Labor Day in SF!

Giants Game

My parents came out for a visit over Labor Day weekend.  They had not been for over 2 years.  I feel I know the city so much better than the last time!  I think I now know the reason they waited so long to come back...they were scared!  I made them walk so much!  I don't have a car, so I bike everywhere.  I take the bus, sparingly, and usually regret it every time! No, it's usually not that bad....usually.  My parents came at the perfect time of the year--the weather began to shift from the foggy, windy "summer," to the warm, sunny fall!

Dad & Mom in Sausalito

My parents stayed in Nob Hill, a very old, very hilly, somewhat touristy part of the city--right down the street from the famous Grace Cathedral, Tonga Room, and in their hotel, Top of the Mark, a bar at the 20th floor with an amazing view of the city. Going to and coming from their hotel was a nice hill-climb--it really was, as my dad reminds me, "uphill both ways!" But my parents, as always, were good sports. We watched the Giants beat the Rockies at AT&T Park. We took a drive down the coast to Half Moon Bay and Santa Cruz, and not surprising, ate at an overpriced seafood restaurant on the Boardwalk.  In Napa, we walked all through the downtown and had lunch at the Oxbow Public Market.  Not to let them feel as though they ever left home, we hit up a dive bar called the Hyde-Out, a few blocks from their hotel!  Though, SF might rival Hibbing on the bar/people ratio! We stopped by the Ferry Building farmer's market on our way to catching a ferry to Sausalito, where we had lunch at one of my favorite, coffee-refueling-while-biking cafes, Cibo.

Giants Game

Santa Cruz

My dad even installed a new shower head in our bathroom. My parents let me cook them dinner the night they left, which they graciously claimed was the best meal they'd eaten in SF.  I think they were just delirious and hungry from walking so much!