It has taken much longer than expected to document our honeymoon (er…it was back in November), but as long as you are still enjoying the posts, I will continue! Here are the first two installments:
The third morning of our trip brought us to San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf!
We explored the area for a while before our scheduled bike tour. I immediately zeroed in on the Boudin Bakery and knew we had to go in. Pretty much anything that has a chance of selling delicious breads is a must-see in my book.
It was right before Thanksgiving so there was definitely turkey-shaped sourdough. 🙂 Plus various sea creatures! I picked up a skim mocha to walk around with and we also snagged a lunch sandwich to share.
Eventually, we headed over to Bay City Bike, where we had a Groupon for a guided tour of the city. Before we knew it we were outfitted with bikes and helmets and out the door! We were on the tour with two other ladies who were having a girl’s weekend.
Our tour guide was GREAT! Full of information and happy to take pictures. We stopped for a photo opp of Coit Tower, which is located on Telegraph Hill.
We also stopped periodically along the beaches en route to the Golden Gate Bridge.
Our tour guide even showed us how to take an optical illusion shot. Look how tall we are.
Amaaaaaazing! 😉
When we reached the top of the hill before the bridge, we had a gorgeous view looking backward.
But the view ahead wasn’t bad either, so off we went to cross the 4,200 foot long suspension span.
Crossing the Golden Gate Bridge was unreal. As a self-professed acrophobe (especially over water), I was surprisingly impressed with myself because I wasn’t as nervous as I thought I would be. The ride was very peaceful – and gorgeous, too.
We made it to the other side and headed into Sausalito, where our journey ended. All in all, the bike tour was 90 minutes long, great exercise and a phenomenal way to see more of the city. They leave you in Sausalito to explore and then provide you with a ferry ticket back to San Francisco. But since we were staying in Sausalito, we already had a lay of the land and new exactly what we wanted before we went back across the bay – ICE CREAM!
We ventured into Lappert’s and decided on a mint chocolate chip with bubble gum twist!
We also split the sandwich we picked up at Boudin – roast beef with veg. Twas delicious.
We sat in the shop for a while to soak everything in, then decided to take a short walk around town once more. Our time in San Francisco was nearing its end, but there was still a lot to look forward to in Napa!
Along the way, we ran into a man who was literally stacking boulders on top of stones. It was amazing!
Then it was time to bring our bikes to the ferry. We said goodbye to the Inn Above Tide one last time as we floated away. It was fun to travel across the bay by boat instead of driving over it!
We had a gorgeous cityscape to welcome us. I love the architecture of the Trans-Atlantic Pyramid!
We arrived in Fisherman’s Wharf and watched as a few sea lions basked in the sun before packing our things into the car and setting off for the next location on our journey. Along the way, we made a stop at Muir Woods for some late afternoon hiking.
We chose a 2.6-mile path that took us off the main “boardwalk” and into the trees. It was quite exhilarating going up and down the sides of hills and over creeks, all while surrounded by gigantic redwood trees!
By the end of the hike, the sun was setting over the cliff and we were ready to continue on our way. When we arrived in Napa, we checked in at the Silverado Resort, which was an awesome hotel to work with on Twitter before the trip. Very accommodating.
When we got to our room, we were greeted with a special welcome present.
We squealed (ok, I squealed) with delight, unpacked and then headed to a late dinner at Silverado Grill. In honor of the fact that we had made it to Napa, I ordered a glass of the Silverado Cabernet Sauvignon. It was really smooth and wonderful.
The bread basket was devoured, of course.
I decided to start with the soup of the day, which was a hearty black bean. It really hit the spot on a cold evening! (Apologies for the blurry pictures, but there wasn’t much light to work with!)
For dinner, I chose the Grilled Flatbread, with caramelized onions, fresh mozzarella, and pancetta.
It was good! Definitely unlike any other flatbread I’ve had before. The caramelized onions gave it a bit of sweetness, while the pancetta gave it a bit of kick.
Exhausted after our meal and full day of exercise, we headed back to our room and POPPED! the champagne. It was a Brut from Domaine Ste. Michelle and dangerously easy to sip!
A journey to San Francisco ended. A journey to Napa just begun.
Oh, and what a journey it was…but you’ll find out why in the next post. 😉
Question: Have you ever been to a National Park?
Grand Canyon was my first and now Muir Woods is my second. Here’s to many more!
Abrazos,
soo fun! i love the different bread animals!! and the tree hugging!! 😀
I love me some tree hugging. 🙂
Um dude, I’m still recapping Christmas and New Year’s, so no worries!!! I’m glad that you’re still recapping your beautiful honeymoon 🙂
Ehh you know about my park/woods experience 😉
I do know allllll about your experience! Craziness!
Jenn, I think I missed that you guys went to Napa and San Fran for your honeymoon. We JUST booked our vacation this year to Napa and San Fran. Ooooo how cool! I may be emailing you with questions. Neither my husband or I have ever been. Thanks for sharing these great memories!
You are going to have such an AMAZING time! Please don’t hesitate to email me with any questions at all – and I’ll be sharing plenty more in my next post (including a suggestion for what not to do…hahaha)!
What a day! The little lobster roll is so cute. And the bike tour was a fabulous idea!! Muir woods is just amazing. The trees are SO ginormous. And your dinner Grilled Flatbread looks awesome. I need to make a batch of carmelized onions to keep in the fridge. So good on so many dishes.
I’ve actually never made caramelized onions before but that’s a great idea to keep a batch in the fridge!
I’m so glad you enjoyed SF! We spent the first few days of our honeymoon there and just didn’t get on with the city at all – I’ve lived in London and visited many big cities across the world, but the homelessness didn’t get to me anywhere as much as it did in San Francisco. I know I have to drag myself back to give it another chance someday… But Napa was lovely. Awaiting next update!
Oh, and thanks for reminding me – I still have the rest of our honeymoon to write up!
Get to writing up that recap! I would love to read your perspective. It’s interesting you mention your experience in San Francisco because we actually did not see nearly as much homelessness as we do in our backyard of Chicago. I definitely say give it another chance someday – but agree that Napa is absolutely lovely and wonderful!
I just wrote about my honeymoon too, which actually took place the 1st week of November. We can be slow together! haha
I LOVE the pics of you guys towering over the golden gate bridge! And the food looks incredible. Can’t wait to hear all about Napa 🙂
Love that we are both on the same page with the recaps! 😉
I love these honeymoon recap posts- and I bet you’ll be so happy you did them so that you can look back on them in a few years and re-live the trip. 🙂 I was just watching “The Best Thing I Ever Ate” on the Food Network last night and Tyler Florence’s pick was from the cafe in Muir Woods- small world!
I agree! I like to live vicariously through past blog posts…especially when I get nostalgic for college. It’s slightly ridiculous. 🙂
I went to Muir woods last November and it was really neat. However, I almost got sick on the way to the woods because the roads were SO curvy and I was in the back seat of the car.
They are VERY curvy and I get motion sickness easily, too! It was definitely a bit of a battle, ha!
your honeymoon looks amazing so far! my fiance and i have been thinking of doing a nor cal honeymoon. maybe we should just copy yours! 🙂
Thanks, Sarah! We had an amazing trip and I’d be happy to answer any questions you have. Let me know if you decide to do Napa/SF!
looks like a great time!! I absolutely LOVE SF, its one of my all-time favorite cities!
We loved it, too!!
Ahhh I was JUST at all these places! Muir Woods, Napa wineries (Domaine Carneros was my favorite), Boudin, etc! Loove your Golden Gate optical illusion photos 🙂
Awesome, Megan! We didn’t make it to Domaine Carneros but I can’t wait to swap stories about the places we did get to visit. Napa wineries are absolutely incredible!
Can’t wait for you to get to the Napa part, my favorite 🙂
I can’t wait to write about it!!!
Great pictures! I’ve only been to the Grand Canyon–it was such a blast! We went on a helicopter ride over the canyon.
Cool! I bet that was slightly terrifying – and maybe I’m just saying that because I’m afraid of heights and get motion sickness very easily, haha! Total killjoy, I know. 😉 But I bet the views were unbeatable!
but doesn’t it brighten your day to write them up now? you get to re-live the fabulous time you had!!
Exactly!!! There are benefits to being a procrastinator!
I love the idea of seeing a new city on bike–a great way to squeeze in some exercise! And those optical illusion shots are always so much fun–love it! 🙂
That was our thought exactly!! 🙂
I love Muir. Love it even more that Star Wars was filmed there!
NP are my fav. The best one we’ve been to yet is hands down Arches National Park in Moab, Utah. There isn’t words to properly describe this place! You need at least 5 days to properly explore every trail. The hikes are the best.
I didn’t know that about Star Wars – now I love it even more, too! I’ve also heard that about Arches National Park – perhaps that will go on the potential vacation list for this year! It sounds so amazing.
This post took me back to our road trip this past September! LOVE IT!
Awesome, Bobbi! Glad it could bring back your own memories. 🙂
your trip continues to look absolutely amazing!! san francisco is so fun. when i go back next month, my friend has vowed to take me to boudin 🙂
i’ve been to muir woods before, it was cool, but i think i was too young at the time to really appreciate it. i’ve also been to yellowstone national park in wyoming, and grand teton in colorado.
Thanks, Kinsey!! You are going to have such a blast when you go. 🙂
love your pictures of san fran, looks like you guys had great weather!
ive been to the grand canyon when i was little but thats it. i dont even really remember it but apparently its kind of big. hmmmm.
Thank you! And yes, that Grand Canyon is slightly massive… 😉
Love your illusion shot! I’ve been to Muir Woods, too!
Thanks, Jess! Very cool!
Ahh! I took a very similar tour through San Fran when out there for my wine country vaca this October. I LOVED Sausalito!! So cute there. Did you see the place in that building…umm, ferry building!? “salted pig parts?” the sign in your pic, I think says that, right?! that made me giggle. Can’t wait for the Napa part either!
Love it! Sausalito is absolutely adorable and yes, we went to the ferry building! It was one of our favorite places to visit on the trip! That sign is hilarious. 🙂
Oh.My.Gosh.! SO FUN! I LOVE SF (I live about 45 minutes south)- and I almost worked at the Silverado Inn in Napa for my internship in college! All of your pictures look awesome and glad you had a great time (at least that’s what it looks like…) 😉
Congrats too!
[…] Day Three […]
[…] Day Three […]
I love that you did part of your honeymoon in the Bay Area! Love it! I live here! Napa is great, we were just there last week for the Napa Valley Marathon (where my bf actually took second place with a time of 2:25!). I guess I take this area for granted and never think of it as a vacation destination, but I’m glad others appreciate the beauty! So glad you went Bouchon in Yountville too! If you ever come back go to V.Sattui Winery in St Helena! Beautiful! The only thing your honeymoon was missing was a Trip to AT&T park to watch the SF Giants play (I’m a huge fan and it is a beautiful park). Sorry for the rant, I just get excited when I see people come to my end of the world! I look forward to reading more!
Thank you, Raquel! So envious that you live in the Bay Area! Congrats to your boyfriend on his rocking time at the marathon. It must have been so spectacular to run a race in Napa – that is definitely a new goal of mine! We actually wanted to visit V. Sattui but ran out of time. Our hope is that we can come back to SF/Napa sometime in the next couple of years, and if so we’ll all have to go to a SF Giants game. 🙂 I love when people get excited about where they live, so thank you for sharing!