30 Hours in San Francisco, California - USA

While trying to plan an overseas holiday you will find there’s just not enough time to see everything, to do everything, to eat everything you want to. Sadly for us, San Francisco wasn’t a city we were able to explore immensely. We were lucky enough to visit the city not just once but twice though, but both as day trips.

The Bay Bridge

The first day trip to San Fran was completely unexpected. As mentioned in an earlier post, my family from Sacramento drove Biggie and I to this gorgeous city which was only about 1.5 hours drive away. Our first pitt stop was at this beautiful spot with a great view of The Bay Area. We stopped by Pho Garden for brunch, only to get our energy going for a long day of sight seeing (and eating, sort of).

Lombard Street – the crooked road and the view from Lombard Street

You can’t not visit Lombard Street when visiting San Fran. It is a one way street that descends. Yes you can drive down Lombard Street, yes people actually live on that street and yes there is a pathway to walk down (or up, if you’re daring). Whilst walking down the crooked road, you are faced with San Fran’s beauty with a sea of stunning white houses, which reminds me of the houses in Full House (and it used to be my favourite tv show!)

Alcatraz

Another infamous spot is Pier 39. Usually there is an abundance of Sea Lions just lazing around on the wharfs, however, there were very few of them this time around. Not sure why that was. You also get a pretty decent view of Alcatraz from the Pier.

Donut Bucket from Trish’s Mini Donuts

My nieces and cousin raved on about this place. Oh boy, a donut never tasted so good. It was the perfect bite size, light, fluffy, airy, had a bit of a crust on the outside, and well coated with cinnamon sugar which the heat let absorb in. The bucket was empty before we knew it!

San Francisco NFL Merchandise

There was an official NFL Merchandise store and Biggie was loving it. You see, our initial plan was to go to San Fran just for a NFL game. More on that a bit later…

Just a hilarious sign I saw. Hahaha.

Boudin Bakery

Amazing to think of what chefs can create using just bread – lobsters,crabs, (burnt) alligators, turtles and octopi. It looks carbalicious.. I mean delicious!!

Another must thing to do when in San Fran is to have clam chowder in a sour dough bread bowl down at Fisherman’s Wharf. It is a thick creamy based soup filled with clams and slow cooked vegetables. Sadly it wasn’t as tasty as I remember it to be all those 7 years ago, but it was so comforting to eat warm food on such a cold day (yes, cold, despite the clear blue skies). And the sour dough bread bowl – it’s a winner every time.

The Golden Gate Bridge

We were lucky enough to have clear skies to see the gorgeous bridge, however, minutes after this photo was taken, the clouds came rushing past and the bridge wasn’t to be seen! Amazing how weather changes so suddenly there.

Obligatory jump shot =D

Our second visit to San Fran was planned, however we were only dropping in to watch a NFL game on a Sunday night and then flying back to family the following morning (all just for the boy =P). We watched the San Francisco 49ers VS Detroit Lions at Candlestick Park. I’ve never experienced such an amazing sporting atmosphere. Despite not knowing what was going on, you could really see the passion that these fans had, for both the home and away teams. Words cannot even describe how it felt to be part of such a huge crowd. The 49ers won the game 27-19, woo hoo!

Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich

Whilst at a football game, food is just as important as booze. I love the fact that there is much more on offer than what you see here in Australia at a sporting event. There are independently owned food stalls that operate within the kitchens on the grounds. Sadly because of the mad rush and long queues, I wasn’t able to note the names of each of the stores. I tell you what though, everything was great tasting grub food.

The philly cheese steak sandwich was amazing in everyway. The steak was flavoursome, the veggies helped cut back the richness of the meat and sauce, and the bun was amazingly soft. It must be that cheese sauce that wins my heart though because it’s just so moreish.

Nachos with a side of salsa and pickles

There’s that cheese sauce again – it’s so damn good! Sadly the beef on these nachos were rather dry, but the salsa and cheese sauce made up for it.

Garlic Fries

Oh my word. No really, these are the best garlic fries you will ever eat! They look porn worthy too! The chips aren’t on the cruncy side, but rather are soft and delicate. It felt like they were steamed or poached because they were incredibly velvety and it melted in your mouth. It may look like there is plenty of garlic and there was, but it wasn’t overpowering at all. It had been poached or confit prior which reduced the pungent flavour and instead gave it a rich, subtle flavour. If you don’t already know hot chips are my weakness and these garlic fries made my knees weak.

Unfortuantely that was majority of the things I did during my 30 hour visit to San Fran. I didn’t even get to visit any food trucks or go bike riding around the city. I definitely will be returning again soon and this time, I’ll make sure I allocate at least 5 days for this gorgeous city.

As many say, they left their hearts in San Fran. And I have to admit, I did too.

Trish’s Mini Donuts

Boudin Bakery

http://www.boudinbakery.com/

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