San Francisco Day 7: Total Bliss

We woke up on Saturday and ate breakfast at the hotel restaurant, Trace. It was good, albeit over $50 for just Ben and me. We left Nick to his own devices as Ben and I had massages scheduled at Bliss spa at the W. I absolutely was counting the seconds to this massage and it did not disappoint. My therapist, Dennis was great. The spa has cheese, brownies, tea and spa water in the lounge.

After our treatments, we checked out the pool and hot tub area which is outside of the spa and is a common area for all guests. Unfortunately, it was full of small kids and the acoustics were terrible, with every child's scream at ear-piercing decibels. I was determined to get in the hot tub, kids or no, but when we turned on the jets, nothing happened. We were basically left sitting in a tub of hot water. With splashing, screaming kids. Needless to say, we left.

We decided to find Nick and go ahead and do a little walking as it was a gorgeous day, the warmest we had in San Francisco. The W isn't located in the most happening area of the city and we had to walk quite a ways to find anything, finally stopping at an Irish Pub for a light lunch. We walked back to the W to change for our dinner at Gary Danko.

This was our last dinner of the trip and we definitely ended on a high note. The service and atmosphere was excellent and the food very good. I chose the 3 course meal and Ben the 4 course so that we could split the seafood course. I started with the lobster salad and Ben got the ahi tuna. I loved my salad and Ben said the tuna was good, but drenched in an acidic sauce.

The second course was the scallops which we split, and they were huge and buttery, melt in your mouth.

For the main course we both got the filet which came with duck confit potatoes which Ben didn't care for but I loved. The steak was good--cooked perfectly to medium and very enjoyable.

For dessert, I got the chocolate souffle which was heaven and Ben got the cherry flambe dessert that they prepare tableside, very dramatic and also delicious.

Our bar that night was a total surprise from Nick. We took a cab to the Tenderloin to a speakeasy called Bourbon and Branch. Nick had to give the girl at the door a password to get in. Since I was carrying my dainty dinner purse, I had not carried my ID but thankfully she let us in anyway. No cameras were allowed so I have no pictures but it is apparently a place which was a true speakeasy back in the days of prohibition. Pretty cool! The drinks were strong and we were tired so after one round we called it a night and thus ended our wonderful trip.

We loved San Francisco and everything we did and saw there.  One day we would like to drive up Highway One along the southern California coast and end that trip with a couple of nights in San Francisco.  It will be great to be back.  Goodbye for now San Francisco!

San Francisco Day 6: Napa Valley

Breakfast the next morning was pastries from Bouchon which were delicious. Ben got the famous chocolate macaroon which was good. I got a strawberry cheesecake pastry which was so good, I wished I had gotten two of them. It had a short line which moved quickly.

Then it was off to Domain Chandon (Yountville) for the classic champagne tasting which was $18 and included your flute. I was very excited about this!  We got there an hour after opening and it was very busy and some offerings already sold out.  It was fun though and the grounds were beautiful.  If you like them on Facebook, you can get a 2-for-1 coupon which we were sorry to have missed. 

Cheers!

So knowing that, we decided to search the internet for any other discounts and we found one for the Fransciscan in St. Helena. It has a beautiful fountain in the front perfect for pictures.

It wasn't busy and our server was attentive and great, throwing in a couple of freebies, including a port when we mentioned we liked it.  We did 5 wines for $15 (with our 2 for 1 coupon). I liked the wines but after Chandon and no lunch, I was pretty tipsy when I left.

Lunch was at the Calistoga Inn and Brewery. It was a nice place to sit outside, have lunch and hubby got to try a local beer.

The highlight of the Napa part of our trip was the Sterlings Vineyard (a surprise from Nick) where we took a ski lift type thing up to the vineyard getting a beautiful aerial view. Then we got to self-tour the winery with five tastings along the way. We didn't care for the wine really but it was definitely a fun tour.  This was a planned stop but we found a $5 off coupon as well.  We did the regular admission for $20 which got us entrance, a self-guided tour, 5 tastings and a souvenir glass.  We really enjoyed it!

We drove back to San Francisco and checked in at the W.  We chose the W hotel because we wanted something totally different from the Le Meridien and since we were only going to be there for basically a day and a half, we didn't put a ton of thought into it. I will totally admit that the draw for me here at the end of the trip was the spa and the hot tub, both of which I could not wait to use.

The room was fine, very modern and trendy. The bed was not as comfortable as the Le Meridien, but we didn't have any problem with noise.

That night we had dinner at the Slanted Door, another great meal. We had the Imperial Rolls appetizer which was one of the best appetizers I've ever had anywhere.

We decided to check out the W hotel bar, the Living Room (which is the same one we have here in Dallas) and after two $12 (each) Jack and Cokes for the boys, called it a night.

Tomorrow would be our last full day and we were already sad to see our trip coming to an end!

Day 5: Wine and dine

Today was the day we would drive to Napa Valley. We ate breakfast at the hotel before checking out, then met up with Nick to go pick up the rent car to drive out of San Francisco to Sonoma. We drove over the Golden Gate bridge and stopped and got a view of the city from the other side.

We then went and saw Muir Woods. I did not expect this to be such a long hike and wasn't really dressed for it, but it was beautiful.  I would love to go back someday and really hike the entire park.

We drove through Sonoma stopping at the Oakville Grocery for lunch.

We had delicious sandwiches outside on the patio--a nice start to our trip. I got a smoked turkey with cranberry and hubby got the special, the turkey with artichoke which was the better choice, it was delicious.

We did a couple of tastings on our way to the hotel.

Ridge Lytton Springs (Heraldsburg) We chose this as we are familiar with their wine. Pretty vineyard and the tasting was fun even though it was busy. Tasting of 4 red wines was $15 and Nick got the reserve tasting for $20. We found most of the wines to be pretty young and weak bodied, not as good as the ones we've tried.

Castello di Amorosa (Calistoga) This is a huge castle touristy place but it was fun. We did the general admission ($18) which allowed us 5 wines in the tasting room and access to the grounds and first couple of floors of the castle. We were able to choose any 5 from whites, reds, and dessert wines. We liked the wines but our favorite was probably the non-alcoholic grape juice offered with the dessert wines--it was delicious!

We made our way to our hotel, the River Terrace Inn.  I probably chose it since it had "River" in the title as I love to be by water whenever I can.  We got a Riverside King which is on the ground floor and doesn't actually give you a view of the river, but you can walk over and look at it.

I loved that our room had a whole separate vanity for my stuff, makeup mirror, etc. The bed was comfortable and the place was quiet. It had a pool which we didn't use but it was very popular. The check in area and lobby was nice as was the outdoor area by the river, which had a fire pit.

Dinner that night was at Iron Chef Morimoto's restaurant in Napa and we were all very excited since we are huge Iron Chef fans!

Unfortunately it was a total bust. I've had better sushi at Kroger. The highlight of the whole meal was my cocktail.   After dinner we went to a bar called Cuvee next door to our hotel before turning in for the night.  The next day would be wine tastings and making our way back to San Fran for the remainder of our wonderful trip!

San Francisco Day 4: Parks, pizza and fireworks!

July 4th was supposed to start with breakfast at Dottie's but it was closed. Mama's was open but Ben would not entertain the idea of that long line so I proceeded to pout all morning. We ended up getting a late breakfast at some Chinese place where we were the only Americans in attendance. I had a hangover from too many White Russians the night before so I was eager to eat anything at this point.

So we decided today would be the day for Golden Gate park. We took the Muni subway to the park. The park was lovely and we walked through seeing the Chinese Pavillion, Stowe Lake the Japanese Rose Garden and the Botanical Garden (which we had to pay $7 admission for).

 

After the park, we went down to the Haight-Asbury section so I could get my picture taken at the famous corner.

This was not my favorite area of town. We stopped at a place called the Magnolia Pub and Brewery for some lunch then took the bus back to the hotel.

We planned to brave the masses and see the fireworks at the amphitheater in Ghiradelli Square. I tried to tell Nick that the locals on Trip Advisor did not recommend this but he would not be deterred. Before walking there, we had a pizza crawl of North Beach eating slices of pizza at Pizzelle di North Beach, North Beach Pizza and Tony's Pizza (our favorite).

Then we walked all.the.way.to.the.marina. Ben looked it up and I think it was 1.5 miles each way, so 3 miles total. When we got there, it was a veritable sea of humanity. We waltzed in at 9:15 pm for the 9:30 fireworks like we were just expecting to find a seat waiting for us. But surprisingly, we found a spot of concrete just big enough for all 3 of us, and when the fireworks started, it ended up being the perfect seat in the house.

When the show was over, I was really worried we'd never get out of there but it was actually all very organized and peaceful and we had no problems. I did feel very sorry for the poor people who thought driving anywhere in the vicinity of the fireworks was a good idea though.

I woke up in the middle of the night with my legs aching. By this point, I am dreaming of a massage and wondering if my legs will ever recover. Thank goodness the next two days will be spent mostly in the car driving through Napa Valley.