Day 1 (Saturday, June 29th): Flying to California
The added challenge of this trip was the long flight from NC to CA. Our last two trips with Emmy to Texas and to Colorado were direct flights and about half the travel time. On our journey out to San Francisco, we had two 3-hour flights plus a 2.5 hour layover in Dallas - that's quite a long time for a 2-year-old! Boomer and I were very apprehensive about the flights. Boomer not-too-jokingly suggested we leave Emmy at home! But she surpassed both of our expectations with her flexibility and endurance. Being a little concerned about carry-on space, I knew I couldn't pack the whole toybox to keep her occupied, and luckily she was quite content with stickers, Play-Doh, headphones borrowed from her cousin Maddox, and all. the. snacks. During our layover in Dallas, we gained an hour and ate a "second breakfast." Then we let Emmy run out some energy and explore a bit. The layover went by quickly, and the second flight was right on time. Emmy only napped for about 45 minutes on the second flight, but she was pleasant again when she woke up. Overall everything went very smoothly.
We touched down in San Francisco just before 1PM Pacific Time with still a good amount of the day left. We made our way to the hotel and hung out in the lobby for a little bit until our room was ready. During that time, Boomer and I were both getting a little concerned about a cough that Emmy had, so after dropping off our bags in the room, we set out for the nearest Walgreens and then took an Uber to the In-N-Out Burger at Fisherman's Wharf. It was my first In-N-Out experience, Boomer's second, and apparently a West Coast must-have. We ordered cheeseburgers, a single for me and a double for Boomer, with one of the fries "animal style." Wanting to explore some more but not quite having the energy, we went back to our hotel for an early evening. Since it was technically three hours later on the East Coast, we were ready for bed, and Emmy fell right to sleep in the pack 'n play we had requested from the hotel. There was one unexpected twist: our hotel, which was right in downtown San Francisco's SoMa District, was directly above a block party for the weekend's Pride festivities. The parade was actually the following day on Sunday, but there were events all weekend leading up to it. That evening we feel asleep to the loud bass of techno music; thank goodness we were all three too tired to let it bother us!
We touched down in San Francisco just before 1PM Pacific Time with still a good amount of the day left. We made our way to the hotel and hung out in the lobby for a little bit until our room was ready. During that time, Boomer and I were both getting a little concerned about a cough that Emmy had, so after dropping off our bags in the room, we set out for the nearest Walgreens and then took an Uber to the In-N-Out Burger at Fisherman's Wharf. It was my first In-N-Out experience, Boomer's second, and apparently a West Coast must-have. We ordered cheeseburgers, a single for me and a double for Boomer, with one of the fries "animal style." Wanting to explore some more but not quite having the energy, we went back to our hotel for an early evening. Since it was technically three hours later on the East Coast, we were ready for bed, and Emmy fell right to sleep in the pack 'n play we had requested from the hotel. There was one unexpected twist: our hotel, which was right in downtown San Francisco's SoMa District, was directly above a block party for the weekend's Pride festivities. The parade was actually the following day on Sunday, but there were events all weekend leading up to it. That evening we feel asleep to the loud bass of techno music; thank goodness we were all three too tired to let it bother us!
Day 2 (Sunday, June 30th): The Painted Ladies and a San Francisco Giants Game
My internal clock was a little off the next day, and I woke up at 5AM. Boomer and Emmy slept a little later, but we were all up and moving by 7AM. After getting breakfast at the hotel, we set out to explore the city. As with our other travels, we once again brought the umbrella stroller. Since Emmy loves to ride in it, we opted to walk the 2 or so miles to Alamo Square to see the Painted Ladies, the row houses made famous from the opening scene of Full House. It was a cool Sunday morning, around 60 degrees, which is typical for San Francisco during this time of year. I was very prepared for this weather with Emmy, packing her pants, a jacket, and even mittens. However, Boomer and I weren't so prepared. The walk and the San Fran hills helped to keep us warm, but there were certainly times that we wished we had extra layers. You'll notice I am wearing my blue rain jacket in most of the trip's pictures! The Mark Twain quote is true: "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco." Before leaving Alamo Square, we let Emmy play for a bit at the park there. There were several other families enjoying the Sunday morning with their little ones. Boomer snapped a picture of Emmy with the foggy San Francisco skyline in the background - it's one of my favorites from the whole trip!
After some play time at the park, we started to make our way to Oracle Park for the Giants game. The game was at 1PM, and we arrived a little after noon. It was recommended to get food in the outfield, which overlooks the bay and a beautiful marina with lots of boats. In this section of the park, there are several stands to choose from which offer unusual options to the standard ballpark food. Boomer got fish 'n chips from the Pier 44 Chowder House stand, and I got a Crazy Crab'z sandwich, which has crab salad with tomatoes on seasoned, toasted sourdough bread. Later in the game, we got the famous Gilroy garlic fries and a CREAM ice cream sandwich with cinnamon churro ice cream. Yum! The Giants beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 10-4, and WE GOT TO SEE THE WHOLE GAME! All 9 innings! We had tickets in the upper section which allowed Emmy some room to roam. After about 6 innings, I brought out her stickers, which helped to keep her entertained for the rest of the game. She especially liked decorating Daddy with her stickers. The Kennedy Ballpark Tour successfully crossed off our 11th ballpark!
My internal clock was a little off the next day, and I woke up at 5AM. Boomer and Emmy slept a little later, but we were all up and moving by 7AM. After getting breakfast at the hotel, we set out to explore the city. As with our other travels, we once again brought the umbrella stroller. Since Emmy loves to ride in it, we opted to walk the 2 or so miles to Alamo Square to see the Painted Ladies, the row houses made famous from the opening scene of Full House. It was a cool Sunday morning, around 60 degrees, which is typical for San Francisco during this time of year. I was very prepared for this weather with Emmy, packing her pants, a jacket, and even mittens. However, Boomer and I weren't so prepared. The walk and the San Fran hills helped to keep us warm, but there were certainly times that we wished we had extra layers. You'll notice I am wearing my blue rain jacket in most of the trip's pictures! The Mark Twain quote is true: "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco." Before leaving Alamo Square, we let Emmy play for a bit at the park there. There were several other families enjoying the Sunday morning with their little ones. Boomer snapped a picture of Emmy with the foggy San Francisco skyline in the background - it's one of my favorites from the whole trip!
After some play time at the park, we started to make our way to Oracle Park for the Giants game. The game was at 1PM, and we arrived a little after noon. It was recommended to get food in the outfield, which overlooks the bay and a beautiful marina with lots of boats. In this section of the park, there are several stands to choose from which offer unusual options to the standard ballpark food. Boomer got fish 'n chips from the Pier 44 Chowder House stand, and I got a Crazy Crab'z sandwich, which has crab salad with tomatoes on seasoned, toasted sourdough bread. Later in the game, we got the famous Gilroy garlic fries and a CREAM ice cream sandwich with cinnamon churro ice cream. Yum! The Giants beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 10-4, and WE GOT TO SEE THE WHOLE GAME! All 9 innings! We had tickets in the upper section which allowed Emmy some room to roam. After about 6 innings, I brought out her stickers, which helped to keep her entertained for the rest of the game. She especially liked decorating Daddy with her stickers. The Kennedy Ballpark Tour successfully crossed off our 11th ballpark!
Day 3 (Monday, July 1st): Exploring San Francisco
On this day, I didn't have so much of an agenda as a list of recommendations. With no baseball game, we played it by ear but still managed to do almost everything on my list: walking through Chinatown, walking along Fisherman's Wharf, watching the sea lions at Pier 39, riding a cable car, seeing Lombard Street, eating burritos in the Mission District, and sampling some Ghirardelli chocolate. Typing it out now, I realize just how much we packed in! It didn't feel too rushed through; we even had time for afternoon naps at the hotel. We reserved just enough energy for our final day and one more ballpark!
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| Authentic burritos at Taqueria el Farolito |
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| Ghirardelli sundae and a Beard Papa Honey & Butter cream puff - Before and After! |
Day 4 (Tuesday, July 2nd): Touring Alcatraz and Oakland A's Game
For our final full day in California, we fit in the last of the recommendations I had compiled in my planning. First, we rode the ferry out to Alcatraz Island. The island is about 1.5 miles from the San Francisco coast and about a 20-minute boat ride. Once there, the island is open to explore for tourists. Years ago, it was transformed from a federal penitentiary to a national park, and visitors can view the prison and the other grounds. We did the audio tour, which takes you through the prison and its dining hall, visitation spaces, and administrative offices. There were some good views of the Golden Gate Bridge and the San Francisco skyline from the island. We returned on the ferry around 12:30PM and walked the short distance from Pier 33 to Pier 44, the Fisherman's Wharf area, to eat lunch at the Boudin Bakery. I had the clam chowder in one of their famous sourdough bread bowls, and Boomer had the fish 'n chips. From the second floor of the restaurant where we ate, there were beautiful views of the pier and marina.
After a small timing error with the cable cars and a rather strenuous hike up Hyde Street to Lombard, we were able to catch a ride back to our hotel in the downtown district. There wasn't much time to rest before we headed off to Oakland for our second baseball game. Oakland is about 15 miles from San Francisco, just over the Bay Bridge. We got to the game about 30 minutes before the 7PM start and scoped out the food. Boomer got a couple of brats from a stand called Links, and I got chicken tenders with several dipping sauces from Tenders Love & Chicken. The stadium had an interesting feel since it is also home to the NFL team the Oakland Raiders. There weren't the pretty views like we had at the Giants game, but because Boomer had gotten tickets on the lower level, it was neat to be so close to all of the action. We were there for the A's grand slam in the 4th inning, but then halfway through the 5th as it was nearing 9PM, we decided to make our way back to the hotel. Even though Emmy was hanging in there despite it being past her bedtime, we thought it best to call it a night while we were all still having fun. The A's ended up defeating the Minnesota Twins 8-6, and the Kennedy Ballpark Tour hits a dozen!
Day 5 (Wednesday, July 3rd): Flying Home
This morning we had an early wake-up to catch our flight back home to NC. The return flights were broken up a bit differently than our journey out. Rather than two flights of about the same length, we made the first long haul all the way across the country into Charlotte and then a second short hop over to Greensboro. All the flights were on time, and only at the very end of the second flight did Emmy get a little cranky. We were happy to see Grammy and Grandpa back in Greensboro. Emmy was such a trooper with all the traveling, but this evening she was quite worn out. I enjoyed extra snuggles with her when she fell asleep on my shoulder in her rocking chair back at home. I think we will all sleep very well tonight! And soon we will start the planning for next year :)
In closing, a special part of this trip was hitting the halfway mark with Baby Kennedy #2! On Sunday, I was officially 20 weeks; the baby is about the size of a sweet potato. It is a little different this time around as I am keeping up with a toddler and not always so focused on the baby growing inside of me. A couple of weeks ago, around the 18 week mark, I felt the baby move for the first time, and I feel it the most at night when I am finally still and laying in bed. At our hotel while we were in San Francisco, Boomer felt the baby for the first time, and I forgot how special that moment is. I have my next appointment on Monday the 8th, and Boomer will be able to come along. I am excited to get another peek at baby!
This morning we had an early wake-up to catch our flight back home to NC. The return flights were broken up a bit differently than our journey out. Rather than two flights of about the same length, we made the first long haul all the way across the country into Charlotte and then a second short hop over to Greensboro. All the flights were on time, and only at the very end of the second flight did Emmy get a little cranky. We were happy to see Grammy and Grandpa back in Greensboro. Emmy was such a trooper with all the traveling, but this evening she was quite worn out. I enjoyed extra snuggles with her when she fell asleep on my shoulder in her rocking chair back at home. I think we will all sleep very well tonight! And soon we will start the planning for next year :)
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