The day started early with shopping. In Canada, the day after Christmas is boxing day! Boxing day is pretty much boxing week nowadays, but people still line up at stores on the 26th. To be honest, the sales aren't that great anymore, and you can shop online to beat the rush/not have to wait in line... and I haven't actually gone boxing day shopping in YEARS. The US doesn't have boxing day, but they do have "after Christmas sales" which I wanted to take part in ;) So... I woke Bobby up early and we hit the shops. Now in Canada, if the stores open at 8pm, then the mall doors open earlier (maybe 7am ish?) so that people can line up at the stores... well this is not the case in the US. At least not in San Fran. We got up early to hit the mall at 8am. I was 20 minutes early and the mall still wasn't open. So we waited outside with a few other hardcore crazy shoppers. In the end, I got a shirt from Victoria's Secret and a potential wedding dress from Anthropologie (still debating about this purchase)... and the sales were only okay... and I was so tired from the trip in general that I didn't want to shop for hours.
My brother and his girlfriend finally arrived yesterday and we made plans to meet up at noon for lunch. So after shopping (it took a total of an hour and a half tops), we went back to the hotel to chill/get ready... we rounded up the troops (both sets of parents, both brothers that came on the trip and my brother's girlfriend) and hit the Wharf... again!
My mom wanted to have chowder for lunch (um.. who doesn't want chowder when in San Fran??!) so we went back to Chowder Hut. After that, we split up to explore for an hour. Bobby and I kind of followed my brother around for a bit while he ate food from all of the stands at the Wharf:
After a while, watching him eat got boring so Bobby and I ventured off on our own. We got some candy and walked around before meeting up again. Then my mom had the brilliant idea to walk to the Crookedest Street (aka, Lombard St). It was only a 15 minute walk, but we were so full from lunch and San Fran is just so damn hilly!! Somehow, we survived the trek. At this point, my mom, bro and his gf went back to the hotel. The rest of us walked to a nearby Starbucks for a much needed caffeine break. We chilled and rested our feet for a bit... before walking back to the Wharf for more shopping. We also had dinner reservations at the Wharf and at this point, there was no point in going back to the hotel... but we had 2.5 hours to kill so we walked around Pier 39. I have not been to Pier 39 in YEARS. The last time I was there, the trip got ruined because my mom's friend's purse got stolen... so we spent 3-4 hours trying to find it/reporting the mofo that stole it, etc... Anyway, Pier 39 is so crazy busy but they have nice shops :)
We had one last family dinner at NEPTUNE'S Waterfront Grill and Bar. Such a nice view at this restaurant because it is at the tip of Pier 39... unfortunately, the sun sets so early in the winter so we did not get to enjoy this view!
After dinner, we went back to the hotel. Us "kids" went for one last drink at Clock Bar (The bar in our hotel). My bro and his gf were tired because they got up early for their flight yesterday morning, and Bobby and I had to get up early today (27th) for our flight home... so it was one drink before saying our goodbyes.
All in all, this vacation was awesome! Each day we got to do something fun. I've been to San Fran probably 4-5 times since I was a kid, but I have never been to Alcatraz.. nor have I been on a Bay Area boat cruise... so it was fun to get to do those this time around. This trip was the first time both our parents met as well, and they got along really well so that was nice :) The next time they will all be together again will be our wedding this summer... so it's nice to get the "stress" of meeting for the first time out of the way :):)
I love San Fran. I have not been in about 10 years, but even then, it has ALWAYS been my favorite city in California. The weather was awesome, (minus the one rainy day we got) averaging 15 degrees in the sun.
Random note:
The locals of San Fran are troopers for having to deal with crazy tourists. Seriously. Every cable car that went by caused SO MUCH TRAFFIC because tourists would jump out in the middle of the street to take pics. Every cable car was also packed with screaming tourists, excited about the ride! It must suck to just want to get to work on time, but can't, because traffic in downtown is INSANE!!
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