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Last week I was able to take a trip to San Francisco with my boyfriend and his mom and it was amazing! I don’t travel a ton so this was a nice break from the monotony of everyday life. If I’m being honest, before this trip I’ve never seen the ocean in person before, let alone been to California. I got to do a lot of things for the first time on this trip! The following is a day-by-day account of everything I was able to do:
Technically the first day of the trip! We took a red-eye flight to San Fran and arrived fairly late at around 1 am.
Had a breakfast of salmon and egg avocado toast and then drove to Petaluma to do some shopping. There were so many cute little shops including a glasses shop inside an old bank, a retro video game store, antique stores, home decor stores, and local art sellers. I unfortunately wasn’t able to get a ton of photos of the town but here’s me eating my toast:
Today we went to a Giant’s game!! It was my second time ever attending an MLB game, and it just so happened to be Star Wars day. We took a ferry across the San Fran bay to Oracle Park. It was a perfect day out and absolutely gorgeous! The Giants played against the Rockies and ended up winning by a landslide. I didn’t realize the stadium was right by the water so that was cool to experience. I of course had to get a hot dog and some cracker jacks as a little treat. On the ferry ride back we saw whales! I can’t believe how lucky we were! It happened so fast though I couldn't get pics so you're just gonna have to take my word for it. Afterwards we walked around an outdoor mall and got some frozen yogurt.
I went to my first beach today! It was nice and cool outside and the water was freezing but I was still able to walk through it a bit. I love to see critters I’ve never seen before, and at this beach I saw mole crabs (genus Emerita) swimming around and digging through the sand. I chilled on the beach a bit too and was able to sketch the waves. After I got my fill of the ocean, we headed over to Sausalito to have dinner and do some shopping.
This was the busiest day of the trip, and I think it was my favorite day. We got up early and headed to Muir woods which is a redwood forest! I absolutely loved walking through Muir woods! The redwoods were breathtaking; it was such a humbling and spiritual experience being able to walk amongst such massive and ancient organisms. There were points where I almost shed a tear from the overwhelming beauty of it all. It wasn’t just the redwoods that had me speechless, I was also able to enjoy clovers, ferns, countless varieties of wildflowers, moss, lichen, mushrooms, beetles, butterflies, and birds.
After the redwoods, we hopped on a ferry to Alcatraz island. I love visiting historical sites, not to mention I’m a big fan of creepy abandoned buildings and structures, so this was also one of my favorite parts of the trip. It was also nesting season for thousands of birds on the island including cormorants and california gulls. The view of the city from the island was phenomenal.
When we were done at Alcatraz we took the ferry back to the mainland and walked to pier 39. Pier 39 had a ton of carnival rides and little gift shops that we walked through. Apparently it’s also a hotspot for wild sea lions to gather so I got to see my first wild sea lions!! They were all silly and adorable and they were flopping around everywhere, I loved them!! We then walked to Fisherman’s Wharf and we walked through a little museum full of old arcade cabinets and antique novelty cabinets. A lot of them were pretty creepy but I enjoyed seeing them nonetheless. After walking around Fisherman’s Wharf, we walked all the way to little Italy to pick up some pizzas for dinner; it was some of the best pizza I’ve ever had.
Today we went to several museums. We started off at the California Academy of Science museum in Golden Gate Park. A lot of their exhibits were focused on the natural world; they had a rainforest exhibit with lots of birds and insects, a small aquarium section with sea critters, a large taxidermy section with animals from the Sahara, an exhibit on color in the animal kingdom, and my favorite, an outdoor area with animatronic dinosaurs. They also had a collection of Andy Warhol screen prints which was really cool to see. We got lunch at the cafe (I of course had to get the dino nugget meal and eat it out by the dinosaurs) and then we walked across the street to the de Young art museum. They had some really beautiful pieces in there including many that I recognized. They also had a Warhol print! My favorite exhibit was the glass art exhibit; there was something just so satisfying about thick solid sculptures constructed out of transparent glass.
Today was a chill day. We started off by going to a nearby farmer’s market and trying out some delicious pastries. We then went to a nearby bird refuge to do some birding! I was able to see Canada geese, several species of ducks, egrets, herons, grackles, red-winged black birds, marsh wrens, gulls, cormorants, and even a mute swan which I’ve never seen in the wild before! I then took a nap and played some Metroid and Pokemon on my 3DS.
Started off the day by heading to The Marine Mammal Center to tour their facility and see all the patients in their care! They had over 60 injured wild mammals including elephant seal pups, sea lions, harbor seals, and others. We got to see them participate in fish school (learning how to fish on their own) which was so cute! We also saw them actively conducting seal autopsies on 2 patients that had died which was simultaneously sad and fascinating. We then stopped by another beach, and went to a seafood place for lunch. Afterwards, we went to several other birding locations, one of which also had a beach.
Today we took a little road trip to Santa Cruz and stayed the night at a cute little hotel right on the beach. When we arrived we checked in and then walked to the Santa Cruz boardwalk. This was such a fun day; we rode on their 100 year old coaster and had plenty of carnival food. I was able to try a turkey leg, plus I had a chocolate dipped ice cream cone and garlic parmesan fries. We also played some games at the boardwalk arcade and my boyfriend won me a shot glass. In the evening we walked back to our hotel and went out to the beach to swim. We were just about to get in the water but we noticed hundreds of jellyfish washed up on the beach which we thought were Portuguese man o’ wars (which happen to inflict one of the most painful stings) but ended up being a harmless cousin called by-the-wind-sailors (genus Velella). Needless to say we didn’t end up going swimming but it was fun to see these critters nonetheless.
Our last full day of the trip. We checked out of the hotel and drove an hour to Monterey Bay where we went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium!! This was another one of my favorite parts of the trip! I ended up getting way too many pictures to include in this but I absolutely enjoyed my time there! We started off by saying hi to their otters and it just so happened to be feeding time for them. They were absolutely adorable and did little tricks now and then. We then went to see their kelp forest exhibit which was gorgeous and something I kind of want to draw or paint someday. They had several other exhibits as well, including an open sea exhibit, a jellyfish exhibit, sea birds, coral reefs, deep sea and others. I was able to see a giant octopus, sharks including a hammerhead (my favorite), rays, countless species of fish and jellyfish, corals, crustaceans, penguins, puffins, small shore birds, a sea turtle, sea stars, eels, sea slugs, and many others. I was even able to gently touch a giant isopod!! We spent some time in the giftshop and then we walked to a seafood restaurant overlooking the ocean. The food was delicious and we were even able to see wild sea otters from our table! After dinner we walked around the little shops near the aquarium and then we drove all the way back to San Francisco.
Our last day.Today wasn’t super eventful. We just spent the day chilling and packing, and then we hopped aboard the plane to head home. Our flight was delayed like 3 separate times but we eventually made it back. It was nice to be back home but I’ve definitely been missing San Francisco! I’m hoping I can come back sometime in the future!
Below are all the souvenirs and little treasures I brought home:
Here are the natural treasures I found, including a hag stone, several shell pieces, and some bits of sea glass. I try to be mindful when collecting things directly from nature and only collect when permitted and legal. I also only try to take a small amount as to not disturb the ecosystem.
These squished pennies are some of my favorite souvenirs to collect! Here are the ones I got in California. I also got a book to put them all in.
I absolutely love collecting postcards as well cause they’re cheap, easy to store, and can be found anywhere! These are only a fraction of the postcards I got:
I got some pins to add to my pin collection!
The only article of clothing I got. I fell in love with this design when I found it! From the Marine Mammal hospital we went to.
Here’s everything else I took home. Most of it was free or included with other purchases.
Finally I made some stamps to remember the trip! Feel free to use them if you want.
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