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| Our sweet surprise! |
This month has just gotten away from me! I apologize for the lack of blogging, but promise to start catching up this week! Our month got off to a wonderful and amazing start! Chris and I spent a week away for our honeymoon and I must say, I really did fall in love with San Francisco! To those of you that are lucky enough to live there, I am envious, but will be coming back as soon as we get another chance. The City by the Bay was the perfect destination for our romantic week.
Things got off to the perfect start when we received a wonderful surprise from our hotel, a fabulous Champagne and Strawberry treat! We then headed out to Pier 39 to do the tourist thing and see the 'hot spots' that we have heard so much about. I can say that seeing the Sea Lions on Pier 39 was such a fun experience. The Sea Lions have lived here since 1990ish and are protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Most of the Sea Lions that live here are male and at one point, the population was counted at more than 1000 Sea Lions (although the number of Sea Lions at any given point varies by the food source population! I loved watching the Sea Lions cute ways of interacting with each other and of course their 'barking' made me miss my own pups!
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| Chris and I at Pier 39 with the Sea Lions! |
After doing the touristy thing at Pier 39 we headed off to explore the city. We stopped by Golden Gate Park, the Presidio (home of Lucas Arts headquarters) and my favorite, Alamo Square Park, where I met several local dog owners and their pups - I even got to join in on a game of fetch with a few of them! San Francisco's pet community really reminded me of Austin and made me feel right at home.
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| Some of the great pups we met at Alamo Square Park! |
Of course, the highlight of our trip was the day we spent touring wine country. How could anyone not have a blast drinking wine all day and having someone else drive you around?! Our tour guide was phenomenal and really kept us entertained (and happily drunk) all day as we explored a variety of vineyards in both Sonoma and Napa Valley. Of course, we came home with a few bottles of wine. This particular tour was also impressive, as we were able to make a pit stop in Muir Woods before hitting the wineries. Muir woods was spectacular in the morning light, we were able to see so many fantastic woodland creatures (birds, banana slugs, incredible spiderwebs) and of course the giant redwood trees.
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| Chris and I at Madonna Estates Vineyards. |
Of course, there were tons of other sites and experiences during our week, it's almost too much to get into! We did take a short trip out to Alcatraz, explored the shopping district and had a delicious Irish Coffee at The Buena Vista. We met new friends from all over the world who were also visiting the city and enjoyed some art exhibits at Ghirardelli Square.
We can't wait to plan our next trip to San Francisco! I wish every city was as friendly and exciting as San Francisco. From the Cable Car rides (one of my favorite experiences) to the dog parks to the Golden Gate Bridge, this city was the perfect place to spend our honeymoon!
Stephanie Conrad
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| Posing for a kiss on the Cable Cars |
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| Posing in one of the cells at Alcatraz |
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| Having a glass of wine at Cline Vineyards. |
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| Quick pose on the Cable Cars. |
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| Snapping a photo at the Presidio. |
