In my last post, I recapped my trip up the beautiful coast of California, where we journeyed along the cliffs of Big Sur and through the forests of the gigantic California Redwoods – all along the way to our final destination: San Francisco.
San Francisco is one of my favorite cities in the U.S., and the whole Bay Area offers so many different things to do that you’ll need to spend more than a day or two here if you’ve never visited before. The first night we were there, we wandered in to a dimly lit but spacious bar called Local Edition, which I highly recommend if you’re looking for chill vibes and delicious craft cocktails. Local Edition was created in the style of a speakeasy, however, unlike typical speakeasies that require a password, a reservation, and are located in a small room, this sweet spot is located in a spacious downstairs room, with intimate tables and a relaxing ambiance. I tried a few different cocktails while we were there (because I couldn’t choose just one!) and each one was incredibly good – I’m craving the taste right now as I write this!
We had lunch the next day at La Mar Cebicheria, which I have been dying to try ever since my last visit to the city. This place is on the pricier side, since it’s owned by famous Peruvian chef Gaston Acurio. I thought that the portions were a bit small, but the food was absolutely delicious and worth it. We tried the sampler from both the raw side and the cooked side of the menu, so I had a taste of everything – seriously guys, this place is so yummy! I also ordered one of my favorite Maracuya Sours, which is a passion fruit version of Peru’s popular Pisco Sour. (P.S. check out my travels to Peru if you haven’t already!) Since you can never skip dessert in my world, we had to try the choco-maracuya, which is a creamy passion fruit mousse, layered with raspberry compote and dark chocolate. We sat on the outdoor patio, which had such beautiful outdoor views right on the water and a cool breeze off the bay blowing through – it was so relaxing!
By the way, if you want some great pictures next to the bridge, you have to visit the Marin Headlands (exit North out of the city). This one-lane road up the hill gets quite busy, so keep your eyes peeled for parking in the first section of the hill (this is the closest viewpoint, though there are 2 or 3 more viewpoints if you drive farther up), and be prepared for traffic and cars everywhere. It was seriously so windy when we got up here! I could barely stand still to take a picture and my hair was literally everywhere. You should have seen my camera roll – we definitely had a good laugh scrolling through the images of our struggles (in other words, the struggle was real)!
We also stopped along the eastern part of Lombard Street, which is the famous zig-zagging, downhill flower-lined street. I saw a bunch of people rent these cute little go-carts to ride down the street – it looked so much fun, so I’ll definitely have to try that out next time! The street is super crowded, so I don’t recommend trying to drive down it unless you’re okay waiting for some time. We decided to park a few blocks away and just walk down, but there’s no real place to get a picture of the zig-zags unless you take an aerial shot. (Thank you to Renato Cinematography for these great shots!)
And those are my favorite hot spots that I visited this time around! Of course, there’s a million more places I’d like to try – on my list for next time are the SF MOMA and the Wilson & Wilson speakeasy, just to name a few.
xx.
