While in San Diego, Jason and I visited Belmont Park at Mission Beach. The highlight of Belmont Park is their historic wooden roller coaster, Giant Dipper. Built in 1925, it is one of two remaining wooden roller coasters on the West Coast built by Arthur Looff and designed by Frederick Church. Church also designed Tornado, a wooden coaster once in operation in Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York.

I have always loved the nostalgia surrounding the wooden roller coaster and old boardwalks. I think of people enjoying their ice cream cones and cotton candy, while enjoying the various amusements and entertainment available at the boardwalk. While we did not enjoy ice cream cones or cotton candy on this trip, we did enjoy our ride on the historic coaster!

During our time in the Bay Area, Jason and I were able to spend a day exploring Napa Valley. Prior to our trip, we booked a couple of places to taste area wines. You know what they say about the best laid plans…our first tasting appointment of the day did not work out. Since our second tasting was later in the day, we had a lot of spare time on our hands that we had not planned for. We took advantage of the extra time by spending it in Calistoga, the cutest little town.

We started our day with some coffee and pastries at Bella Bakery on the town’s main street. After breakfast, we took time to explore all the cute, unique shops before stopping at Checker’s for lunch. I have discovered Chinese chicken salads since moving to California and this one did not disappoint. This one was packed full of mixed greens, cucumber, carrots, pickled ginger and roasted chicken. The salad was topped with green onions, almonds, won tons, rice noodles and finished off with a Chinese dressing. Jason opted for the roasted leg of lamb with sautéed mushrooms, roasted garlic, caramelized onions, that was sandwiched between two pieces of focaccia bread.

On our way back to San Francisco, we stopped off at The Culinary Institute of America at Greystone for a late afternoon pick-me-up. I wish I had taken the time to snap a picture of the outside of the building, it was so gorgeous! The treat (pun absolutely intended) during our visit was getting to taste a pastry prepared by the students from the baking and pastry degree program.

The happy accident at the end of the day? Arriving back to San Francisco via the Golden Gate Bridge! Our GPS took us out of the city in a different route, so it was so fun getting to drive across the bridge while coming back in. We made it back just in time to catch the sun setting over the gorgeous bridge. I don’t think I could ever tire of that view.

I really love this funky coffee shop’s hanging signage!

The best type of train!!

Chinese chicken salad

Roasted leg of lamb sandwich on focaccia

iPhone snap inside the barrel room during our tasting

iPhone snap inside the barrel room during our tasting

Culinary Institute of America at Greystone

Cappuccino + chocolate caramel pastry at The Culinary Institute

Crossing the Golden Gate!

That bridge + that sunset. One of my favorite moments!

After enjoying our treat at Ghirardelli, we strolled down Jefferson Street and shopped as we went. We made it to Fisherman’s Wharf and spent some time at the Musée Mécanique, located on Pier 45. Musée Mécanique is one of the largest privately owned collections of coin-operated mechanical musical instruments and antique arcade machines that are still in original working condition. It was so fun to see all of the arcade games that were previously played at places like Coney Island in Brooklyn. Jason really loved this place! A bonus: the stunning views of Alcatraz from the back of the museum.

It was an absolutely gorgeous day that ended at Boudin Bistro. We loved Boudin’s atmosphere, the views of the street from the bar and their food! We initially went in to have some drinks before dinner and ended up staying for dinner. We had sourdough fish tacos, pepperoni pizza with a sourdough crust and cinnamon-sugar dusted sourdough beignets. Are you sensing a common denominator here? Boudin’s big on the sourdough, and I’m not complaining! It was all delicious, but let’s talk about those beignets. They were so good and served with vanilla gelato! Jason and I agree, one apiece was not nearly enough.

Recently, Jason and I were able to take a trip up north and explore the Bay Area a bit. We fell in love with San Francisco – the history, the food, the bay, the fashion, the cable cars, the quirkiness, the row houses, the individuality, the fog. This city has definitely gotten public transportation right and it was so fun and easy to get everywhere. We rode the cable cars, the electric buses and historic streetcars (from different cities around the world).

First on our agenda was a sighting of the Golden Gate Bridge! It was so surreal to see it in person. Can I just say, I am in love with this red bridge?! We spent some time at the Walt Disney Family Museum and took in some Disney history on our first day, a half day, in the city before having dinner and settling into our room.

The following day, our first full day in the city, we started our day out with a walk (which obviously included hills, seemingly placed with no rhyme or reason) to grab a coffee (more on that later) and then headed to see ‘The Crooked Street,’ a portion of Lombard Street. Seeing people traverse this crooked little street in their vehicles was quite entertaining! We didn’t drive it, but we did start at the top and walk down.

Next stop was Ghirardelli Square for lunch at Lori’s Diner and a sundae for dessert at Ghirardelli. Jason and I have been pretty lucky in that Disneyland has a Ghirardelli Soda Fountain and we frequent that happy little place, but it was neat to be able to take in some of the history and enjoy a treat where the company got its start.

View from Walt Disney Family Museum

I just love these pretty little row houses + the scooter parked out front!

View atop Lombard Street

Lombard Street