Saturday, October 2, 2010

San Francisco Treat - Finale!

And so begins the end...

Our last day was one of our favorite days. Surprisingly, we weren't really visiting the "typical" San Francisco monuments.

Our morning started out with a quick breakfast at Starbucks. I tried their English muffin with turkey bacon sandwich. It wasn't too bad, but for a quick breakfast it was certainly better than Jack In The Box (that Rusty wanted). We hopped on another double decker bus and headed towards....Golden Gate State Park!!! We had another great tour guide that showed us the old Victorian homes...


Yes, that is where they filmed the intro to "Full House!"

We also drove past a park that was hosting a free concert. The line was soooooooo long. I think Sara Bareilles was playing?



We ended this tour at the GGSP. We hopped off the bus (after buying discount tickets!) and headed in to The Academy of Sciences Museum. It was AWESOME! We checked out the planetarium first..sorry no pics allowed. It is not for people who get motion sickness easily!


We watched a film about the lifespan of stars. Very interesting but I could have done without the narration by Whoopi Goldberg.


We then checked out the penguins...


Then the swamp to meet Claude...


Then to the (2 acre) living roof...



Through a really cool aquarium where the pictures stunk...



And last, through the rain forest, where we met this guy...



After our fact packed museum experience we crossed the beautiful courtyard? over to the Japanese Tea Garden.


I must say this was one of the places I was most excited to see. It was a modest sized garden of impeccably kept grounds. This is when I really hate not having an awesome camera. At least we still ended up with some neat photos:







Luckily we made it back to the AoSM in time to catch the last tour bus back to town. We jumped off at Union Square and made our way to our last experience, Chinatown! Their are two important facts you should know about Chinatown. 1) Don't buy any souvenirs until you go to Chinatown. 2) Don't buy something when you see it the first time. The further you walk down the street the trinkets get cheaper! I must say Rusty was a little frustrated every time we bought something because we would walk next door and find it cheaper!!! Not a happy camper! Sadly, our camera died before we got to Chinatown. This is a pic of the gate at the entrance that we saw on one of our tours:



After our crazy shopping experience we tried to find a sushi joint for dinner. Using our iPhones we found a place not too far away. I was thrilled that it was close because my feet were killing me, and so were Rusty's. Well, we walked all the way down one hill to get to the restaurant, and wouldn't you know it, it was closed!!! Insert frustration here! Luckily we found another spot and confirmed that it was open.


When we walked into Sushi Toni's we were a little concerned. It wasn't a very nice place, a little rundown, but all of the reviews on Yelp were great so Rusty and I stayed. We started off with some wine, seaweed salad and edamame and then ordered dinner. The waitress didn't know much, but what she did know made our night incredible. She happened to say "the tuna is VERY fresh today." So what did we do? We ordered a bunch of tuna. IT WAS INCREDIBLE! Ahh, I am salivating just thinking about it. I had a roll with crab and avocado, topped with tuna (yes, I ordered a second one it was so good). Rusty has Nigiri with White Tuna, Yellow Tail, Salmon and Tuna and some other sub par rolls. Holy Cow! If you are in Chinatown and want yummy and reasonable sushi ($65 including apps and drinks) go to Sushi Toni!!!


After our most filling meal of the trip, we headed back to the hotel to survey our treasures and pass out!
We headed back to Houston around 12 on Monday and went straight to pick up our boys.


We were happy to be home, but so thankful for an amazing vacation. I hope y'all have enjoyed my recap of my trip, I know I have!

4 comments:

  1. I hope that you are all rest and recovered after such a fun-filled trip! I'm so glad that I was able to see some of your experience (and relive much of my own!) I loved the Japanese Tea Garden...you two look lovely in it! Thanks for sharing!

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  2. We are finally caught up on rest. This was our only weekend without a whole lot to do, so we tried to veg out and actually clean the house. It is amazing how much dust accumulates when you are gone for almost a week!

    I am glad you enjoyed the photos. We are already excited to go back and visit someday!

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  3. I loved seeing your pictures from your San Francisco vacation. It made me want to get on a plane and take a trip myself.

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  4. Loved the "tour" You hit all of my favorite spots. Glad you had a good time and accomplished so much!!

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