Tom & Ashley visit San Francisco!
My cousin, Tom & his oldest daughter (oldest of his 6 kids!), Ashley, came to visit for a whirlwind 24 hours. They’re both from Warsaw, Indiana – where my Mom grew up and where all of my Aunts, Uncles & cousins still live.
Tom is my oldest cousin, and Ashley is the oldest of all of her cousins! She’s 18 and just graduated high school and is off to college – Congrats Ash!
It was their first time in San Francisco, or even seeing the Pacific Ocean, and my first time ever having one of my cousins – or any of my Indiana family members, for that matter – come & visit me out here! *hint hint* :)
Here’s what we did for the 24 hours they were here:
- Sunday afternoon I picked them up from the airport
- Dropped off their stuff, showed them my place, introduced them to my kitty Kazoo, had Ashley change from shorts to jeans… because there’s only so many days a year you can wear shorts in SF, believe it or not. :)
- Went to a late lunch at Papalote – tacos, burritos & the best salsa ever.
- Walked up & down Valencia St. (Mission District), where we stopped at several awesome little shops:
- 826 Valencia – pirate store!
- Paxton Gate – taxidermy, succulents & airplants
- Little Otsu
- Curiosity Shoppe
- Got back in the car, drove down beautiful Dolores St (lined with palm trees), past Dolores Park and kept driving all the way over to the Haight-Ashbury and then through Golden Gate Park and all the way to Ocean Beach!
- After spending some time on the beach, we drove up and around the Legion of Honor/Land’s End area, where we took a few more pics! (also, see interactive photos of this area)
- Then we drove over the Golden Gate Bridge and through Sausalito, an adorable little town on the north coast of the bay that looks over to San Francisco.
- Driving back we stopped at the Palace of Fine Arts for a few pics, then down Chestnut Street & Union Street (cute neighborhood shopping/restaurants)
- Up and over through North Beach – SF’s Little Italy – and down past the Transamerica building, through Chinatown, Union Square (shopping district with bigger stores like Nordstrom’s, Macy’s, etc)
- And then drove back near my house, in Bernal Heights, for dinner at Emmy’s Spagetti Shack! yumm!
(Google Maps unf. maxed out after this :)
Monday morning we woke up, had soy lattes & got ready…
- First going to breakfast at St. Francis Fountain… also very yumm & one of my favs. :)
- After breakfast we headed down the Embarcadero, along the water & under the Bay Bridge, over to Fisherman’s Wharf
- Purchased tickets for a boat ride out on the water, under the Golden Gate Bridge and around the island of Alcatraz! It was a little chilly as we got to the bridge, but overall the trip was very nice!
- After the boat ride around the bay, we walked down Pier 39, did a little shopping, & then had lunch before taking them to the airport for their flight!
What a fun trip! :) Thanks for taking the time to come & visit me you two! I look forward to going back to Warsaw & visiting you all again soon.
Click here to view all the photos from their trip to San Francisco!
Click here to subscribe to my feed (also available via email)!
Tell your cousin “Boiler Up!” for your friend who went to Purdue.
Warsaw – you have to be kidding me! I was born and raised in Crawfordsville, Indiana. :D
Dude! I want to spend 24 hours with you in SF! You must be the most awesome tour guide! I’ll be there the long weekend of BlogHer and maybe we’ll meet up :)
PS. Love Sausalito!
@victoria – wow, I knew I liked you for some reason! :p
@imelda – have fun at BlogHer!
you are THE BEST tour guide! I don’t do that much in SF in a whole week!
You’re adorable!