San Francisco, California | Travel Diary

Hello lovely readers!!!

If you follow me on Instagram, you probably noticed a lot of San Francisco pictures, since I was there a few weeks back. I started up at work again so my days have been pretty packed, but I had an incredible time and I wanted to share some of the highlights of my trip here on the blog. 

My mother and I landed in San Francisco in the late afternoon, so we spent the evening exploring the hotel and I got some amazing pictures of the lobby. We were also upgraded to a suite, compliments of the hotel, so we had way more space to move in and there was a makeup table. I cannot express how excited I was that I could do my makeup at an actual vanity. 

Sunday was almost entirely dominated by a baseball game at AT&T Park between the San Francisco Giants and the San Diego Padres (Obviously I am a Giants fan). The game went a whopping 12 INNINGS and in the blistering hot sun I was so grateful the elderly woman a few seats over shared her sunscreen with me. Otherwise I would have been a radish for the rest of the trip. The Giants lost 5:2, but it was still an incredible game. As an added bonus, the first 20000 fans into the park received a plush window cling of Hunter Pence, the San Francisco Giants’ right fielder. For dinner, we headed to the hotel’s famed Tonga Lounge and Hurricane Bar, which actually has a floating barge in the centre of it upon which live music is played. There are even sheets of rain” coming down around the barge sporadically. 

Monday was the über busy sightseeing day of the trip. We started out by getting a little lost in Chinatown thanks to me turning the wrong way down Mason Street when we left the hotel. Luckily we corrected our path soon enough and still got to see some of the neat features of Chinatown. We then hopped on a cable car to Union Square, home to a massive Macy’s store. After exploring the square, we boarded another cable car and got off at Lombard Street, the crookedest street in the world with 8 hairpin turns!!! From there, we walked to Fisherman’s Wharf and wandered through all the shops and eateries. Despite all the fresh seafood we could have had for lunch, I convinced my mother to try an American institution with me: In-N-Out Burger. The burgers are actually so good!!! After refuelling, we headed over to Pier 39, and finished off the day with ice cream in the famous Ghirardelli Square. By the time we got back to the hotel, we were exhausted so we didn’t go into Grace Cathedral, but it was so beautiful that I had to snap a photo of it. 

On Tuesday, my mother and I went over to Alcatraz Island, which served as a Federal prison from 1934 to 1969. This prison was home to some of the most infamous criminals like Al Capone, Alvin “Creepy” Kari’s, Robert Franklin “Birdman” Stroud, and George “Machine Gun” Kelly. Interestingly, because the prison staff lived and worked on the island, many children called Alcatraz Island home and seldom ever knew prisoners were nearby. While several escape attempts were made, it is believed that no prisoner successfully escaped. 

Wednesday and Thursday were dominated by shopping around Union Square and Westfield Centre, and I scored some incredible deals on dresses and shoes (even with the terrible exchange rate of the Canadian dollar). We also had some delicious Ghirardelli chocolate sundaes for lunch (healthy, I know). 

I was sad to say goodbye to San Francisco and it’s beautiful weather on Friday morning, but I was looking forward to sleeping in my own bed again and, of course, seeing my fur baby. 

I know this travel diary is extremely late, but I still wanted to share this trip on my blog and to showcase some of the incredible sights in San Franscico.

Have you ever been to San Francisco??? What were your favourite things to see and do???