San Francisco (Days 7 and 8)

After our unbelievable experience at French Laundry, we packed up the next morning for the short drive back to San Francisco.  Our last morning in Yountville was pretty exciting--we woke up to chainsaws and axes at 6 am because Bouchon Bakery next door was on fire and the firefighters had to hack through the roof to make sure the fire was out.  Apparently, one of the oven exhausts caught on fire and the smoke and stuff got into the walls.  No one was hurt, but the damage was about $250,000.  Luckily, we'd had our big FL meal the night before since the bakery supplies all of their bread!

When we got back to San Francisco, we spend about 20 minutes navigating the one-way, no-left-turns streets of Union Square and downtown to figure out how to get to our new hotel, the Clift.  Surprisingly, we were able to check in, despite not being trendy enough or European enough, by the looks of the clientele.  We quickly put our stuff in our ultra-cool room and headed down to Fisherman's Wharf to return the rental car.  After that, we ate some lunch (chili and tomato soup in sourdough bread bowls, of course) and bought some chocolate at Ghirardelli Square before standing in line for an hour to ride the cable car back to our hotel.  Then we headed to the Asian Art Museum for a little culture, followed by an early dinner of Indian comfort food at Amber India.

On Friday, our last day of vacation, we went to Alcatraz.  Zach's favorite line of the day (which he repeated many times, in the hopes that people would overhear and laugh) was, "I can't believe they built this whole island just for the Nicolas Cage movie."  Sadly, he thought it was funnier than everyone else did.  The Rock (Alcatraz, not the movie) was fantastic and I highly recommend getting the headphones and taking the free guided audio tour if you go.  Also, try and take the night tour, where you explore the jail using flashlights.  I've heard it's even better than the day version, but it fills up like a month in advance.

We had a great vacation, but we were ready to head home to the boys and our normal life.  It'll be hard to top San Francisco and Napa, but I'll sure try when I plan our next trip!

I just realized this is the same thing I wore in the Lombard St pictures, but we did laundry, I swear!

What?! They have a radio in their cells?  Those prisoners had such a cushy life.

Chilly and windy on The Rock