to resort to parking down the road and it is quite common for people to have to walk a few miles just to get to the entrance of the park. So were doing great. 

We reached the front entrance, promptly paid our admission fee, and stood under their big sign for a picture. Once we get all of that out of the way, we make our way inside and everyone was absolutely rapt in awe of majesty of this place, keeping their heads on a permanent swivel.  I remember the first time I came here I had never seen trees as big or as tall as these. 

Once we made our way hiking through all of the park, we made our way to their gift shop. It is a total tourist trap, but has the coolest stuff-boxes made out of redwood trees, scented redwood bookmarks, life-size bears made out of trees; you get the idea. We all scattered and bought our gifts and then reconvened to get out of there before we spent all of our money. We all made our way over to our cars to get a snack and then eventually lunch.

This lunch is one of the things I was most excited for. We were going to have lunch at a Puerto Rican place in downtown San Rafael called Sol Food. From their amazingly designed interior and their communal seating, to their incredible food, this place is simply the best. This is one of top three places I've ever eaten at, it's that good. We had some free time, so we went over to Stinson Beach and parked ourselves at the beach then made our way over to Parkside Cafe to hang out for a while. We hung out for a while, got some snacks, and made our way over to the windy beach. We then got a call from Aunt Lou to head over to San Rafael for lunch. 

We found parking and make our way over to see Aunt Lou who has picked up Pat and Josh from the hotel. We all give hugs and say hello then quickly make our way inside to order and get seated.We all ordered and went to sit at our table. We wait a short while then the food started getting brought over. Everyone starts to sip their limeades and are amazed by how delicious and bubbly it is, they have no idea whats gonna come. Next the servers bring out platters full of deep fried plantains covered in thick, gooey cheese for the whole table. Steph and I promptly tell everyone to use their sauce which is on the table, which has so much flavor I can't even begin to describe it. Once everyone devours the plantains, our main dishes are brought out. Every gets a smattering of perfectly pressed Cuban steak sandwiches, rotisserie chicken platters filled with sweet and regular plantains, salads, rice and more food. We all sit and quietly eat our food, trying to comprehend the explosion of flavor thats going on in our mouths. We douse our food in their sauce, eat, share and mostly finish our plates. Then all exit the restaurant full, happy, and exhousted.