After our first marathon day in San Fran, I knew we were off to a good start. If we'd had to leave right then and there, we would have been able to say we'd seen a lot. So it was with this relaxed attitude that we woke to conquer a second day in the city. And starting off with our beautiful old hotel stair case, the girls were on an adventure. We stayed near Union Square West which has a very downtown, working world kind of vibe and maybe not the best for just hanging out. So it helped that we found them a little convenience store breakfast and a playground near the Painted Ladies to begin things. They loved the views of the city and the swings. A win-win for sure.
We followed that with a little breakfast for Nacho and myself at Bacon Bacon just around the corner. Nacho discovered that place on one of his recent work trips where he's been hiking and walking all over the city. The girls didn't love their paprika-covered chicken strips, but I didn't blame them. The breakfast burrito was more palatable and the big red pig ride was a definite hit. I had to snap a photo. I had to snap a lot of photos on this trip. But really, when you are hitting sights like curvy Lombard Street or the seals at Pier 39, there are memories to be made and recorded. And yes, the seals stink. Elisa was no fan. But we spotted a few little ones hovering there in the masses and I think that was kind of cool for the girls to see. Pier 39 was also the spot of one of Elisa's more impressive tantrums of the trip. She didn't want to use the restroom with me and once I convinced her to come, she slammed the door closed in Carolina's face which set everything off. I scolded her and brought Carolina into the stall with us. Elisa refused to sit down and tried to recoil to the corner of the stall. I wasn't having it and in my attempt to get her to pull her pants down and sit on the toilet, my fingernail scratched her belly. OH MY GOD. You would have thought I stabbed her. It was the smallest of skin pricks, but it left a mortal flesh wound according to this 7 year old. Yeah, I'm that mean. I cut people with my fingernails. After some deep breaths and dealing with her sister, I returned to Elisa. She was just not in a mood to cooperate. But I let her know that we had a day of fun things planned and she could hop on board or go back to the hotel and nap. I think she opted for fun.
After the pier, we had a lunch date with my college friend Cale who lives in the city and works near our hotel. The girls were hungrier than we were so McDonald's was on the menu. But not just any McD's...this one had a gourmet burger option which was fine for Cale's slightly hungover mood. It was great seeing him again after our playdate in NYC last fall. I know for both of us parenthood has been a real change of life, so it's fun to see how we're both coping and to relive some of those zanier parts of our youth. After lunch, we walked through Chinatown on our way to the car and then drove towards Castro to catch a streetcar back towards the ferry building. The girls could not have been more excited to hop on these antique cars. Since Nacho had been talking about the fare with a local, Carolina caught on that kids 4 and under were free which prompted her to scream "I'm free! I'm free!" when we finally made it on. I died laughing. And that was probably the highlight of the afternoon. We rode the streetcar toward the end of the line, grabbed some ice cream and lunch for us at the Ferry Building and then took the roundtrip back to the car. The girls were noticeably tired from all the trekking so we drove for a bit checking out Lands End and the coast around Sutro Baths. It was getting cold and very windy, so time to pack it in. We grabbed a pizza again from Uncle Vito's near the hotel while Nacho took off towards Mission to get SF-style burritos for our dinner. The evening wound down early which was just fine by me. After two go-go-go days in the city, it felt nice to have a little time to eat and veg in our room. The girls loved the elevator with its bench and they especially seemed to thrill at drinking ginger ale from the comfort of their hotel bed. I think every family vacation needs to recognize these small thrills and honor that for kids, it's most likely what you didn't plan that they fall in love with. I try to embrace that. And I think for Days 1 and 2 that worked well. More to come!
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