Friday 5/20: Day Three (Part One)

This was a full day, starting with a sunrise view of the Golden Gate bridge and the city, except there was one problem- the weather report had the wrong sunrise time. Instead of the promised 6:25 am sunrise, the sun rose around 5:45 am that morning, which was way too early to galvanize everyone to get up. Nonetheless, we all got up and made it the Marin Headlands at 6:25 am which was a miracle in and of itself, with the day off to a good start.

Even thought there was no sunrise, the Golden Gate Bridge and the city were shrouded in bright, breathtaking sunlight. One perk of waking up that early was that we ended up having the place all to ourselves. Anyone else who has ever been here knows how crazy this is. The Headlands usually have tons of traffic with all sorts of tourists, locals, and photographers clamoring for a position. This morning it was our own personal playground. 

Once we finished exploring the lower portion of the headlands and admiring the view of the city, which never gets old no matter how many times I go there, we made our way to the top of the Marin Headlands. The top of the Marin Headlands is even more majestic and grand than before. We all got out of the car and set loose on the top part. We hiked up the to the top of the hill with Mom blazing a path out in front, taking in the views and admiring our surroundings.

Once we got our fill of the views and we set our sites on breakfast, so we made our way to Sausalito. We didn't have any particular place in mind, but descended through the hills of the Headlands and through the hills of Sausalito. We admired and looked at all the wonderful houses on the hills over looking the bay and Sausalito and SF. 

We ended up finding parking and made our way to the Sausalito Bakery and Cafe, a small quant little cafe operated by one man in a full chef outfit with everything including the classic goofy hat. We all clamored to look at the pastries and what to order, ending up ordering an assortment of coffee, tea, pastries, and breakfast sandwiches. We all sat, chatted, took in Sausalito, and talked to one other over our breakfast. We then made our way around the downtown of Sausalito talking to one another and exploring. After we had our fill, we made our way back to the cars to make our way over to Muir Woods next.

Thursday 5/19: Day Two (Part Two)

After strolling around Sutro Heights, we decided to scatter. Steph had to go to work, Pat and Josh were dead tired, and the rest of us wanted to continue exploring the city after we checked everyone into their hotel. We made our way over to the Wharf to check everyone into the Marriott, which is a fantastic hotel. The only problem is that on our way I didn't know there were two Marriotts, we were quickly informed they couldn't find our room because we were at the wrong hotel. Then we headed up the block and found the right one. We got everyone settled in and made a pilgrimage over to In N Out Burger. This place is amazing and is only available in California and some parts of other states on the western side of the US, it was a treat to educate everyone on what this place really is. 

We all got our food and ate it outside on their patio seating. Everyone loved their food and was learning about the "secret menu" and what animal style was and why they didn't get it on theirs. Once we finished feasting we then proceeded to fit everyone into the rental car once more to head over to Golden Gate Park (GGP) to see the Japanese Tea Gardens. We made our way weaving through San Francisco traffic and odd street signs to GGP. This place is unbelievable. First off it is bigger than Central Park in New York and was all originally sand dunes, everything there is man made. The reason the big music Festival in GGP is called Outside Lands is because that is what the sand dunes used to be called back in the day. Anyways we parked our car outside of The Conservatory of Flowers.

Once we finished looking at the Conservatory of Flowers, we slowly made our way over the the Japanese Tea Gardens. This is a garden made completely in the Japanese style fit with everything from koi ponds, a tea house, pagodas, bridges and many more. it literally feels like you stepped into Japan when you pass through the stoic gated entrance. 

Thursday 5/19: Day Two (Part One)

Today I had pretty much the rest of the family coming in except my Aunt Lou. Everyone else landed around ten in the morning and promptly got off their flight and wandered to find their rental car. Once they got up and driving, I told them to take the coastal highway route into the city, it is way faster and a much prettier drive that hugs the Pacific Ocean and beach all the way to my home. 

Once everyone reached my house they all got out of their rental car and got the grand tour of my studio. it took grand total of four seconds to see the whole place and then we made our way up to La Promenade, a local cafe. We all pandered around for quite some time deciding what we were going to order and then proceeded to put the timid barista's skills to the test. We then all sat down at three conjoined tables and chit-chated and caught up until our food was ready. We got an assortment of coffee, tea, bagels and breakfast sandwiches. 

Just as we finished eating our food, Mom and John came ordered their food and then we talked and caught up some more. We talked about what we have all been up to recently, the itinerary for the weekend, San Francisco, Green Apple and graduation. Once John and Lisa were finished eating we went outside and decided to fit all nine of us into a the rental car to drive a few blocks to Lands End and Sutra Baths. 

It was a very short-lived cozy ride, then we all promptly exited the car to take in our new surroundings. Most people have never been to this place before and I could tell by the look on everyone's face it was going to be a good weekend. We attempted to stand at the top op the baths against the blistering coastal winds to take a picture. We got a few good ones in between almost falling over a couple of times and then we set loose on the ruins. 

After a while we rendezvoused at the top of the ruins in the Visitors Center. We had a chance to look at all the myriad of trinkets, gifts and pictures. We even saw what the Bath House looked like when it wasn't in ruins, before it burned down. We also saw pictures of what Ocean Beach and The Cliff House looked like in their prime. We all congregated outside and then made our way over to Sutro Heights Park, which overlooks the Pacific Ocean, Ocean Beach, Coastal Highway and my home.