San Francisco {Part 1}

We're on our 3rd leg of our trip...good ole' San Fran!

{read my other 2 recaps to catch up: Lake Tahoe and Napa Valley}

But, first, before I get into our San Francisco pictures and things we did, let me tell you about the town of Tiburon, where we were lucky enough to stay for 3 days while in the city. 

My girlfriend (and blogger!) Steph and I grew up together...we were on the swim team together, learned how to roller blade and ride bikes together, got grounded here and there together, and then she got really cool and adventurous and moved to NYC, and recently now lives in Tiburon. In fact, her and her boyfriend did the exact same trip I'm blogging about (she gave me the idea) and that is when they decided they wanted to move to San Francisco. So cool, right?

When I say they have an amazing, gorgeous place right on the water in Tiburon, I mean

they have an ah-mazing, gorgeous place right on the water. 

The town of Tiburon is located just north of San Francisco. 

It is accessible by ferry, or by car. We ended up just driving to and from San Francisco each day, and luckily, never hit any traffic so it was only about a 10 minute drive into the city. 

It is also 1 or 2 exits away from Sausalito. 

Both towns are very similar, but we preferred the town of Tiburon. 

Tiburon is filled with high end homes (look up Belvedere and you'll see price tags of up to 40 million dollars!) and upscale restaurants. They have a harbor area where you can get views of the Golden Gate bridge and see all of the sailboats. 

We are so thankful we got to stay at Steph and Brian's place!

Angel Island is located right across their back porch, and often you can spot sea lions and whales from their living room windows. We felt like we got the best of both worlds because we got to stay right outside the city in a nice town, but then also had quick access in and out of the city. It truly gave us a great experience of what living there would be like (um, bliss!), and obviously the views were just stunning.

 It's safe to say we miss it, a lot (thank you again, Steph).

Our first night in the city, we decided to explore Tiburon and have a nice dinner out with Steph and Brian at Sam's Cafe. We enjoyed drinks on their back porch and took in the amazing views. Billy and I couldn't stop talking about how nice their neighborhood was! 

The views from her back porch...

{Me and Steph}

For our first full day in San Fran, we stopped to get some coffee in Tib (each day we stopped at a different coffee shop to try them out!) and then got into the city by 10am, so that we could fit everything we wanted to do in. We booked an Alcatraz tour in advance (tip: you have to book weeks in advance-tickets will be sold out during the week you visit so don't wait to buy tickets!), and we wanted to explore the city before the tour.

Here's a look into our first full day and where we explored...

Chinatown

(the worlds largest Chinatown!)

Lombard Street

(the crookedest street in the world)

Fishermans Wharf & Pier 39

We ate lunch at Boudin's, which I would recommend for some amazing clam chowder in a bread bowl! Yum in the tum.

some random street views...

Then, it was time for our Alcatraz tour. 

Alcatraz is a must do (in our opinion). If you like history and self guided tours, then definitely make time to do it. We loved it! Plus, you get great views of the city from the boat.

 The tour takes about 2 hours (give or take) and they offer day and night tours.

The night tour would be cool, but since we wanted to eat out for dinner most nights (typical), we decided to do the day tour. 

Now, this is where things get fuzzy. My camera died after the tour and we were literally so tired from exploring the city all day, that we just stopped at a random place for dinner (il Fornaio-which is a chain restaurant, but was DELICIOUS!), made a stop at Ghirardelli Square for 2 of the BEST sundaes we have ever had, and went home in a happy food coma.

Part 2 coming soon...

San Francisco on Dwellable