Open Your Golden Gates!

We had a fantastic three day weekend in beautiful San Francisco with my family. We stayed in a posh hotel near Union Square, next to lots of shopping.

That night we met with Drew for dinner and good old Ghiradelli ice cream.

Saturday morning we took a tour of Chinatown with Wok Wiz. Our guide Lola gave us cultural insights into the area, having grown up there. The tour capped off with a dim sum lunch.

At night we saw the local cabaret must-see Beach Blanket Babylon. I've seen it three times now, my parents much more. It's a hilarious fast paced musical revue with pop culture parody. It's been playing for 32 years and sells out every single show. They pack you into the Club Fugazi tight, elbow to elbow. But you forget about that as soon as the show starts.

Sunday we rented a car so we could cross the bridge to see our old house in Marin and the beach we used to visit.

We drove to Muir woods to ogle at the redwoods and sequoias. Despite huge crowds, the forest felt magical.

We crossed back into the city and did a driving tour of the Castro and Mission neighborhoods. We stopped to take photos of the pretty painted lady houses.

Then back to the hotel for a quick rest before eating a superb meal at Zingaro's. I'm going to try to recreate my entree later this week. To walk off dinner we hiked up to the Grace Cathedral and walked the labyrinth.

That night I opened some birthday presents and ate Valentines chocolates. Ben and I had a fast, safe flight back to Denver early Monday morning. The Salt Lake crowd weren't so lucky, but they eventually made it back too. We are all tired, like usual after a Waterhouse vacation, but we had a great time!

More photos are on flickr, mine and Ben's.