San Francisco

Eric had to go to San Francisco for an Oracle conference last week. I tagged along and we made an awesome vacation out of it. I have been to San Francisco once before, but didn't see many of the sights. Eric had never been, so we thought it was a perfect getaway...especially since Eric's employer was footing the bill for most of it. We had such a great time. I was nervous to leave the kids, but we all powered through.

Our hotel was so nice. We stayed at the InterContinental Mark Hopkins. It was the nicest hotel we've ever stayed in...or probably ever will. This is a dumb picture of me because it was so windy the day we took it, but you can see how pretty the place is.

We went to lots of tourist attractions. The first day we took a ferry out to Alcatraz Island and did an audio tour. It was so interesting to listen to the history of Alcatraz. We were both very impressed with the tour.

The cells were tiny and cramped. We couldn't imagine having to stay there.

The view of San Francisco from Alcatraz.

The Battle of Alcatraz

Almost everywhere we went we rode the cable cars. They were pretty interesting. It seemed like there was really no rhyme or reason to them. We were amazed at how the drivers would stop in the middle of the street sometimes, and all the cars would automatically yield to them. It's a strange system, but a fun way to get around. Riding standing on the outside can be nerve racking. Sometimes you are SO close to the passing cars and buses.

Here's Eric while we were actually going down the street. I hung on extra tight while I took the picture.

We had lots of fun at Fisherman's Wharf. We went to the Wax Museum, the Aquarium at the Bay and Pier 39. We also went to Ghirardelli Square. Fisherman's Wharf was fun just to walk around. There were all kinds of street performers and vendors. It was and exciting place.

Here's Eric at the Wax Museum. It wasn't our most favorite place...kind of cheesy.

Eric with some jellyfish at The Aquarium at the Bay.

Checking out the tide pool where you could touch starfish, etc...

The awesome double decker carousel at Pier 39.

Ghirardelli Square

One morning before Eric had to go to his conference, we walked over to Chinatown. It looked like it would be a fun place to shop, but none of the stores were open yet, even though it was 9:00am. Then we took the trolley to Lombard Street. It is the most crooked street in the world. The street is lined with beautiful flowers. The houses around it are pretty amazing too. We couldn't even guess how much it would cost to live there.

Oh Chinatown, why do you sleep so late when I'm on vacation?

Lombard Street.

The icing on the cake for us was the Oracle appreciation concert that we were able to go to. It was the most amazing company party ever. They bussed everyone who attended the conference out to Treasure Island where they had an indoor and outdoor stage. They also had free food, drinks, and carnival games. We had such a good time and stayed out way too late. We saw The Black Eyed Peas, The Steve Miller Band, and Berlin. They also had Don Henley, Montgomery Gentry, and The English Beat, but we hadn't really heard of any of them. I still can't believe we got to go to a concert like that for free. Oracle isn't messing around!

Eric heading into the party.

Fergie and Will.i.am

On Thursday morning before we had to head home we visited the Golden Gate Bridge. It was so cool. Once again we were very impressed.

It was so good for the two of us to take a vacation together. It was the 1st time we have ever left the kids for longer than just overnight. We had SO much fun, but we were VERY happy to see Ellie, David, and John. Little John hasn't let me out of his sight since we got back! We would definitely visit San Francisco again.