A Day in San Francisco

The first time we visit a place, we like to do the “touristy stuff”, so on a recent trip to San Francisco, those were our plans.

We began the day in line to ride the a Trolley.  The Trolley line is not small, and it took about an hour to get to the front of the line.  I had read on other travel websites, that a Trolley ride was essential to having a successful visit to San Francisco, and that waiting in the {consistently} long Trolley ride line would be well worth it.  And it was.

We caught the trolley at the corner of Powell and Market Streets, where there is a turnaround.  From there, the ride takes you up and down the streets of San Francisco, the trolley lurching and careening as you go.  The trolley has bench seats, as well as running board-type standing room, and of course, my children all wanted to stand on the edge.  Which made the mom in me terrified.  This was not a leisurely ride.  I’m not sure how fast the thing was going, but it was fast enough that when we passed another trolley you had to make sure that you sucked in so that you wouldn’t lose a limb.  It was thrilling and terrifying all at the same time.

The scariest part of the ride came almost at the end when we were on a downward slope.  We could see that the tracks curved at the bottom of the hill and turned a corner.  The Trolley driver didn’t seem to notice, as we plummeted down the slope, gaining speed as we went.  About a half a block before the turn, the driver yells “everybody hang on!” and slams on the brakes.  We swung around the corner clutching our children and {miraculously} somehow managed to stay on the trolley ourselves.

A few blocks later, we staggered off of the trolley at Lombard street, “the Crookedest Street”.  The kids and husband were unimpressed. 

 

We then walked the remaining 2 or 3 blocks to Fishermans Wharf.  There they had a little area with some old ships, which was fun for the kids to look at.  Although Fisherman’s Wharf is on most lists of “Things to do when you are in San Francisco,” it was pretty smelly and there were tons of tourists there.  We did eat at a few of the different fish stands there and it was okay.  Fisherman’s Wharf was good to see once, but I wouldn’t schedule a lot of time there if I were doing it again.

The main reason to go to Fisherman’s wharf is to get on a Bay Cruise.  There are a couple of different companies that sell water tours and the best way to get tickets is to just go to the counter when you get there.  The tour we took went through San Francisco Bay, under the Golden Gate Bridge, and around Alcatraz.  It was fun, but crowded.  And chilly, so bring a sweater or jacket.

Sidenote: We were hoping to be able to tour Alcatraz on our visit to San Francisco, but unfortunately, tickets were sold out.  Make sure you check ticket availability before you go.

After our Bay Cruise, we headed to The Golden Gate Bridge.  This was our favorite.

The Golden Gate Bridge is probably the most famous landmark in San Francisco.  It is one mile long and you can walk, or ride a bike across it.  We walked to the first column.  The kids loved it. 

Another interesting thing to see in San Francisco is Chinatown.  There is a touristy, shoppy street in Chinatown which I hear has cheap knick knacks and colorful lanterns.  We did not end up in that part of Chinatown.  We ended up walking through the Chinese marketplace around dinnertime.  We passed several fruit and vegetable stands as well as meat markets, filled with varieties of fish and cooked birds hanging from the ceiling with heads still attached.  The kids were a little grossed out by this.

This is the image of San Francisco that the kids took home with them.  People will ask, “how did you like visiting San Francisco?” and they will tell them about walking through the marketplace in Chinatown, and oh, yeah, they liked the bridge and the trolley ride, too.

We were in San Francisco about a day and a half, and it took us about that long to figure out the public transit system {we traveled by train, trolley, and bus}.  It was a little stressful to be figuring this out with kids in tow, but was a good experience for the kids to see and learn how people get around in other places.

Overall, it was a good place to visit.  If we were to go back, we would be sure to visit Golden Gate Park, Alcatraz, and maybe to a bike ride across the bridge.

MMMonday {Blueberry Muffin French Toast}

Hey everyone.  I hope you all had a great week!  My kids went back to school last Tuesday and for their back-to-school breakfast, they requested Costco muffins.  The hands-down favorite at our house are the chocolatey chocolate chip variety, but we also really like their classic blueberry muffins.  Since you get two packages, we usually grab one of each.  But we always have blueberry left over.  And after a few days, they aren’t as awesome.  So to use the left over blueberry muffins, last week I used them to make Blueberry Muffin French Toast.

It was so yummy and easy.

Start by making your basic french toast mixture.  I use this recipe:

1 cup heavy cream

4 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

Whisk everything together.

Then I sliced the blueberry muffins, dipped them in the french toast mixture, and put them on the griddle till they were browned on both sides.  We served them with whipped cream, and a drizzle of raspberry syrup.

Have a great week!

MMMonday {Summer Salmon}

Today I would like to share with you one of our favorite fish recipes.  We’re not really fish people, but we really like this one.  It’s easy to make, and perfect for a quick summer meal.

We use salmon for this recipe.

Slice it into steaks and place on 2 sheets of tinfoil with a little bit of olive oil on it.  Drizzle the salmon with honey. Sprinkle it with salt and pepper, and some chopped red onions.

Let it sit for about 15-30 minutes.  Flip the fish over a time or two during the 15-30 minutes to make sure the fish is coated with honey, onions and salt and pepper.

Grill the fish to desired done-ness, and enjoy with potatoes, veggies or fruit.

We like to grill our veggies.  These are green beans, but we have also done yellow squash and zucchini successfully.  For the veggies, we drizzle olive oil, sprinkle garlic salt and some pepper and they are awesome.

Send me a note if you try this recipe.  I would love to hear what you think!

Flashback Friday: Utah County Parade of Homes

With the Salt Lake County Parade of Home well under way this week, {and me not going, boo hoo} I decided to go through some of my hundreds of pictures from the Utah County Parade of Homes in June.

There is so much to love about the Parade of Homes.  The beautiful homes and furniture, the great decorating ideas and the girl time with my parade buddy, Lisa.

I also love that I come away feeling inspired and energized to tackle some of the decorating and design issues in my own home.

Here are some of my favorite moments:

I loved this house in Highland, because it was fun and fearless.  It reminded me that my house is mine to do whatever I want with, and that I shouldn’t be afraid to put a hole in the wall or to personalize it in ways that will make me and my family happy.

These are random photos from different houses.  I have the perfect place to do horizontal stripes in my own home.  I love that it this would-be boring, awkward wall interesting.Almost every home we visited had a sliding barn door.  Oh, how I love a good sliding barn door. Another trend this year: secret doors.  Awesome. This bedroom was beautiful.  It’s hard to tell from the picture, but it had the perfect balance of pink and gold.  So pretty.This whitewashed herringbone brick fireplace.  I love it so much.The house with this dress-up room in it had a colossal play room, with different themed areas.  Lego room, salon room, candy store room, and of course kids’ movie theater and video game station.  But this dress-up room is genius.  Every home should have a dress-up room.  Am I right?! There were lots of decorations at the Parade of Homes where I could hear my mother’s voice in my head when I saw them.  “We could make that,” she used to say when we were shopping.  It used to drive me nuts.  Now I get it.  I heard her when I saw this great bench.  That light.  So fun. This home in Mapleton also had a lot of great features.  And I looooved the decorating.  And I always love the parade home by Ezra Lee.  His homes are super contemporary and creative.  And while we don’t always have the same taste, I always leave his homes inspired to try new things. One last thought.  In talking to others about the Parade of Homes, some of them tell me that they like to go, but sometimes feel like visiting these homes makes them feel sad, or like their own homes don’t measure up.  I can honestly tell you, that I’ve had those same thoughts in the past myself.  These homes are new and pristine and have been decorated by professionals.  In most cases, no real person or family has ever lived in these homes.  So there is no clutter, or clothes.  No kids’ art projects strewn all over the place.  No family pictures on the walls.  They are just houses.  They are not homes.  When I visit these houses, I remember that and it takes the my-house-is-not-good-enough feelings away. 

Because I wouldn’t trade all of my mess for the most perfect home in the world.

August Visiting Teaching Message {The Divine Mission of Christ: Messiah}

The message this month is simple and sweet.  Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer.  He lived a perfect life and was a perfect example.  Because He atoned for our sins, we can live with our Father in Heaven again.

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf said, “He is the promised Messiah.  He lived a perfect life and atoned for our sins.  He will ever be at our side.  He will fight our battles.  He is our hope; He is our salvation; He is the way.”

In 2 Nephi 25:16, we read I love that.  Pure hearts and clean hands.

So for the handout this month, you will need some hand-sanitizer or soap and some cute cardstock, some washi tape, and twine or ribbon.

Print the label for the hand sanitizer {there are 6 on each page}

Print the message, and trim both to size {2 messages per page}

I affixed my label with washi tape, then folded the message and put it on the back of the hand sanitizer and tied it all together with twine.

So easy.

Happy Visiting Teaching!