10 Things to Do in the Bay Area

I have mentioned before that I love to get out and explore the area(s) that I live in. Now that we have moved from the Bay Area I wanted to be sure to put together a list of 10 fun things to do in the area. I'm sure my list is not the best list out there, but these are some of my personal favorites that I would recommend to other people, or even make a special trip back just to do them again.
They are listed in no particular order:

One:

Take a picnic at an Off The Grid food truck site. Make sure to save room for food truck dessert too.

Two:

Spend the day (or part of the day) at Chrissy Fields Beach. The beach is in the northern part of San Francisco. You can see the Golden Gate Bridge from the beach, but you don't have to deal with all the tourists. (Win!)

Three:

Thrift store shopping on Haight Street in San Francisco. The street is packed with awesome thrift, vintage, and antique stores. Heaven!

Four:

Take a trip down Coastal Highway One. Enjoy the scenery, stop at abandoned beaches, grab food at cute roadside cafes and restaurants.

Five:

Enjoy an ice-cream cone from Birite Creamery (basil and lavender are my favorite flavors) while strolling through Dolores Park in the Mission District of San Francisco.

Six:

Drive up to Twin Peaks and take in the view of San Francisco. Make sure to admire all the cool architecture of houses built into the side of the hill on your way up (or down).

Seven:

Head north of San Francisco to Bolinas Bay to watch surfers and explore the cute town. Or...rent a wetsuit and board and try it yourself. (There is a gentle surf in Bolinas so it is good for beginners.)

Eight:

Get dinner at Pacific Cafe, an older seafood restaurant on the edge of San Francisco that gives you free wine while you wait for a table. (Their salmon and shrimp dishes are amazing!)

Nine:

Grab some quarters and enjoy the old penny arcade on Fishermans Warf in San Francisco. Such an interesting place filled with old games brought back to life.

Ten:

Make a fire on Ocean Beach or Muir Beach (only beaches that allow fires).

...Eleven:

Couldn't forget this one. Explore Sonoma wine country (less touristy than Napa). The best way to do it is to rent bicycles and ride to the vineyards.

Ocean Beach!

Ahh, Ocean Beach, San Francisco. Andy and I picnicked here a few weeks ago and it was wonderful! We are on the constant search for good beaches in the Bay Area. Not that there are beaches that are not good, but some have better perks than others. Some allow fires, some don't, some get crowded, others are abandoned, some allow dogs, others are strict with animals, some are blocked from the wind, others are warm...and it goes on. Ocean Beach is one that we have put of visiting due to the fact that it is actually in San Francisco. We figured it would be crowded and over run with people, not to mention cold and windy. Surprisingly though, it was none of those things.

Ocean Beach runs about the whole length of the western side of San Francisco. It stretches pretty far and because of that there is plenty of space to spread out. We went on sunny day and it actually got hot! We didn't wear bathing suits because the Bay Area beaches are far too cold for that. We were tucked away in the grassy bluffs out of sight for most to see us, so we stripped down to our underwear and basked in the sun. (Simply divine!) Not only was Ocean Beach warm, but we saw plenty of dogs and I think beach fires are even allowed. This seems like a beach win for the books!

Alcatraz!

It is my strong belief that when you live somewhere you should explore the area in depth, and know not only the cool things to do, but the history as well. It always saddens me to hear of someone having lived in an area for 5-10 years and still not knowing about the history or cool things around them. Having said that, Andy and I put our tourist shoes on and went to Alcatraz!

Alcatraz was so neat! I am not a huge history buff or even one for enjoying overly touristy things, but this was COOL! It was as touristy and history filled as you wanted it to be, which I appreciated. We took a boat out to the tiny island and upon getting off the boat we could do whatever we wanted. We had four hours of time on the island, of which we could take a boat back at any time. Time on the island could be spent following a tour guide, doing an audio tour only in the prison, following a pamphlet walking tour, or just wandering around on your own.

Andy and I decided to skip the tour guide and do our own thing. We were pretty excited to see the inside of the prison so we went straight up to the top of the island where the prison sat. There, we did an audio tour which guided us through the prison telling us stories and bits of history. It was VERY interesting, I loved it! I wish I could remember all the cool facts that were given, but alas I cannot. You will just have to experience the audio tour for yourself.

(Inside an Alcatraz cell)

After our audio tour of the prison we decided to wander the island on our own. Aside from the wardens huge house in ruins, we happened upon beautiful gardens. The gardens on Alcatraz surprised me the most. I had no idea that it was such a beautiful little island. Most of the time you think of Alcatraz just as a prison, but this island was so much more. It was a small town of sorts where all the prison guards and their families lived.

(This picture is an interesting contrast of beautiful gardens and the prison in the background.)

Andy and I had so much fun on our Alcatraz tour and now we know even more about the Bay Area. It was such a fun trip and I would recommend it to everyone. During the audio tour we heard something about the mess-hall being famous for serving spaghetti, so when we got home we made spaghetti and watched the old 'Escape from Alcatraz' movie. It was a great way to end our day visiting Alcatraz.

(Not sure exactly what this was, but it doesn't look like fun.)

(Checking out prison cells on the audio tour.)

(The outdoor area where prisoners could exercise and/or play games. It looks sunny, but was windy and freezing cold!!)

(Solitary confinement. They shut us in there for 5-minutes, it was blackout with no sound. Kind of crazy.)

(A view of San Francisco from Alcatraz.)

(Beautiful gardens with exotic birds roaming them.)

(Unfortunately Alcatraz is falling apart. Most of the island is in ruins.)

*If you decide to check out Alcatraz for yourself dress WARM. It was windy and freezing cold on the island. We were warm enough, but left early due to having the chills.*

Apple Cake and a Birthday!

Last week was Andy's 28th Birthday! Finally he is the same age as me...for a few months. Every year for his birthday Andy asks me to bake him an apple cake, and to be more specific his Mom's apple cake. The first time we were married and he requested this I thought he was joking. Who would want an apple cake if you could have chocolate cake or something more exciting?! He was serious about his apple cake though. So through my complete boredom of apple cake I forced a happy baker smile and baked him his mom's recipe. To my surprise it was awesome! So moist, simple yet full of flavor. I was completely impressed and kicked myself for doubting this infamous apple cake. Now I faithfully bake it every year on Andy's birthday.

This particular apple cake recipe is baked in a bundt pan, but due to minimalist living I had gotten rid of our bundt pan. So this year I attempted apple cake cupcakes. They were ok, but I definitely recommend the bundt pan. (Now I've got a year to replace the bundt pan that I so happily got rid of...whoops!)

In addition to apple cake, Andy and I had a romantic dinner at the Pacific Cafe. This restaurant came highly recommended by some friends so we figured we would finally check it out. Pacific Cafe is located in the outer part of San Francisco and is not actually near much. The evening was cool with a bit of fog and no one was around the neighborhood when we arrived. I immediately doubted the restaurant and wondered if we should go somewhere else. We stuck with it though and as we entered we realized there was a line! A line, seriously, at this place?! As soon as we put our names on the list a friendly old man greeted us with two glasses of wine. We didn't question it...sure we'll take free wine. While deep in conversation waiting for a table and with almost empty wine glasses, the old man came around with a bottle of wine and filled our glasses again. This happened about 3(!!) times before we were sat. Let me just say that we were a little more than tipsy. Hungry and happy on wine we ordered some appetizers and then dinner. I ordered the salmon with baked shrimp, Andy ordered the tuna fillet. We were stuffed with bread, salads, and appetizers so only a small portion of our dinners were eaten. It was melt in your mouth goodness though! After sitting and eating (and sobering up) for a very long time we happily took our leftovers and headed home. What a great place.

Apple Cake Recipe (via Andy's mom):
5-6 apples, peeled and diced
4 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 c. sugar
-Prepare, mix ingredients, and set aside.

3 c. flour
2 c. sugar
3 tsp. baking powder
1 c. oil
4 eggs
1/2 c. orange juice
2 1/2 tsp. vanilla
-Mix together until smooth

Grease and flour a bundt pan. Pour 1/2 batter then 1/2 apple mixture. Repeat until it has all been used. Bake at 350 degrees for 1-1.5 hours. To serve: dust the top of the cake with powdered sugar.

The birthday boy happily (really, he was happy) munching on appetizers.

(My dinner. The lighting in the restaurant was horrible. This picture doesn't do the food justice.)

Ellie Style - Ocean Beach

Andy and I have been meaning to check out Ocean Beach for a while now. It is directly on the other side of San Francisco (from Oakland) and is a large stretch of beach, almost the length of San Francisco. I always thought it would be a chilly beach since it is directly exposed to the Pacific with no bay or inlet protecting it from wind and fog. We were surprised when we picnicked there though. With the sun shining it was actually hot and Andy even took his shirt off, oh boy! :) A dress and sweater was perfect for the day. I quickly lost the sweater and exposed my white shoulders to a bit of sun. It was lovely! (I am especially a fan of navy stripes on the beach!)

Lands End dress (last year) and sweater, Target sunglasses and sandals

Foggy City

Sometimes Andy and I find ourselves driving just for the sake of driving. The Bay Are is especially good for that. I also think we have our best conversations when we are driving. Back when Andy and I lived in a group house the only place we truly had privacy (for the sake of loud conversations) was in the car. If we ever needed to fight or really discuss something we would go for a drive so that we could be as loud as we wanted without disturbing anyone. It was pretty great! So we feel quite comfortable driving in the car with each other just chit chatting away. On this particular day, we were driving and chatting when we found ourselves in Marin above the Golden Gate Bridge. We weren't driving there on purpose, we just happened upon the spot. It was pretty cool to see the bridge and city engulfed in fog on such a sunny day. I had fun imagining that all of San Francisco was experiencing dull overcast skies and fog, while we sat on top of the hill observing it all and basking in the sunshine.

Strong Arms Saturday!

This Strong-Arms-Saturday is brought to you by Alcatraz Island. Alcatraz was such a fun Saturday adventure. We were lucky to go on a particularly beautiful, yet windy day. It was fun to explore the gardens on the island along with the views and of course the prison itself. Look for a future post on Alcatraz. Happy Saturday!

What exciting things do you have planned for Saturday? Feel like snapping a picture of your own Strong-Arms-Saturday, send me a picture and I'll post it along with a little story and a link to your website or blog (if you have one):  E-mail Me!

Strong Arms Saturday!

This Strong-Arms-Saturday is brought to you by Crissy Fields. A new neighbor friend just told us about Crissy Fields. We have passed them in the hall on their way to this beach with their dog a few times, so we finally tagged along. Our dogs have decided to be best friends (the best way to meet people!), so obviously now we are friends. They showed us a non-crowded, non-touristy part of the Crissy Fields beach and our dogs had a wonderful time. It was also a great, clear day to see the Golden Gate Bridge and watch all the sailboats coming in and out. Gosh, I love the beach!

What exciting things do you have planned for Saturday? Feel like snapping a picture of your own Strong-Arms-Saturday, send me a picture and I'll post it along with a little story and a link to your website or blog (if you have one):  E-mail Me!

 That is Alcatraz to the right of Andy.