A (very) tired bear on a boat

These photos tell the story of our very, very tired bear and his boat trip through the bay late Friday afternoon.  With such a short time in the city, Buddy had to make it on just one nap a day.  We thought all the new things would be enough to keep him entertained … but that only lasted so long … and not nearly as long as we thought.  But, we tried to make the most of it.  San Francisco is such a wonderful city and the bay is full of beautiful sights and rich history.  Tim manned the camera and soaked up all the history and I tried to tame the bear and enjoyed the wind in my hair (I'm a poet).  We enjoyed it and definitely made some memories!  Grizzly bear or no grizzly bear. 

Be fore-warned, there are lots of pictures on this post … many that look very much the same.  But they all make me laugh remembering all the different stages of the melt down and the different antics I tried to keep it at bay (pun intended) as much as possible.  Many of these are some of my favorites from the trip.

Zoned out. Tell me there is a bed on this thing.

Really.  Need sleep.

Giving it my best.  Don't think he's buying.

This works.  Nothing better than my cuddly bear!  A favorite pic for sure.

W was not a huge fan of the wind.

Taking refuge inside.  Excellent idea.

Kisses for daddy outside.

Look … almost a smile!

Tasting the wind?!?

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

And he's done.

He's Weston the Sailor Man. Toot. Toot.

That wasn't very funny, Mom.

But Daddy is funny!  Yay!

Rounding the Rock, melt down was imminent.  This was the calm before the storm.

And even a little smile :)

Tulips

Spring was in full bloom in California!  When we left home, the Redbud trees had just started blooming, the first sign of spring for me … so when we were flying in, I noticed how green everything was and I loved all the color we saw.  When we saw these tulips on Pier 39 … I just had to have a photo op.  I love these pics that Tim took.

 

Still cute.  Even mid-yawn.

Such a trooper.

Aquarium

We also checked out the aquarium on Friday afternoon.  It was great!  But sadly, our little guy was not very interested.  He needed a nap in the worst way (and was probably cutting some of those molars already, I just didn't know it yet) and just wanted his paci.  We obliged and tried to check out as much of the sea life as we could.  The jellyfish and the sharks were our favorites … it was so cool to be that close.  And I loved how many starfish there were everywhere.

Sourdough Makes Me Happy

It's true.  I love bread.  Let's be honest, all carbs really.  But sourdough bread … be still my heart!  I blame my grandmother.  She used to make homemade sourdough … oh, heaven! I'm hooked for life.

So it was fitting that our first stop in Fisherman's Wharf on Friday afternoon was Boudin Bakery.  We ate lunch here on our way through town before heading out to the ranch in Summer 2007.  I definitely wanted to go back, but figured Tim would want to try something new (he loves trying new restaurants) … so when he wanted to head back there, well that's a pretty high compliment. And after being on a diet for the 6 weeks leading up to our trip, I was beyond excited to eat

And it did not disappoint.  I had the turkey and havarti sandwich on lovely sourdough (so simple, but so so delicious) and Tim had the clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl.  Weston gladly partook of both (when he wasn't trying to keep tabs on all the birds eager for a spare scrap).

After we ate, we went upstairs to their self-guided walking museum.  We were pretty much the only ones there which was great!  We could let Weston walk around some and we took turns reading not only about Boudin's history, but San Francisco.  Tim loves history in all forms so this was great.  We both learned lots of new things, but one of our favorites was a display of all the foods that were invented in San Francisco (shoulda taken a pic) … popsicles were invented by a kid there.  Who knew?  Now you do … remember to thank us if you ever win Jeopardy or something  because of that little tid bit ;)  They also had a fog simulator … it was awesome.  Weston thought it was tasty.  We also learned some pretty interesting things about Boudin's and the bread making process.  Its apparently all about the bubbles.  We also got a bird's eye view of the process, its pretty amazing.  They actually have silos outside full of flour and sugar and pipe it in.  My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

Handsome boys!

Where's your nose?

Where's Weston?

He's getting so much hair!  Grow baby grow!  But at least at this point the humidity from the fog doesn't mess up his do ;)

He looks so big here!

Hotel Vertigo

Remember this?  Did you vote?


Well, we were so relieved and excited to make it to our hotel, the Hotel Vertigo.  (All the pictures were taken with my phone, hence the poor quality)

The Hotel is located in the lower Nob Hill neighborhood in San Francisco and within about 4 blocks walking distance to the trolley even less to the buses.  Not bad, but I definitely realized that I am not a city girl.  It's quite a different lifestyle, fun to experience, but so different than anything I have ever known.  Tim, on the other hand, seemed to be in his element after having lived a short time in DC and Germany.  Weston was quite the trooper in the stroller … so much to see!

And, the hotel has some history … check this out from the hotel's website:

Hotel Vertigo is a modern twist on a familiar favorite - a landmark redux. The hotel is the site of the Empire Hotel made famous in arguably Alfred Hitchcock’s best work, Vertigo. It’s ideally nestled in a charming lower Nob Hill pocket of San Francisco, just slightly off the beaten path of bustling Union Square.

They had the movie playing in the lobby 24/7.  It was a great place to stay … lots of personality and so nice to be in a newly remodeled room!

We ate breakfast at a local place each morning before heading off for the more traditional tourist stops.  The Cable Car Cafe (where we enjoyed a breakfast banana split and croissant sandwich while we watched the impending arrival of the Tsunami to SF on the news, which didn't turn out to be much of anything, but we could hardly get anything about what happened in Japan until later that day), the Nob Hill Grille (so charming) and Cup-a-Joe Coffee Shop.  One of the quirky things we noticed was that a lot of the little places to eat, like Cup-a-Joe, was that they had and advertised both bakery items and beer.  I guess it makes sense since you are serving people all throughout the day, but it was odd to see "muffins, coffee, 10 beers on tap" on the overhang. 

I originally found the hotel on either Expedia or Kayak or Orbitz, but noticed that they had some upgraded rooms and some not.  I called the hotel to ask and sure enough, those rates were only for the original (read super dated) rooms, but the lovely lady told me that they were running a special that if you stayed 3 nights, you got 30% off … so we ended up getting one of the new rooms for less money!  Score!  Never hurts to ask ;)

Original Movie Poster in Lobby.

The swanky lobby.

Our super cool room.

Weston's stroller and car seat fit right in.  Destiny.

Perhaps the greatest part was that they had a brand new pack n play (free!) ready for us that fit perfectly in the closet.  And they had an iPod player available so we could play his water noise while he slept.

  He slept through the night every night!  Score again!!