Tis a sad day

We're leaving San Fransisco today. In fact, we're in the airport right now. We've had such a great time and I'm looking forward to posting all our pictures.

We explored fisherman's wharf, chinatown, japantown, market street, union square, the embarqadero, the aquarium of the bay, golden gate park, the pacific, the bus system, the subway, the street cars, taxis, two hotels, and just about every ethnic cuisine possible. I would say we did San Fransisco up right.
And I'm looking forward to visiting again!

Oops. I just can't help myself

So Chase and I visited  Japantown..... and I couldn't stop myself.... They had mochi balls.... with red bean paste centers...... and it was covered in sesame seeds. So we got a box! And Chase has already eaten two. :-) They are delicious. Oh, update... Chase just ate his third mochi ball. He goes "don't mind if I do."

It's only 9:30 and we're bushed. Imma gonna he to hit the sack. We have a very big day ahead of us.

Chinatown in the day....

Mission:Accomplished

The bakery was still in the same spot and they had red bean paste cakes! Score!

because I love anything with calories....

We probably don't need this many ornaments...

Chase's ornament of choice.

This picture is so meta (that's my new pencil bag, btw)

Yay for a cable car ornament!

Breakfast of Champions

The three of us walked around the corner to grab a bite to eat for breakfast before Chase and Nancy went over to the conference. Chase got a breakfast burrito and I got a croissant b-fast sammitch. It was so good and so pretty..... I took a picture of it.

I need a drool rag when I look at this....

It had spinach, mushrooms, onions, red bell pepper, green onions, and cheese all wrapped up in egg with a different cheese in a croissant. I'm getting hungry all over again, just describing it.

I think it's safe to say Chase enjoyed his breakfast burrito.

Any city that feeds me well has a special place in my heart. San Fran is right up there with DC, Wellington and pretty much every city I visited in Japan. Sometimes I think I need to chuck this SLP thing and just be a traveling foodie. Maybe I'll just do both. That way my heart and my belly are satisfied instead of one over the other.

Speaking of cheese.... on our travel day out here...I had at least five different types of cheese.

Here's the rundown: American, feta, mozzarella, swiss and cheddar. God bless cheese. And thank God I'm not lactose intolerant. So here's how the cheese came to me. For breakfast in the airport I had a bagel sandwich with egg and cheese. I'm thinking it was American - or processed something or other. But whatever - it was cheese. Then, for lunch in the airport for our layover in Minnesota, we had a Greek salad (feta) with a flatbread pizza that had fresh mozzarella and probably shredded mozzarella. There were two cheeses on the pizza, I think the shredded one was mozzarella. For dinner, my grilled cheese had swiss and cheddar. I think I consumed 5,000 calories in cheese alone on Monday. Oops. Maybe I'll walk it off on the streets and parks of SF. Probably not. I can't stop stuffing my face with all this delicious food.

I feel like Bubba rattlin' off types of shrimp, but instead it's cheese that holds a special place in my tummy.

Well, I think I'm going to do a little walking around Chinatown and try to find that bakery I passed last night. A pastry with red bean paste inside would be just divine.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Chinatown

At the Oriental Pearl.....mmm-mmmm

After Chase's conference, we walked over to Chinatown and had a great dinner. Chase's co-worker, Nancy joined us. We went to a restaurant recommended by the hotel staff and really enjoyed it. I convinced the table to get the three course meal for two and split everything that came. And it was a lot of food.

It started off with a dim sum combination. Since no one else liked shrimp, it was my lucky day. I got the shrimp dim sum and Nancy and Chase had a pork and beef dim sum. Then we had hot and spicy soup, cashew chicken, sweet and sour pork and probably the best fried rice I've ever had. It had diced pieces of ham in it, SHRIMP, chopped up bits of green beans and identifiable pieces of egg too! I was so impressed with the quality of food. And it all came out in stages and they served it to us, cleared our plates, brought us new ones... It was pretty fun. And I loved the variety. It sure beat ordering one thing. My belly was happy.

Chinatown's shops are huge.

After dinner, we visited a couple shops and picked up a souvenir or two. I got a little prezzie for my niece that I know her parents will love. tehehehe. It makes noise.... I hope it becomes Grace's favorite. ;-D And I got an ornament for our Christmas tree (it's a cable car!) and on our way out, Chase spotted this elaborate tassel with little coins wrapped together that he wanted to make an ornament too. I'll have to take a picture of it.... maybe later. I also got a new pencil bag. The one I bought in Germany in 2000 is slowly but surely falling apart. I've been in the market for one and came across a very colorful one in a flea market. Perfect! Now I can reminisce everyday of grad school about the awesome vacay we took...

The Chinatown gate at night

We're in San Fransisco!!

Whaaaaaaa? I know, I know. It's kinda random. You see, Chase's work sent him to a conference out here and Rhonda used her sky miles to send me out with him! We're going on a little vacation.... right in the middle of my grad school semester. Needless to say, I'm pretty nervous about missing school and clinic for the week (my professors take attendance - of all things!!). But how can you pass up an opportunity to visit SAN FRANSISCO?!?

Our flights out here were nice and uneventful - just how I like my travel days. We sat next to a local on the plane and ended up sharing a cab into the city. She gave us great tips and places that we couldn't miss while in the city. And most importantly - her favorite restaurants. We were going to visit one of them for dinner last night.... but ended up ordering room service. Can you believe it?! I felt so luxurious ordering room service. And it was stinkin' delicious. I got pumpkin soup with grilled cheese (on sourdough bread, of course) and Chase got a ridiculously delicious burger that had sauteed grape tomatoes, mixed greens, garlic aioli and mozzarella cheese.

Then we passed out for the night. Our room faces the street and were occasionally woken during the night by garbage trucks, and other sounds of the city. I usually hate to be woken up in the night, but I'm going with it. I tell myself this is a cosmopolitan experience and to be grateful I have a view of something other than the brick wall of the building next to us! Nothing will rain on my San Fransisco parade! Not even the rain! I will march myself outside and DANCE IN IT, DAMN IT!

Our hotel for the duration of the conference is AWESOME! It's got this vintage vibe going on that I adore. This hotel just oozes personality. Plus they have a complimentary wine bar hour. They had me at free wine. And GOOD free wine too. San Fransisco is so good to me. I made Chase laugh the other night when I told him I was "with my people." We were commenting on all the eco-friendly policies of the hotel and how this city is full of tree-hugging hippies. That's when I said with relish - ahhh, I am with my people.

Well, it's our first morning in the city and Chase has left to attend his conference. I am going to get some school work done and then find a grocery store for some breakfast items. I can't have too much fun without him, so I'm taking it easy today. I didn't get married to have adventures on my own! Nope, I got married to share all these amazing adventures with my honey-pie. And in an awesome twist of fate - he's the reason we're having this adventure. :-)