2 Canadians + 1 Americanadian + SF = Awesome

Continuing on my need to show all my Canadian friends how awesome SF is- aka part 2 of this craziness- I was SOOOO excited for Brit and Jac to come for a visit in March. I had a pretty intense itinerary planned out since I could only join them for 3 days before needing to go back to work so I tried to pack in some not-so-traditional tourist activities while we hung out. If you're planning a trip to the city or just looking to explore a little more here's what we were up to:

Exploring SF: Lands End

A few weeks ago my family came to the city to celebrate a big milestone in my brother's career. After an awesome party involving way too much wine (on my part) we spent the next day enjoying a beautiful sunny day in SF. It was our first time at the Cliff House where we enjoyed a fantastic late lunch before checking out the massively overrated camera obscura (save your $3).  Afterwards my brother decided he was up for a hike so we decided we would work up an appetite by walking to the Marina for dinner from Lands End. It's a pretty spectacular walk all along the cost with lots of little beaches and fun spots to check out. It was also my first time checking out the Sutro Baths in the almost 6 years I've been living here- pretty cool ruins to wander around but I'm bummed I missed out on seeing Sutro Sam.

Exploring SF: Presidio Trails Part 3.5

I know I've written about it before but I thought I would do another plug for the fantastic Batteries to Bluffs trail right here in the city- but this time at night! Whenever I get a little bummed out or stressed or overwhelmed, I find that I feel better after I am around some source of water- rivers, lakes, rain, but especially the ocean. This year started out super crazy busy at work so I needed to decompress and figured what better way than by watching the sunset at Marshall's beach. So I grabbed a backpack for snacks, water and a jacket and headed out- only detail was I forgot to tell someone where I was going. Because that's a good call...alone at night wandering down a trail with no one else around you...fun times! I always forget about that until I'm alone and then all I can picture is a zombie from the Walking Dead jumping out at me and dragging my body into a ditch (should NOT have watched four seasons of that show so quickly...helloooo nightmares). A quick text later and that problem was solved...now on to the pictures!

Exploring SF: Presidio Trails Part 3

If you aren't already sick of my Golden Gate photos from other hikes here and here then you're in luck because I took a bunch more! Every time I do a walk along the coast and the weather is right (think: less fog more sun) I tune into my inner tourist and take an unbelievable amount of photos. This past Saturday I timed it right and had gorgeous views of the bridge. I headed out pretty late in the day (around 4) and walked over to Baker beach and then walked along the sand trying to find the Batteries to Bluffs trail since I neglected to find the trail head online before I left the house. I walked all the way along the beach towards where I thought the hike might start and managed to walk into the nude beach section. There was plenty of what you expected at a nude beach: confused tourists, naked sunbathing, naked reading and a fairly competitive game of naked volleyball. The problem in not knowing where the trail started was that I needed to look around to try and find it meaning I was doing my best to look for a trail and NOT stare directly at naked old men.

Exploring SF: Presidio Trails Part 2

One of my summer goals was to explore all the hikes in the Presidio so Lindsey and I headed out for a walk on Saturday and ended up walking for over 9 miles! We headed over to the Presidio Golf Course and passed some gorgeous houses along the way. 

Exploring SF: Presidio Trails Part 1

 

 I love living in the city but its nice to get away from the craziness for awhile -which is why I was stoked to learn how many trails there are in the Presidio. This website gives a good overview of the different options- I had no idea! A couple weekends ago, I decided to go for a short walk and ended up walking 9 miles- hard to stop when you have great weather and amazing views. I started off on the Mountain Lake Trail which is 2.6 miles long and goes from the Broadway Gate to Baker Beach.