Hi friends, welcome back! At the end of March Jon and I made a quick, day and a half trip to San Francisco to attend a friend’s wedding. The groom, Eddie, was one of Jon’s groomsmen and they were roommates in NYC and LA after college. In hindsight we should’ve given ourselves an extra day or two out west, but we made the most of our time with some tasty food and sightseeing. Jon and I flew out of NYC late Friday morning and the flight time was 6.5 hours. We were also delayed half an hour on the runway, so it felt like an extra long flight. When we landed in SF it was overcast and rainy so we just checked into our hotel in the Financial District and enjoyed some March Madness. A benefit to being on the West Coast was the games weren’t so late. We stayed at the Hyatt in the Financial District and it was a nice, recently renovated room. I thought the interior of the hotel was pretty neat too.
For dinner we were craving some cozy ramen and Hinodeya Ramen & Bar hit the spot! We both ordered the Spicy Miso Ramen and opted for takeout because we were tired from our travel day.
The following morning was beautiful, so we decided to go for a walk and see some of the iconic sights we didn’t see when we flew out of SF on our honeymoon. We started in Chinatown to see the Dragon Gate.
We then made our way over to Lombard Street and the hills were no joke! I was breaking a little sweat on our outing.
Hanger was starting to approach so we stopped into Il Casaro Pizzeria for some delicious Neapolitan style pizza. We both ordered our go-to Diavola and it was just what we needed.
On our way back to the hotel we tried to avoid some hills and walked along the water and onto the pier near the Ferry Building.
We also realized the iconic cable car boarded next to our hotel, but we didn’t have time to ride it.
Jon and I relaxed a bit and then freshened up for the wedding. The wedding was our first Chinese wedding and we were looking forward to the experience. The dinner was held at Harborview Restaurant & Bar right next to our hotel. It started with a cocktail hour and then the dinner was ten courses served family style. The table had a lazy Susan in the middle so it made it easy for everyone to serve themselves. The meal was so delicious and we were all stuffed! They brought out takeaway containers, but sadly everyone from our table was from out of town. This was a few of the courses at the end, I resisted the urge to take pictures as long as I could 😊
Instead of dancing after, the newlyweds rented out an arcade for their afterparty. They provided uber codes and seemingly endless quarters – very generous! I rediscovered how terrible I am at skee-ball so I stuck to the pinball machines and had better luck. We wanted to stay longer, but with the time change and early flight the next morning we headed out earlier than most. We definitely regretted not giving ourselves an extra day, but you live and you learn.
Our flight home was a lot better. We were in the air about 4.5 hours and I think they changed the plane so we ended up in Comfort plus seats in a two person row. I was able to stream March Madness on the plane so I stayed entertained. This quick trip really wiped us out, but we had a great time!
SF and the Bay area are amongst our favourite places in the U.S. We got to know it pretty well when our son got his Masters at Berkeley. Alas, it has been a while since we have been there. Thanks for sharing your visit. Looks like you had great weather and more than a few great memories. Happy Monday Lyssy. Allan
That is a nice place to get a Masters! We did have a perfect day for strolling around. SF felt a lot safer than how it’s portrayed on the news during the day, but at night in our Uber we definitely saw some shady things. Every big city has their problems.
What a fab weekend
We had a great weekend!
Cool
Wow! What an intensely-short time in SF, especially coming from the East Coast! I had a four-day visit to SF in the spring, and even that trip felt a bit packed. All the same, I’m glad you still got to do a lot in town, all the while attending a wedding! The Hyatt lobby looks almost identical to the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, and it’s nice to stay in a comfy hotel. Thanks for sharing your quick trip to SF!
I think it might be faster to fly to London ha! Jon goes to SF for work every once in a while, so he just wanted to go in and out for the wedding. It was also a week after Miami so we were tired haha. The hotel was a great place for a good nights sleep!
I guess if you’ve been before, but I’d have wanted more. Amazing what you can see in a day though. Was that Bay Bridge view from your hotel? Happy days!
We did see a lot! I would’ve loved to visit the botanical garden if we had another day. Good eye, that is the Bay Bridge from our window.
😁🩵
You certainly managed to fit a lot into your short trip…
We sure did! I like to see it all 🙂
Cross country trip in a weekend……challenging. I am surprised you got in as much as you did. You packed in a lot. We did Japan town our last trip instead of Chinatown which we did years before. Your statement made me laugh……”we tried to avoid hills”…..What???? Oxymoron in San Francisco.
I always wondered if we could do London in a weekend, but I don’t think I could after SF. Would love to do a little food craw in Japan town. We did manage to go around some hills haha
We lived in the Marina District our first year out of college. I miss those iconic views of the Bay and SF landmarks (the photo from the top of Lombard across to Coit Tower is a classic). The Hyatt Embarcadero was designed by a Notre Dame graduate (John Portman) so of course I studied it during the pursuit of my own degree. The open lobby on up to the several floors of hotel rooms is amazing. Here’s a coincidence: we went to NYC on a whirlwind weekend when we lived in SF – red-eye flights and little sleep just to celebrate my wife’s nephew’s one-year-old birthday. Brought a smile how you and Jon basically did the same trip, only in reverse.
There are some great skyline views in SF! I really enjoyed the design of the hotel, and the glass elevators so I could see it as we went up. That is some dedication to fly cross country for a birthday party, I draw the line at weddings ha! It’s a tough journey no matter which way you go. It was a bit of a bummer to lose all Easter Sunday.
That sounds like such a fun weekend but I am boggled by the cross country trip for just a weekend. I mean, I get why but it seems like that time change must have been brutal…
We were also in Miami the week before, so we wanted to go to the wedding and get home. The time change wasn’t too bad because we weren’t there long enough to adjust. It was tough losing all Sunday traveling.
What fab photos. Makes me want to return to SF!
Thank you! Hopefully you spend more time there than we did 🙂
Ah to be back in an RV going up the Calif coast and having adventures 🙂
Definitely worth the flight over as you managed to fit in some sightseeing too. I’ve never heard of an arcade after party but it sounded great fun for a change.
That’s a long flight and short visit, but it seems like it was worth it to attend the wedding!
What a fun trip in a beautiful city and the arcade idea is genius!
In a big city like San Francisco, it’s possible to spend a few hours and see some interesting things as you did. Ideally, it’s best to have already visited the city in greater depth to take full advantage of these short visits. After several stays of several days, I had the opportunity to spend just one day there between two flights, which enabled me to act as a guide for my fellow travellers who didn’t know the city.
Ah Lyssy, San Francisco has been on my wish list pretty much my whole life. And you’ve certainly served up plenty of reminders as to why I shouldn’t forget about it. Why can’t someone I know have a wedding there? And preferable pay for flights and accommodation ha ha. It looks like you made great use of your short time with fantastic food (duh) and very decent digs. Really, that’s the window view I’d want too.
I love your photos from San Francisco, Lyssy, and I am glad to see that you made the most of your time in the city. While I would mostly enjoy the thrill of rocketing down a steep street, I would probably shudder at the thought of ascending a road that seems to climb into the clouds! I am in awe of their steep streets! Thanks for sharing, and have a good day 🙂 Aiva xx
Great photos. I hope to visit SF soon
I had a day of sightseeing in SF when I was nearby for work. They dropped us off by bus around 8 am and picked us up around 6 pm. I saw Lombard and Chinatown as well as the seaport/ wharf area. One day truly is not enough.