Holy cow, what a trip this was! It was wild and crazy and full of laughs, lots of walking, adventures, more laughs, good food ... let me tell you about it.
I hate to fly; and because of this, my husband woke me up and handed me a shot of my favorite vodka to help get me moving. He filled my carry on with little airline size bottles of vodka, which was sweet but turned out to be a huge waste of money because I had to throw most of them out as I went through security (though they were all sealed in plastic bags, apparently now we are only allowed ONE plastic bag). I did get to save a couple though, so once through the gate, I made myself another drink while I waited for boarding.
So far, so good ... on my way to San Francisco!
I met up with a friend of mine and some of her friends at the aiport, we hailed a cab and were off to the hotel. And by hotel, I mean paradise. We all decided we wanted to live there.
We stayed in Ghirardelli Square, which was awesome. Right on the water, walking distance to lots of good restaurants, fishermans wharf, and of course, the chocolate. Mmmmm, I can still taste that hot chocolate. Oh, and the crab. Fresh off the boat, warm, yummy!! The food was awesome the whole trip! This was a group of people that knows how to travel well! We made lots of friends wherever we went.
The first day was pretty much spent eating and drinking. We found a chowder house that had just opened and had a couple drinks and some fabulous lunch. We wandered around, checked out the touristy sites along the piers, then ended up at a bar. Made friends with the musician that was playing (pretty sure anyone will be your friend when you offer to buy them a shot, right?), had a couple more drinks, then went back to the hotel to get ready for dinner.
Three of the group work for a high end steakhouse and wine bar, so we went to their Walnut Creek restaurant. Ooooh, good stuff. It was nice to have the servers and sommelier right at the table with those of us not empleyed there, they made excellent recommendations, we had some good wine, and got a HUGE discount on the bill. Six people, high end steakhouse, lots of drinks - I think the final bill, after all the comps and discounts, was $125. We did leave a hell of a tip, but even still that's a screaming deal!
We had an early night because the next morning was race day (and perhaps because we'd been drinking all day and were exhausted).
Bay to Breakers baby, check it out!! I found a short video that really gives you a better idea of the experience, because you just have to see it to believe it. This was the most wild and crazy thing I've ever been a part of and I cannot WAIT to do it again.
Here are a couple pictures from my phone of race day. Check out the stream of people in front of us going up the hill and behind us going down the hill. 55,000 people - amazing!!
The frat guys/pilots were hysterical, we saw them a few times. They had those camel packs on their backs, I presume filled with beer or some form of liquor. They walked in slow motion together as a group, they ate up the attention. This shot was taken on our WAY to the race.
I also found this picture of us on flicker - thank you PR Photography for capturing a quick image. Not the best shot of our group, but you can see how we dressed at least! We're the group in the pink and tutus; if you look close you can see my argyle socks - I am the second one in, tucked a little back in the white hat.
There you go ... highlights of the first couple days of my trip. We went to Alcatraz too, which is something I've always wanted to do. We also went to a place called Ike's that was featured on Man v Food, which was something one of the guys in our group wanted to do. Yummy!!
I promise to be better about posting this week now that I am settled from vacation and the wedding show is behind me. Lots of news on the home front, and I'll try for a writing prompt too.
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