Lest you think all we did in San Francisco was shop and drink tea (sounds like my normal day…), I wanted to share some of our other photos and activities from our trip.

The first night in town, we ate dinner at Wayfare Tavern — Tyler Florence’s restaurant. We started with deviled eggs, then I had fried chicken and macaroni and cheese (typical, I know) and we had doughnuts for dessert.

We sat at the counter, which was cool but still hard to see because our seats were low and we are kinda short. But, the food! You guys, it was amazing. The deviled eggs, fried chicken and mac & cheese were incredible, and the doughnuts were other-worldly.

The order came with two giant doughnuts, two beignet-like doughnut holes, and three dipping sauces. The pear vanilla sauce was lame, but the pineapple sauce and the cranberry sauce were delicious and complimented the light, flaky doughnuts perfectly.

 

Saturday, after a day of shopping, we saw The Book of Mormon — which was absolutely hilarious. I was laughing so hard at some points that I was crying. As you might imagine, it’s definitely not PC, but it would be a great musical to bring men or others who aren’t normally interested in musical theater to see (as long as they are fans of South Park and don’t mind repeated singing of the F-word). The guy who was sitting next to me (wearing a hoodie) said he hadn’t known what to expect, but called the first part “epic.”

Sunday, we started out with some more shopping and brunch at Boulettes Larder — which included these beignets. Seriously the best beignets ever.

 

After brunch, we walked to Ghirardelli Square and had hot chocolate, then took a bus tour of the city.

The tour was fun because we got to see all the sights, and we could get on or off the bus at any of the stops. Sitting on the top level was really, really cold, though. We eventually had to go down to the heated part so we didn’t freeze to death!

 

Because of traffic (and luck), we got to the other side of the bridge right at sunset. It was an amazing view, even though we were shivering.

The place we ate dinner on Sunday night was good, but everyone there (including the waiter) was too cool for school, and the menu was really limited, so I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it. Monday morning, though, we hit up Mission Pie before we headed to the airport, and that was fabulous. I had a slice of Shaker lemon, and got a pear-raspberry mini pie to take home.

My mom had a slice of apple huckleberry and also got a maple-pecan scone. All of the pies had perfect, flaky crust and deliciously balanced fillings (my Shaker lemon was to die for), and the scone was crumbly but not at all dry.

Needless to say, I need to go on a cleanse or something now. I also had a song stuck in my head the whole time — a song that I learned for a dance recital when I was about 5 years old. Something is clearly wrong with my brain.

San Francisco, open your golden gate,
You let no stranger wait
Outside your door.

San Francisco, I am your wandering one,
Saying I’ll wander no more.

Other places only make me love you best
Tell me you’re the heart of all the golden west.

San Francisco, welcome me home again,
I’m coming home to go roaming no more.