San Francisco, CA - Labor Day Weekend 2008

I had just returned from Europe last Tuesday night the 26th of August and now I'm off to San Francisco to meet-up with Rob while he's up there working. He won't be working these next three days due to Labor Day so why not go up and see him and check out some of the sights that San Francisco has to offer! I flew in from Burbank airport and took a cab from SFO to the Marriott in Downtown SF. There he was. Sitting outside waiting for me..actually reading and having a cigarette as I pull into the hotel. I haven't seen him since SUNDAY - when he left from Tallinn, Estonia to come straight over here to SF for work. He took my bag and helped me bring my stuff to the room. We relaxed for a bit and then he told me we had reservations for a Japanese restaurant and for the life of me, I can't remember the name. I will have to ask Rob, because it was so yummy! We head back to the hotel and make it an early night. The following day we head over to a recommended Chinese restaurant and that Hot and Sour soup was so good and vinegary that it was so delicious going down the back of my throat. Mmmmm, Mmmmm GOOD!!!! We then walked through China Town, bought a beautiful painting from one of the stores and had it sent home. The painting was magnificent. So simple, but so moving. We walked around more, did some shopping and who knows what else we did. The one thing I do remember is we went to Castro street and ate at the most AMAZING Seafood restaurant - it was named Catch! Oh, it was so good, my mouth is watering as I think about it. The restaurant itself also had some beautiful artwork that was for sale. Rob and I kept eyeing this one piece, but alas our money was limited since who knows how much we spent in Europe! Sunday - the 31st of August. Wow, what a day! Rob had this day planned and it was wonderful! He rented a car and drove me to Napa Valley to the Robert Mondavi Winery and we had a private wine tasting! We also did the tour of the Mondavi Winery - but the private tasting was so delicious! Realized I LOVE Moscato de Oro. Their dessert wine. It's heavenly! We also had some Cabernet's, Merlot's and Fume Blanc...but the Moscato was the BEST. In fact, Rob and I had 9 bottles of it shipped home, along with a couple of bottles of Cabernets and Merlot. Free shipping....so why not? After the Mondavi Winery, we went to Russian River and hit the Rodney Strong Winery! WOW!!!! YUMMY AGAIN!!!! Their Reserved Cabernet and their Tawny Port were breath-taking, so of course we purchased some of those as well to bring home! How are we going to carry all this wine home? Oh well, if we were able to carry all that alcohol back from Europe, we can do this - it's just San Francisco! Since we had the car for the day, Rob also showed me Haight and Ashbury (did I spell that right?) Showed me the Sea Lions by Fisherman's Wharf and we drove around a little of everywhere. So much has happened that I can't even remember if it we did all this driving around on Monday - I think it was monday....anyway, the important thing to remember was we went wine tasting on SUNDAY!!!! Monday, I finally found a cupcake store ( I had been craving one from the beginning of the weekend) and we went to Ghiradelli's and walked around. By the end of the day, it was time for me to head back to the hotel and get my stuff together and head out to the airport and fly out at 8pm. To make a LONG story short, I didn't make that flight that night and Rob and I ended up staying through the 11th of September and we rented a car and drove home to Los Angeles instead of purchasing two one-way tickets back to LA. It was beautiful to see the coast of California, since I hadn't done it. ..I always tell myself one day I wll, one day I will - but there is always somewhere else better to go. Why waste your vacation days just in California - when you could go to Europe, Asia, Latin America - you know what I mean...I live in California, why vacation in your own backyard. Well, I'm glad we had the opportunity to do this drive down the coast. It was beautiful. We stopped by the Apple Headquarters in Cupertino stayed in Monterey, drove down through San Luis Obispo - stayed in Santa Maria, visited Solvang, Santa Barbara and shopped at the Camarillo Outlets and then had dinner in Glendale at Max's Chicken. Had to inaugurate Rob to some Filipino food...he enjoyed it and really loved the Lumpia Shanghai and the Lechon Kawali. This was a travel experience I will never forget. Rob you mean the world to me. Thank you for everything. What would I do without you? Had a fantastic time in SF and also just knowing you were there for me, made those 11 days tolerable.