A few weekends ago I took a trip to one of my all time favorite cities: San Francisco. Growing up, my parents used to take my siblings and I to San Francisco all the time. It was one of our go-to vacation spots. Now my grandpa and sister both live in the city, so I still visit often and I never tire of that San Francisco charm. I did most of the touristy things in my younger days so when I visit SF these days, it’s usually just to relax, spend time with family, and maybe go a little off the beaten path. This past trip was no different, especially since it was raining pretty much the entire time! Oh well, a little rain never hurt anyone (especially in drought-stricken California).
Friday
The first thing I did when I arrived in the city was meet up with my oldest friend, Valerie. We’ve been friends since 5th grade and we have one of those friendships where even if we go a long time without seeing each other (she lives in the bay, I live in LA) we always pick up right where we left off. We headed to Union Square for some ice skating. This was my first time ice skating so I was pretty nervous, but I surprisingly didn’t fall. I spent the first ten minutes hanging onto the side rail with all the little kids, but once I got the hang of it it was smooth sailing, or should I say smooth skating?
After ice skating we did some window shopping and then Valerie had to head home so I was off to my grandpas and then to my sister’s where we just laid around in our PJs and talked about things only sisters talk about…
Saturday
The rain came the next morning, but my sister and I decided to venture out anyway. We headed down to the Embarcadero for a yoga class at the Y. My sister has a membership and got me a guest day pass; woo woo! After yoga we wandered around the farmers market until it was time to head to the Mission to meet up with my sister’s friends for some Peruvian food. The place we went to was a little hole-in-the-wall called El Lindo Peru. I had a veggie paella that was amazing!
Rainy morning in Lower Haight
Stormy Embarcadero
After lunch we went to one of my favorite used book stores, Aardvark Books. They have a shop cat named Owen who loves to be pet. Sometimes he’ll even crawl into your lap for a nap. The rest of the day was spent relaxing and visiting with my grandpa.
Owen, the Aardvark Books shop cat
Sunday
On Sunday my sister and I headed to the 9th and Irving area of the Inner Sunset neighborhood. This is a cute little area with lots of local shops and restaurants. We stopped to get coffee at Snowbird Coffee first to warm up. I had never been to this coffee shop before but it was so cozy inside! If we didn’t have things to do, it would have been a nice place to curl up with a book or crossword puzzle (a family favorite). But onward we went to Green Apple Books, which had a nice selection of new and used books. Then we went to Crossroads to do a little thrifting.
Photo credit: snowbirdcoffee.com
Later I met up with another friend for dinner at Stone Bowl+ and had a yummy Korean ramen, which was a perfect way to warm up from the rain.
The next morning I relaxed at my grandpa’s until it was time to head to the airport. Until next time San Francisco!
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