Since Sean was going to be in California, we decided to meet him up there. The plan was to spend 1 night in San Fran then drive to Yosemite and lastly end up in LA. Armed with bag and a backpack each. Can we survive living out of a carry-on for 10 days? Can the kids survive moving from place to place every few days ???
The kids and I set out for San Fran to meet up with Sean.
Wow! Hotels in San Fran aren't cheap. We wanted to be in the downtown so we wouldn't need a car but also didn't want to pay $200/night. We found a great deal for one night at the Palace Hotel. It was right in the heart of San Fran. A block off the Bart, a 10 minutes walk to the Ferry Building Marketplace, a 10 minute walk to Chinatown, and a 20 minute bus ride to Fisherman's Wharf.
It was a great place for the kids! The valet would hand them stacks of Ghiradelli's chocolates, the pool had kick boards and free apples. I would definitely stay there again.
The first day, it was just me and the kids, we just wandered down to Ferry Building and a really great park across the street from it.
After a good night sleep, we stopped for some delicious donuts at Happy Donuts and Ella's favorite Noah's Bagels. We people watched on park benches chowing down.
After a quick costume change, a trip to the pool and more chocolates from the valet, we were off to Chinatown on foot.
We tried to take a trolley to Fisherman's Wharf but the wait times were crazy, so grabbed a limo that was taking people that way for the same price. Fisherman's wharf was a little to touristy for our liking. We grabbed a bite to eat, walked around a bit, then tried to take the trolley. Again the wait time was insane, so we opted for the bus. Picked up our rental and headed to Yosemite.