Work/Life Balance

Kelly has training next week in San Francisco so we decided to head up the weekend and enjoy some time together in the town. We got so many recommendations for places to eat, drink and see that we decided to keep track of where we end up going.Friday - we had breakfast at Roxanne Cafe. Not a recommendation, but it was a wonderful little spot right next to our hotel.We decided to buy a 7 day city pass. It allows us to use all public transportation, visit 5 museums and take a ferry ride. So we made our way down to the Muni station and are heading to the Golden Gate state park.So much to see at the Golden Gate State park! We wandered around a bit and then hit the deYoung museum for some culture. The highlights were a model church made out of disassembled guns and bullets and climbing the tower for an amazing 360 degree view of the city. We then stopped for tea/lunch at the Japanese gardens. We followed up our bit of culture with some education at the Academy of Sciences where we enjoyed the penguins, the 'living rooftop' and a rainforest complete with butterflies.For dinner we took a friends suggestion and headed to the House of Nanking in Chinatown. The owner walked up and asked us if we had been there before and when we said no, he asked us if we had any food allergies and then said "I take care of you", took the menus from hands and walked off. We shrugged and decided to go with the flow.First came a sort of wonton soup. It was delicious. Next were two entrees consisting of a melt-in-your-mouth beef selection followed by a garlic fish dish. Both were perfect.After the wonderful dinner, we used our iPhone to locate a local wine bar. As we got closer to the supposed destination, we were surrounded by strip clubs and Live Nude signs. We knew it was a classy area when we spotted the sign proclaiming "Lingerie as low as $6.95"! What a bargain. Now if there was only some nude midget mud wrestling, we would be truly classy!Alas, there was no mud wrestling, but we were pleasantly surprised to find a very tasteful Latin wine bar in the midst of all that, Antologia.To finish off the evening, we attended the Beach Blanket Bingo show. It was the perfect show for Kelly... It was cheesy, featured lots of hats and was based on several musicals. Definitely a "to-do" while in San Fran!Saturday - another beautiful day! We finally got up and moving around 9am. it was too early for lunch but too late for breakfast so we decided to head to Lori's Diner. It's a fun, 1950s diner where they serve breakfast/lunch/ dinner 24 hours a day. They have a three cheese grilled cheese sandwich, branded as "the cheesiest". So of course Kelly (aka the queen of cheese) went with the cheese sandwich.After unsuccessfully trying to catch a trolley, we now remember why we have never ridden the trolley in all our visits here. They are always packed and it's nearly impossible to figure out how to get on one. So we skipped the trolley and walked up and then down and then up and down again (it's a very hilly city) to the bay.We finally made it to Pier 39. After a quick run through the aquarium of the bay, which contained more kids than fish, we hopped on a Blue and Gold tour boat and went for a ride out on the bay. We headed out from Pier 39, under the Golden Gate Bridge and back around Alcatraz, all the while enjoying the cool wind and great views.After thoroughly checking out Pier 39, we headed to Ghiradelli Square. We stopped on the way at The Buena Vista Cafe, the birth place of the Irish coffee. Good Irish whiskey, strong coffee and a bit of cream to top it off. Very simple and very good.And here's a picture of Todd's favorite Irish import - he's always had a place in his heart for the Irish!For dinner Todd decided he wanted Italian in North Beach. As we walked up Kearney Street, he picked out Trattoria Pinocchio. Yes that is the name of the restaurant and yes, there are Pinocchio puppets EVERYWHERE. Todd also decided to ask the waiter what he recommended. And after a few questions to establish that we wanted pasta, chicken and no cream, we again had our menus snatched up and were told that he would take care of us. And once again good karma prevailed and we had another delicious meal. We left with just one question - could a waiter in a restaurant named Pinocchio really lead you wrong? As Todd licked the dessert plate clean the answer was a clear, 'no'...,Sunday - we have definitely lucked out on this trip and had the most amazing weather. Today was another clear blue sky day, so we (and most of the residents of San Francisco) headed outside.First, we made our way to Ocean Beach, had lunch in the dunes and watched the waves roll in. We then strolled over to the Golden Gate park for a day of walking and just being outside to enjoy the pleasant weather before Todd has to return to snowy Denver. While in Golden Gate Park, we climbed up Strawberry Hill, watched the paddle boats go floating by and just enjoyed the broad green meadows and shady trees.For dinner we headed to the Embarcadero, but soon found that Sunday evening everything closes early so we headed back downtown to Union Square. There we found a restaurant called Sushi Boat, where plates of sushi float around the sushi bar on little wooden boats. You just pick off what you want as it floats by. Not the best sushi, but it made for a fun evening and we enjoyed the different experience.After diner we FINALLY caught a cable car back to our hotel, now we can mark that off of our list! Tonight's an early to bed night. Todd has arranged for a cab at 4:30am to make his flight home and Kelly is resting up for a week of training and missing Todd.