September 2, 2011

Day #4

Andrew jogged in Golden Gate Park in the morning and then we had breakfast on Haight Street.

Marie and Kelsey had breakfast in their hotel restaurant.

We spent much of the afternoon picking up the rental car (a major event!) and with cell phone conversion and a trip to the post office to mail Kelsey's portrait back to Columbus.

A late afternoon lunch at Leticias Restaurant with good Mexican food got us in the mood for the evening San Francisco Giants game.

But first we stopped at a thrift store to get Andrew some wam clothes for the cold night game.

The game was fun and the Giants won!

Marie, Kelsey and Andrew made a late night drive up to Redding, CA.

We had a great time the four days of their visit.

September 1, 2011

Day #3

I picked up Marie and Kelsey about 10:00 a.m. at their hotel and we had breakfast at Stacks Restaurant before going to explore Fisherman's Wharf.

The ladies wanted to go souvenir shopping, so I agreed to be patient and let them do their shopping.

We spent an hour or so looking at the shops at Ghirardelli Square (multiple purchases were made!) and then we made our way down to see the street venders near the cable car turn-around.

Kelsey found a street artist she liked who agreed to draw her portrait.

We then went to the Blue Mermaid Restaurant for a late lunch. Again, clam chowder was the choice of the day.

A drive down Lombard Street, the "crookedest street," was a little scary.

Next we went to the Presideo to check out the Walt Disney Museum Gift Shop and, of course, there was more shopping.

We decided to return to the hotel and rest before picking up Andrew at the airport.

Andrew arrived about 8:00 p.m. and we drove to the Benihanna of Tokyo Restaurant for a late dinner.

We had a delicous meal and the cooking display was awesome!

 

 

It was a long day and we got to bed about midnight.

August 31, 2011

DAY #2

I picked up Marie and Kelsey at their hotel. They had already eaten breakfast.

We drove to the Golden Gate Bridge. I parked the car on the San Francisco side of the bridge, helped get the wheelchair onto the bridge, then returned to the car and drove to the Marin side. I started walking back and met Marie and Kelsey halfway. It was great fun, but it was a little windy and almost 2 miles from end to end. We were glad we did not have to do the return trip!

Here's a photo of Marie and Kelsey on the bridge, taken at the start of the trip.

We then drove to the Marin Headlands for a view of San Francisco.

Here are Marie and Kelsey with the bridge in the background.

Kelsey wanted to ride a cable car, so we drove to the California cable car line. I dropped them off near California and Van Ness and parked the car. Then we all hopped on board.

Here is a photo of Marie and Kelsey enjoying the cable car ride.

We rode the cable car to the end of the line and walked to the Ferry Building where we had a bowl of clam chowder and some questionable fish tacos before heading back via the cable car again.

Here is a photo taken in front of the Ferry Building.

It was a fairly clear day, so we drove to Twin Peaks to see the view from there. It was cold and windy so we did not stay for very long. But we did get one picture of Kelsey freezing in the wind.

We had some time for a short late lunch and went to Mel's Diner on Geary Blvd. where we sat at the counter and played old 60's and 70's songs on the jukebox.

It was a busy day and I had chorus rehearsal that night, so we returned to the hotel in the late afternoon.

August 30, 2011

TALLE FAMILY CALIFORNIA VISIT

Day #1

Marie and Kelsey came for a visit to San Francisco; this is Kelsey's first visit and she was quite excited about the trip.

I met Marie and Kelsey at the Oakland Airport about noon today.

We drove across the Bay Bridge and through Golden Gate Park and had lunch at the Beach Chalet.

Here is Kelsey in the lobby of the Beach Chalet.

And we had to get a photo of Marie and Kelsey outside the Beach Chalet with the San Francisco mosaic.

After a fine lunch where we tasted the clam chowder (good!), we drove to Mitchell's for some ice cream on the way to their hotel.

Marie and Kelsey had been up since 4:30 a.m. Columbus time, so I drove them to the Hilton Hotel near San Francisco Airport for some needed rest.

We'll start the real sightseeing tomorrow.