Exactly a year ago, we took Elise on her first roadie ever….to San Francisco. She was very well behaved and had a good time, so we thought we’d do it again. Only this time, we have the addition Chloe. Despite the plans being a bit last minute, we were able to work out a tentative plan. And guess what~ it all went smoothly! With two girls now, Elvis and I knew that trips from here on out would need to be kid-friendly, so we had made a list of places that would be fun for the girls to check out. So this is what we did…. Friday Our first stop in San Francisco was to the famous dim sum place, Yank Sing. (It was on the Michelin Guide’s ‘honorable mention’ list.) In comparison to last year, the food this time did not quite meet our expectations, but nevertheless, it was still good. We will maybe have to think twice about coming back here the next time we are in San Francisco. (If you do decide to go here to try out the food, be forewarned, it is $$$$!) Next stop: our hotel. We decided to stay right in the heart of Union Square at The Westin St. Francis. The hotel is super old, but our room was surprisingly nice. We had a very nice view of the square and could hear the faint sounds of the crowds throughout the day (not so much so that it is annoying). Here is a photo of our room: 
And here are some photos of us in Union Square. 
In case you are wondering, Elise is pointing up to the sky, saying “biiiiiiirrrddddd!” 
We then headed over to the Fisherman’s Wharf to walk around before our dinner at a San Francisco favorite restaurant, The Slanted Door. The place came highly recommended, and we could see why. The décor was nice, and the location of the restaurant was right on the water (at Ferry Building #3). What type of cuisine, you ask? VIETNAMESE. Overall, the food was very delicious. With exception to the soup (which I swear any of us could make at home), everything else exceeded my expectations. We had manila clams for appetizers, and for our entrees, we had a mixture of prawns, bo luc lac, and cellophane noodles w/ crab. This is the view of the Oakland bridge from our restaurant: 
Saturday We woke up early to make it to our tour of San Francisco. Having been to the Bay Area many times, but not really knowing much about the city, we decided it would be fun to go on a tour, just so that we’d have a better understanding and appreciation. And again, we decided to go with a place that came highly recommended, Mr. Toad’s Tours. It is extremely personal (no more than 10 people in each tour) and what makes it unique is that we ride around in a pre-1930s vehicle that runs on PROPANE! Here is a photo of the car we were in: 
We hit all the spots that we would have never figured to check out before- North Beach (considered the Little Italy of SF), Nob Hill, Presidio, Crissy Field, Haight Street, Golden Gate Park, Fort Point, etc. Here are some photos: Transamerica Building 
A stop at the Fortune Cookie Factory 
The house used in the movie, Mrs. Doubtfire 
And of course, the beautiful bridge: 
The tour lasted a little over three hours, and at the end of it all, I was so so so SO glad that the girls were well behaved the entire time. Chloe woke up once to guzzle her milk, then she went on back to sleep. Elise was either flirting with other guests on tour, or gazing out the car going “ohhhhhhh”…..and “what’s thhhhhhhaaatttt!”. She did squeeze in a nap towards the end. (Poor thing had fallen asleep for only about 10 minutes, but we had to wake her up because we had arrived at Fort Point to take photos right under the Golden Gate Bridge.) Mr. Toad’s Tour does come highly recommended from me. Our tour guide, Cathy, was extremely personable, and she made the tour very fun and exciting. The only complaint I would have about the tour is that it was FREEEEZZZING! With open air throughout, it was very hard to keep warm. (The girls had to be bundled up under us so that they wouldn’t catch wind.) Other than that, we had a great great time. Right after our tour was done, we ventured on to the San Francisco Zoo. The person taking photos at the entrance to the park took an AMAZING photo of our family. I didn’t have time to scan it, so I took a photo of it: 
We wish we could have seen a lot more animals. Maybe it was the late afternoon or what not, but a lot of the animals were hiding or just not cooperative. We did get a good amount of photos of them though, and Elise seem to be very excited about meeting her new friends. (She couldn’t stop quacking after seeing the pelicans, which we called duck for her.) Here are some other photos taken at the zoo: 
That’s it for today….Stay tuned tomorrow for our adventures on Sunday. (Children’s Discovery Museum, Dennis the Menace Playground, Monterey Bay Aquarium.) | 
