audrey's adventures...: Doin' the Tourist Thing

Its funny how much you can take a city for granted when you've lived there your whole life.

For example, I've only been to the top of the Sears Tower once, when out-of-town guests were visiting. My first visit to Millennium Park was purely by chance, and a full year after it opened. And I don't think Mark and I ever made it to the Taste of Chicago after we got married. The list of things that Chicago has to offer is endless, yet some of them I never took advantage of in the twenty-eight years I lived there.

Like Chicago, San Francisco has enough to do to keep you busy for days on end. One of the best things about having visitors to show around is that it draws us back into the city and gives us an excuse to be intentional about enjoying its amazing sights. Not surprisingly, every SINGLE time we drive over the bridge and into the heart of SF, we ask ourselves Why, again, didn't we choose to live Right Here?

Thanks to it being President's Day, on the Monday of my parent's visit, Mark was able to join us for our City tour. We drove through Union Square, down winding Lombard Street, and around Telegraph Hill, where we stopped to enjoy a trip to the top of Coit Tower. The weather was ABSOLUTELY perfect, and the views spectacular.

Some of greatest view of San Francisco are from the top of its steepest hills. After winding down Lombard Street, we hiked to the top and enjoyed this view. We could see the unobstructed Coit Tower in the distance, and decided that it was the perfect day to go for a closer look.

Magnificent against the clouded sky.

One of the most interesting things you'll find at the top of the tower (other than the 360 degree view of the city and bay) are coins from all over the world in the window wells.

Alcatraz.

The remainder of our afternoon and early evening was spent in Chinatown, were we ate and did quite a lot of shopping. Mom and Dad were able to buy most of the souvenirs they would bring back with them, and the best part of the afternoon was happening upon a tiny tea shop, were we enjoyed tea tasting and walked away with the most delicious jasmine tea you can imagine.

At the gates to Chinatown.

Dim Sum (and then some) at Kan's. We may or may not have mistakenly ordered chicken feet, which Mark bravely tasted, and then recommended that none of the rest of us do so. Other than that, it was delicious!