The Little Things: Spring Break 2010 Destination: San Francisco

We've been highly anticipating our trip to SF for months now. It's probably our most favorite city in the nation with its coastal view, perfect weather and healthy living. Val got a chance to visit her former UC Berkeley campus for the first time in almost ten years, and yes, we indulged ourselves in the city's culinary offerings. Oh, how we ate.

Day 1: North Beach & Fisherman's Wharf

Sotto Mare in North Beach has some of the best cioppino in San Francisco. The dish originally kept warm hungry Italian fishermen on the high seas in the late 1800s. North Beach, until the 1980s, had traditionally been known as the 'Little Italy' of San Francisco. Too bad that our hotel didn't provide us with a topographical map of the city because we chose possibly the steepest route we could to find get to this place. The workout certainly helped our appitites, though! The broth was rich and complex and tasted as if it'd been simmering for an entire day, so it was a wonder that the chef literally prepared our meal in 20 minutes or under. The seafood was fresh and its tenderness provided a nice texturural contrast to the crusty bread we used to sop up that amazing broth.

Fresh dungeness crab, clams, squid, shrimp and scallops.

Sourdough crab.

"Oh, helllll no, you didn't just try to take my sourdough..."

Dude. The mirror maze at the Fisherman's Wharf is a trip. They give you a pair of latex gloves because it's that much of a mindfuck. So much that there's a very good chance that you'll smack right into a wall and smudge up the fun for everyone else. Our advice? Tread carefully.

Tasting California wines. On a side note, have y'all seen "Bottle Shock"? You should. It's a pretty good film about the day that California wine matched French Wine.

You Cali folks is crazy. In n' Out is not big pimpin'. Can we say McDonald's big brother? Pass.

Day 2: Union Square, Berkeley, the Mission

Union Square

Wow, public transportation in SF is the shit. We didn't have to drive once. We either walked, took the BART or a streetcar and maybe a taxi here or there. We wished we could SF's public transportation home with us to Houston. Maybe then Houstonions could shed that much needed pound or three.

Shopping in Union Square. We thought we'd go more ape shit than we actually did; we came back with one shopping bag a piece. The Zara was ginormous, and the H&M was overwhelming. Self-restraint = $ in the bank.

Crazy flowers straight out of a Dr. Seuss book.

-Berkeley-

So when Val was a student a UC Berkeley, the question was: Blondie's or Fat Slice? Val was always a Blondie's fan, but her time at Berkeley was almost a decade ago. Was she merely glorfying the Blondie's experience in her own mind or was it really just that good? We took the BART to Berkeley and found out for ourselves. We brought our slices of goodness up to the UC Berkeley Campanile, which was Val's favorite place to study or nap back in the day.

Blondies?

or Fat Slice?

Definitely Blondie's. Thin, crispy crust, sweet sauce. Sorry, Dawn!

Blondies:

Fat Slice:

We capped off the night by meeting Andy in the Mission for fancy beers and drunken talk about politics and how much James Cameron's "Avatar" blows. (We're glad you agree with us, Andy). Then, armed with a couple of 40s, Andy took us up on top of a hill to see an amazing view of SF at night. Straight gangsta.

Day 3: Lombard Street, Golden Gate Bridge & Chinatown

The next day, we were pretty hungover and craving something greasy. Seeing as our hotel was in the Fisherman's Wharf, it was fairly easy to succumb to one of the many tourist traps set up around our lodgings. And we did. In our case, we fell prey to the street seafood vendors on the Wharf. While the shrimp roll and fried clams/shimp pictured here look pretty damned good, they were really very bad. They'd probably been sitting out for a while because all were fishy tasting :(. Just say no to Fisherman's Wharf tourist traps, kids. Try your local Long John Silver's for better sea fare.

The seagulls seemed to enjoy our food, though.

Lombard Street, the most crooked street in the world.

View of SF from atop Lombard.

We thought it would be romantic to walk across the Golden Gate at sunset. Little did we know that there aren't any taxis on the other end. Of course we figued this out 1.4 miles later across the bridge. We ended up having to call one over from Sausalito, walking beside for the freeway for a while, and meeting the taxi at the next exit. Think Frogger. The view was stunning, though.

Windy.

Remember...there is hope.

Chinatown. Musicians outside our Hong Kong restaurant.

Prawns and vegetables in a nest.

Day 4: Muir Woods & Sonoma Wine Country

Muir Woods really blew us away. Its one of the last surviving old growth redwood forests on the Pacific Coast and is dedicated to the legacy of John Muir, founder of the Sierra Club. This is totally an understatement, but these trees are enormous! Adult trees can grow to be as much as 2.5 times taller than the Statue of Liberty. They've adapted to absorb moisture from the Pacific fog directly through their needles. An adult tree in fact can absorb as much as 1500 gallons of water per week.

This redwood lived an entire century!

Sonoma

After visiting the vineyards of Sonoma County, considered the birthplace of wine in California, we found ourselves wanting to quit law school and work as field hands. This is the Larson Family Vineyard. We purchased their award winning Pinot Noir, which was our favorite wine of the entire day:

"Our Carneros Pinot Grigio is a crisp, clean, dry style of Pinot Grigio. The grapefruit, green apple, and white peach aromas are complemented by fresh citrus, peach, grapefruit, honeydew melon and lime flavors. The cool Carneros climate produces a naturally balanced wine which will age well in years to come. Enjoy this wine with all foods; it is outstanding, fresh and clean. No oak, no ML fermentation."