San Francisco/Sonoma Vacation – Day 1

So bad news… Vacation is over. *Sob* Thankfully – we had a great time and are taking some great memories home with us!

As I previously recapped… We started our trip in San Francisco. We crashed the night before in a hotel super close to the airport – Bay Landing Hotel. If you are flying into SFO on a late flight or need to crash somewhere before an early flight I HIGHLY recommend this hotel. It cost us $100/night and includes breakfast, parking, and wifi.

Around 9 we checked out and headed downtown towards Fisherman’s Wharf and Pier 39. We hit a little traffic going into the city but easily found parking once we got there. We walked around for a few hours and checked out Fisherman’s Wharf…

Hyde St. Pier…

There’s Alcatraz

Ghirardelli Square…

And then walked back to Pier 39….

It was an absolutely gorgeous day. The weather was in the 60s with NO clouds or fog.

After sight seeing we headed to Sausalito for lunch — crossing over the Golden Gate Bridge on the way.

Does that ever get old??

We also drove through some hills. We need more hills in Florida.

Lunch in Sausalito was…interesting. It’s a VERY beautiful place, but also a little on the snooty side. We ate a Scoma’s and got some looks for having the kids with us (the patrons NOT the waitstaff, they were VERY accommodating). Thankfully, they were very, very well behaved. The food was pretty good – we started with calamari (and a processo for me!) for lunch I had the seared scallop salad, Dan had an ahi tuna sandwich, and the kids went with fish & chips.

After Sausalito we headed out to Sonoma. The ride was sooooo beautiful. I could not stop taking pictures! We arrived at our hotel (The Best Western Sonoma Inn) and relaxed for a bit before L and I had to head out for the rehearsal at the Winery.

The ceremony was located on this hill in the middle of B.R. Cohn’s vineyards — so we had to drive out through the vineyards to get there. The wedding planner and winery coordinator kept saying how absolutely gorgeous it was. Even 2 weeks before the vines weren’t as a lush and it wasn’t as green. My pictures really can’t capture it’s beauty. You guys all need to head out to Sonoma and see if for yourself!

The rehearsal took maybe 15 minutes (even though I could have hung out there all day) and then we headed back to get ready for the welcome party!

The welcome party was held at the El Dorado Kitchen – this adorable little restaurant/hotel in Sonoma Square. Most of the guests were able to make it to the welcome party – so it’s like we went to 2 receptions. So fun! It was open bar (I stuck with wine) and they served mini dungeness crab cakes, friend green tomatoes, carpaccio, pulled porked sliders, pizza, french fries, and chicken fingers — oh, and course cake!

The groom went to FSU, the bride went to UF — they are a house divided!

It was a fun night – I got to catch up with several of my brother’s (and Christina’s) friends and hang out with my family. Oh, and apparently L charmed the pants off the bartender by handing him a dollar and asking for a glass of milk. My girl knows what she wants!!

After we were all full (and most likely a little tipsy) we walked back to our hotel room and crashed (the party continued — my brother’s friends DEFINITELY know how to party!). It was the end of a great first (full) day.

Up next — the wedding!