I did learn pretty quick to not keep my map out. San Francisco definitely had the highest number of "helpful" people who were really excited to show you where to go, or guide you there themselves, or do pretty much whatever you wanted, as long as you gave them a tip. We did our best to look a little less touristy as quick as we could. We were staying at the same hotel as the team (not in a stalker way - that information was public knowledge on the official website) - the Westin St. Francis. It was a pretty nice hotel - nothing insane but nice. After we dumped our bags and rested for a bit, we decided to walk to Japantown. I had heard of Chinatown before this trip but I had never heard of Japantown so we thought it would be fun to check out.
The walk there was a little longer than I had anticipated and....interesting. The area around our hotel (Union Square) was pretty well kept and clean. However, the route we took between Union Square and Japantown showed a little more of San Francisco's more colorful nature. It was definitely interesting to get outside of the tourist area and see what other parts of the city looked like. Once we got to Japantown, we were really hungry so we looked around the different shops for a bit and tried to decide where we wanted to get some dinner. We ended up in this tiny little sushi restaurant that I don't think was technically open for the night yet but they didn't turn us away. We chose it because it didn't look like a chain and because they had this option on the menu posted outside that roughly translated into "let the chef decide". (No, we don't know Japanese - the menu had the translation printed on it. But it would've been fun to let you think that.) That sounded like a fun option so that's what we went for.
That dinner was AMAZING. This sushi chef was the best sushi chef I've ever encountered. Oh so good. And because he was just making us different rolls, small sushi pieces and sashimi based on what we said we like and what we'd be willing to try, we got to eat TONS of different things, most of them new to us. The cucumber fish salad he started us with was awesome - it had this great super vinegar-y dressing on it. Come to think of it, he might have just poured straight sushi vinegar on it. Either way, it was great. I can't remember anymore all of the different things he made for us but there were several kinds of raw salmon, a couple kinds of shrimp, and lots of other stuff. The weirdest thing he had us try was definitely sea urchin. The best way to describe that is...fish pudding. It was really different but probably not something I'd pick again except to impress whoever I'm with. :) We had a fun conversation with our sushi chef about why we were in town and our family and what else we should do while we were there.
Afterwards, I was so stuffed that I didn't want to try to walk all the way back to the hotel again. Plus it was getting dark and the walk there in the daytime freaked me out enough so Jacob was kind enough to hail a taxi. Taxis are weird. More on that later.
After another short rest in the hotel, we decided to go walk around and maybe do some shopping. There is a 5 or 6 story Macy's on Union Square, so we stopped in and I actually found a dress that I liked for $20!! We also walked around the hotel for a bit, just checking out the architecture and stuff. While we were walking around one of the lower floors, we had a surprise encounter with Bronco Mendenhall! I saw him first and I just froze. I started tugging on Jacob's arm to get his attention and being much more suave than me, he smiled and waved and said something about "good luck tomorrow". I pretty much just grinned and squealed under my breath until he was out of sight. So apparently, I'm one of THOSE fan-girls. Who knew? Looking back, I'm a little embarrassed but what was I supposed to do???? He's freaking BRONCO. Jacob sure had fun teasing me about it the rest of the night. :)
We ended up turning in early that night. Apparently all the Christmas celebrations and traveling caught up with us and we were pooped. We were actually already in bed when Jacob's brother and his wife got to the hotel so we were lame and told them we'd meet them for breakfast.
The next morning we headed first to breakfast at Sear's, which was just down the street for the hotel. It was my pick and the wait was longer than I wanted but I was glad everyone was willing to hang out and wait for it because it was awesome. Super good food and a fun, historical atmosphere. We were seated in the basement and it was funny to open the window next to our table and find...a brick wall. The buildings in San Francisco are kinda crazy like that. I got some kind of mini pancakes and both of the men got eggs benedict (which was apparently amazing eggs benedict), and my sister-in-law got corned beef hash. After our super yummy breakfast, we wanted to take the trolley to Fisherman's Wharf but when we went to go check out the line, it was well over an hour wait just to get on the trolley. That seemed like a waste of time right then, so we hailed another taxi. This taxi ride rivaled most roller coasters I've been on. But I've got to hand it to our driver - he got us there in one piece and FAST. But those San Francisco roads: scary.
The wharf was pretty cool - the ocean is pretty much always fun to look at. Our first stop was the sea lion colony. Who needs a zoo? We actually stayed and watched them for a while because it was just so random. Apparently these sea lions wouldn't stay off the wharf/pier (I don't know the correct nautical term) and it was really frustrating for all of the people who keep their boats there. So they built all these floating platforms in hopes that the sea lions would hang out there instead. Most of them do, but there were still a bunch sitting right next to people's boats, blocking the walkway. The sea lions were super loud and really funny - they either laid there like they were dead or were busy shoving the other sea lions off their platforms. While we were watching them, Dave McCann walked over! I played it a little cooler this time and just said hi but Jacob and Bret (his brother) actually talked to him for a few minutes. I seriously wouldn't have guessed I'd be such a silly fan-girl but there you go.
This also ended up being the closest Jacob and I got to the Golden Gate Bridge, so here's that.
After we were done with the sea lions, we went to the Aquarium of the Bay, which was right there on the wharf. It was a pretty cool aquarium - the best part was the tunnel you went through under all the tanks. We did get to see them feed one of the types of sharks, which was pretty cool. If we ever take our kids to San Francisco (seriously unlikely but you never know), I think we'd definitely take them to this place.
After that it was lunchtime! We looked at a couple of the seafood places and ended up at the Pier Market. Again, so, so yummy!! We also had a cool table with a really nice view of the bay. I think I got crab cakes and chowder and probably a milkshake (knowing me).
After our yummy lunch, we decided to walk around to the top of Lombard Street, also known as "the crookedest street in the world", and then walk down the street itself. It was quite the hike up those hills. Seriously - San Francisco is crazy. But there were some cool views and some cool looking houses. We got another good view of the Golden Gate Bridge and of Alcatraz.
That street was pretty funny. It's weird that people still actually live there. I wonder how annoying it is to constantly have tourist parading past your house and clogging up your street like that. I was really glad we decided to walk down instead of walk up or drive. The line to drive down was crazy long (it's one way so no driving up) and those stairs would have been brutal. I don't know that the pictures truly do the angle justice.
Chinatown was very, very cool. Lots of fun shops to look through. I was kinda sad that I wasn't more hungry because so much of that food looked amazing. We were specifically looking for this one bakery that our sushi chef had recommended. He said they only opened a couple of times a year for a couple of weeks at a time but he was pretty sure they were open that week and thought Jacob would love their egg custards. Honestly, we're not sure we found the place he was talking about but the bakery we found fit the description. We all picked something out and I think it's safe to say that Jacob liked the egg custards - he went back as we were getting ready to leave and bought all the rest of the custards they had in the case. :) We also stopped by a Swiss chocolate shop on our way back to the hotel so I got some yummy stuff for me too.
I hadn't really thought too hard about how we would get to the game. The stadium wasn't that far from the hotel and San Francisco is a big city with a lot of taxis. However when we left the hotel looking for a taxi, it was crazy out there. In the end we took a ride in an "unofficial" taxi. As best I could tell, it was just a guy with a nice car who offered to take us wherever we needed to go for more than a taxi would probably charge but we could leave right then without waiting in the long line for a taxi and for a flat rate. I personally felt a little weird about it but the rest of the group wanted to go so away we went. You know how that other taxi ride that day rivaled some roller coasters? This ride was way, way, way crazier. Seriously - this guy drove like he was in a much smaller and faster car than we were in. And it was dark and the traffic was heavier. So it was worse than most rollercoasters, but in the dark too. But we still made it in one piece so all's well that ends well I guess.
Once we got into the stadium, we did have a little trouble finding our seats. We had to ask several ushers and finally got directed down into one of the tunnels beneath the seats, which seemed weird. Then when we got to the door we were told to go out of to get to our seats, there were people blocking the way. Jacob asked them what was up and they said that we had to wait while the team went to the field. WHAAAA? I'll wait to watch that! So we got to be in the tunnel and cheer for our Cougars as they ran onto the field. That was seriously cool. Then we got out to our seats and found out they were FRONT ROW END ZONE. Bret had booked them but hadn't been able to find our seat numbers on the stadium map. So we figured they were weird seats but front row end zone was really unexpected but completely awesome. The game was super, super fun even though BYU lost. It was so cool to be that close to the team and to just be there to watch them play.
I came back from a bathroom break toward the end of the game and found my seat usurped by a slightly older woman and several other women. I cracked a joke about it but said it was fine if they wanted to hang out there too since I would be standing the rest of the game anyway. The woman apologized and said she wanted to get closer to see her son when he left the field. I asked who her son was and she said "Oh, I'm J.D.'s mom." So I got to talk to J.D. Falslev's mom - and I didn't go all speechless fan-girl!! So apparently I can handle talking to people's moms. :) She was pretty emotional, which makes sense since this was his last game. It was a funny possible flash forward for me since we're hoping our kids will get into sports. I'm sure that last game after years of practices and camps and games will be an emotional one for sure.
We ended up staying pretty late after the game ended to cheer for the players as they left the field. Yes, we were those fans who stayed until they started turning the lights out and the ushers had to come ask us to leave the stadium. But it was such a fun and different experience that I loved every second of it. We ended up walking back to the hotel since I was the most incapacitated once and I felt up for it. I did request that we stop at Burger Bar in the giant Macy's store for a Twinkie shake but when we got up there, the waitress said they didn't have it! I was sad. So we tipped for our water and left because nothing else sounded good that late at night. I was sad BYU lost and sad about no Twinkie shake but overall very happy over the fun and eventful day we'd had.
Jacob and I left the next morning after a quick breakfast. We just ate at the hotel restaurant, which was still pretty good. We had an uneventful trip back to the airport and flight back to Phoenix. I was really glad Jacob was then willing to do the drive back up to Cottonwood to get the kids because I was so tired that I fell asleep on the way. The kids were pretty happy to see us until we told them it was time to go home (they LOVE being at their Aunt Kathy's house) but they still decided to come home with us anyway.
It was a fun, crazy, quick trip, and probably the last overnight trip Jacob and I will get for a quite a while. I'm very grateful that we got to experience part of it with Bret and Tevia - it was lots of fun hanging out with them. And I'm very grateful that Kathy and Jimmy were willing to take on our crazys for the two, almost three, days we were gone. I'm very hopeful that I get to attend another bowl game sometime soon. We're hoping the 2014 one will be in San Diego so we can drive to it and maybe even take the kids.
My overall impressions on San Francisco is that the best thing was the food. I had some of the best food I've ever tasted there. The rest of the city was just kinda crazy to me and not what I'd call family-friendly. But I'm glad that I got to visit there and see the things I did. If you stuck with this post to the end, good for you - I know it was a long one for such a short trip!
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