After tossing the idea around a little bit over the past few weeks, Matt and I decided to spend a night up in San Francisco. We wanted to be close to the lights and shopping at Union Square so we stayed at Taj Campton Place a half a block from the tree and the lights. It was a perfect place to stay and we even had a "view" of the top of the Union Square tree from our room. (Although we had to stand on the windowsill and peek over the railing of another hotel room in order to see just the top of the red star ;) We liked the place and it was in a good central location.
We got up to the city at about 5:00 pm and then walked around the square, did a little Christmas shopping and had really good burgers at The Burger Bar in Macy's. I had a burger with grilled zucchini, caramelized onions and swiss cheese and it was delicious!!! I might have to try this in the summer when I am over run with zucchinis again.
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After enjoying the lights and sounds of Union Square, we hopped on a cable car and headed toward the bay where we got the traditional Ghirardelli ice cream sundae.
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The next morning we had planned on going to the California Academy of Sciences. I even thought ahead and bought tickets online to save us $10. However, when we arrived a little before opening, there was an enormous line! We were thinking, "Man, we are glad that we got here a little early." and, "This is a TON of people!"After a few minutes of waiting, an employee walked by, welcoming everyone to the free day at the museum and that they would be opening the doors in a few minutes. Did you catch that? That little four letter word that would explain all of the people and make my pre-planning worth nothing? F-R-E-E. (Every 3rd Wednesday of the month is free. So if you go, don't buy tickets beforehand and go early!)
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(Me inside the rainforest exhibit. It is a 3-story dome that lets you explore the animals and fauna at each level of the rainforest. Super cool!)
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Although we had already purchased tickets, they are good for any day up to a year after purchase (if you would like to go to the Academy in the next year, let me know. I can give you a deal;). It really wasn't too crowded, since they limit the number of people inside at any given time, and we got in with the first rush. The line was just as long when we left the museum at 1:00 pm as it was when we got into it in the morning!
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The view from the top, the living roof. It is because of this roof, that we had a hard time finding the Academy on Google. It blended in with the other greenery in Golden Gate Park!
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Outside the rainforest exhibit. There are two of these domes. One for the rainforest and the other is the planetarium.
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Then we took a little drive through the rest of the park to see the bison (yes, there is a herd of bison in the middle of SF) and enjoy the relaxing atmosphere. Since I had never been to this park, it was fun to see it for the first time, with Matt as my tour guide. Then we made our way to Lands End Peak where I got these shots of the Golden Gate Bridge.
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Sorry for the bad picture, but it is the only one of the two of us and the Golden Gate. The sun was just too bright and Matt had a hat to help him out. Oh well.
We had a great time and we even are considering making this a tradition for the years to come!
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Merry Christmas Everyone!
