San Francisco Day 1

We arrived in San Francisco Saturday at noon and started driving around checking out all the sites. We headed to the farmer's market for lunch because it is only on Saturday and only until 2 pm. There were lots of vendors serving lunch and we chose Rosie's at the entrance, which was very California-ish.

Then we walked around the market and bought some fruit and dried apricots. The produce looked great! We hung around Union Tower for quite a while, walked by the sculptures, walked barefoot through the grass ( I know, can you believe it? It was Mark's idea to take off our shoes and just chill for a while), and watched some skateboarders. Very relaxing. Then we drove around scoping out the town. We also checked into our VERY nice hotel on Nob Hill and went straight to the spa - the amenities were included in our stay (woo-hoo!). The whirlpool and sauna were big hits with me, but Mark really liked the steam room. By this time it was late and we went to a late dinner at a very authentic Chinese restaurant in China Town. I ordered fish and eggplant in a clay pot but the waiter told me that I would not like it, as the fish was very salty and fishy tasting, so he suggested a very similar dish in a clay pot (which makes it stew-like) that included greens and eggplant (one of my favorite veggies). Mark ordered pork which he really liked. We had SO much food, and it was authentic, different, and good.

First day recap in San Francisco - loved all the fresh food, authentic Chinese cuisine, and walking around downtown San Francisco, enjoying the sculptures. The hotel was very, very nice!