My love and I decided to embark on a 12 day journey to explore the west coast and visit friends and family along the way. Since we are both east coast natives, we decided to save some time and fly cross country, pick up a rental car and go from there. If we had more time, we would have loved to drive the whole way across….stay tuned for that adventure!
The first stop on our adventure was San Francisco, California. I had only been to San Fran once before as a very young child and was thrilled to get to experience it again, as an older human being! We flew direct from Newark to San Fran and arrived super late into the night (SF time). This stop on our journey was inspired by my boyfriends lovely cousin, Be, who lives in the area and who was kind enough to take us in and let us crash with her. Not to mention she was super kind when we woke her in the wee hours of the night looking for shelter. Note, she is pretty much the most amazing tour guide/person there is and truly made this stop worth while and special. Not to mention she kicks butt in her career so it was great to hear about her experiences living here. And it was great to see the city through the eyes of someone who called this place home.
Our first morning in San Fran was sublime. This was Day 1 of our west coast adventures!!! We were energized and ready to rock and roll. First up, we awoke and drove around in the direction of union street where we parked the jeep. The sun was shining and it was such a beautiful day to explore this new city. We walked around the strip for awhile to get a feel for the culture. Happy people every which way we looked with happier dogs by their side. My good friends boyfriend had recently moved to the area from New York City so we were lucky to connect with him in town and chat about his experience thus far! We noticed so many similarities between San Fran and New York City….its funny how they say SF is the place a lot of New Yorkers move once they are fed up with the winters. And I could now understand why….
Nothing can really top the feeling of being in a new city with wonderful people. I was pretty much blissed out the entire time! Driving over the Golden Gate bridge was like no other feeling in this world. The bridge is such a west coast staple and it was official we were in C A L I F O R N I A. The state of dreamers and believers!!!! Creative bursts of expression all around us!!! I mean, the breeze in my hair combined with the sun rays equaled one of the happiest moments of my life.
We wandered around the area for a bit before we connected back with Be and one of her friends to grab brunch in Sausalito at Le Garage, an amazing spot right on the marina. After lunch we ventured to Bar Bocce to enjoy some delicious Bloody Mary’s and soaked it all in !!! Bar Bocce was also located right on the marina and the views were out of this world. The weather was absolutely perfect. We had a little extra appreciation for the weather because we were just breaking free of winter in New York and the sunshine felt heavenly!
As our San Francisco days were coming to an end, I was lucky enough to be there for my 26th birthday! Drew and Be made this birthday especially unforgettable. I remember waking up to the sun gleaming in my eyes and just being so grateful to be able to spend such a special day with people I love and in such an amazing city. We spent the day at Presidio Park were we popped open a extra large bottle of champagne (courtesy of Be) and people (and dog) watched the afternoon away…..we were sun buzzed and loving life! To this day, this was one of the best days of life. We eventually regrouped and grabbed some delicious dinner at State Bird Provisions. I discovered during our trip that San Francisco is the city of foodies. Good lord do these city dwellers love food. And not just any food….the most fresh, farm grown, delicious creations my mouth had ever tasted. It was a match made in heaven. This was our last day in this lovely place and we soaked up every last minute we could until we had to pack up our things and continue on our adventure…….
Yosemite National Park was the next stop on our journey and at this moment I had no idea how much my life would be changed forever…
