California Dreaming--San Francisco

As previously mentioned, we planned to fly from LAX to Incheon, Korea with a short layover in San Francisco. We could have opted for a direct flight (and I certainly considered this option with sensitive baby's ears in mind), but Asiana Airlines only flew their 777s out of San Francisco, not LAX. This is only important because A) Jonathan has never flown on a 777, and he was incredibly geeked out to fly on one since they are fairly new and supremely economical on their fuel usage AND B) because after doing much research, I found out that in Asiana Air's new 777's the Business class seats recline at a complete 180. I figured it's worth the risk of having a little ones's ears hurt for a little bit (which they didn't) than to have a cranky husband who would never be able to fall asleep at a mere 160 degrees. So we opted for the layover.



So, "Why?" you ask, "do I have enough pictures and info to post on a city that was only supposed to be a short layover?" How thoughtful of you to ask. Well, you see we were silly enough to book a flight with a layover in a city with the nickname Fog City and booked through an airline that is undergoing a merger. What. Were. We. THINKING?!

Naturally, our initial flight was delayed due to weather, and we completely missed our international flight to Korea. Talk about having your expectations completely shattered. I won't bore you with how convoluted our plans became at that moment.

Simply put, we missed our connecting flight to Korea. The next one didn't leave until the next day. We decided to make the most of it and get a rental car for the day and explore San Francisco.


Lu in the rental car

I will say we started rather optimistically. We had such a fabulous time in LA, we figured San Francisco would be equally delightful. Maybe it was the fog, maybe it was jet lag, maybe it was our sinful nature (ding, ding, ding!), but we did not have a very pleasant time in SF. It seemed like everyone we met was rude (such a contrast to all the chill and helpful people we met in LA), and our plans continued to be foiled. We both quickly turned into grumpy pants...but we still managed to see a lot of the sites. So let's take a look, shall we?

First up, the Golden Gate Bridge!

With tourist map in hand (courtesy of the rental company), we guided our way downtown to the bay area where we came upon the lovely bridge above! We were snapping pictures and holding our breath as we drove nearer and nearer and then realized...this bridge is not golden. ??? I was sorely disappointed. How can the Golden Gate Bridge NOT be Golden?! I quickly texted our close friend back in Alabama who graduated from UC Berkeley and asked him what was up. Before he could respond,we drove a little further and found the REAL Golden Gate Bridge. Duh! Worst. Site-seers. EVER.


The REAL Golden Gate Bridge

Of course, we had to drive over it. Totally worth the $6 toll too. The other end provides some of the most beautiful views of the bridge and SF. Really gorgeous. I will say this area reminded me so much of what I imagine the Pacific Northwest to look like. If you drive far enough you run into some redwood forests. We didn't make it that far, maybe next time.

Tunnel leading out of San Francisco.
I don't know much about the history of the city, but I suspect maybe Hawaiians or Leprechauns settled this region.

Other stops on our site-seeing list were:

Ride a Trolley
I really wanted to do this one, but it became very cold and rainy around the time we were headed to the station, so we nixed it from the list since we didn't have any good cold weather gear for Lucy (or us). Plus we heard it was super expensive.


We didn't get to ride the trolley...but we saw one!

See Homes from Opening Scene of Full House
This was actually the top of my list. I think I took more pictures here than I did any of the other sites.



Can't you just hear the music?

What ever happened to predictability?
The milk man, the paper boy, evening T.V
You miss your old familiar friends, but
waiting just around the bend...



Is the song still stuck in your head? It's stuck in mine. Major nostalgic moment. Anyway, just down the street is the house where the Tanner home actually is. These are the Painted Ladies, which are just in the opening scene.


Jonathan and Lu in front of the Painted Ladies

We mostly just drove around the town seeing the architecture and
From there we just caught a glimpse of a beautiful sunset by the bay.


Real Golden Gate Bridge


Sunset over the Bay City

I would like to say the day ended here, but this beautiful sunset was followed by more calls to United Airways and hotels trying to find an open room since there were apparently 3 different conventions and events happening in the city which booked up most of the reputable hotels in the area.

But we can end the this post with the beautiful sunset. :)