San Francisco Day Trip

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Molly picks the bike with the trailer attachment and bikes up massive hills, regretting everything!

A Quick Getaway

San Francisco was our first U.S. trip flying on Chris’ plane. He had a 30 hour overnight there, so how could we not?! The hotel would even be covered! I left baby Lily at home with a babysitter, knowing she really wouldn’t be impressed with cool bridges and sightseeing.

Our flight was from Detroit to San Francisco, and unfortunately we weren’t going to make it on standby from Cleveland so we ended up driving to Detroit first. It’s only a 2.5 hour drive from where we live. We met up with our pilot daddy before the flight and I think the kids get a big kick out of seeing their daddy at work (parking the airplane at the gate below.)

The kids are always SO HAPPY to see when our airplane has the in-flight entertainment screens. I am also happy to see them, knowing that my job for the flight is a little bit easier. Just plug in the headphones and go! It’s always a good flight when mommy gets a little nap! Don’t get me wrong, I pride myself on knowing that my children can handle things without technology and we are a mostly unplugged family, but trips are a good time to splurge a little!

With the time difference we still arrived around 11pm, and had the kids tucked into their beds at the hotel by midnight! It was important for us to get a good night sleep before our busy day the next day.

The kids woke up bright and early, no surprise there. We got ready and headed out to explore! We stayed at a nice hotel in the Financial District near Embarcadero.

Our first stop was the Ferry Building and it was a Saturday morning, so the farmers’ market was set up with all sorts of goodies! We grabbed very expensive and tiny coffees and some equally small and pricey donuts to share.

We walked along the Embarcadero, passing each pier and marveling at the views of the bay. It was a gorgeous day! Pier 7 was one of my favorites, with beautiful views of the Bay Bridge!

We reached Pier 39 and explored the area. We could have easily spent a few hours here, there are a lot of snack places and cute shops. But we focused on seeing the highlights! Namely, the SEA LIONS! We loved watching and listening to them bark, yawn, and roll around.

What I didn’t know was that the fence around the pier is a popular spot to attach a love lock! Love this idea! We’ll remember this for next time we visit.

Next stop on our walk to continue along to the heart of Fishermen’s Wharf. One cannot go to San Francisco and not venture along this area to get some good eats! We were kind of chilly and hungry by this point (because those little donuts we had earlier were not very filling!) We settled on Fishermen’s Grotto, where the kids split some chicken fingers while Chris and I split a sourdough bread bowl filled with clam chowder!

Chris is NOT an adventurous eater. He was very hesitant to try clam chowder but I assured him he would like it! Lo and behold, he said it tastes just like baked potato soup! Ha! I’m proud of him for trying something new.

After lunch we had some fun mingling with the locals.

Now that our bellies were full and we had fuel for the task ahead, we ventured on to find the bike rental place!

Oh, yes. We planned to ride bikes for the rest of the day.

Apparently, this is a popular thing to do if you are a tourist in San Francisco.

We made it to the Blazing Saddles bike rental store. Go to Groupon to get a 50% on rental for 2. They have locations ALL over the city, but we were looking for this particular main location because they offered bike trailers for kids. We had planned to get a bike with one bike trailer to fit two kids. Unfortunately our kids were way too squished in there because Eli is the size of an 8 year old! So, we got one bike with a kids “tag-a-long” extension, so Eli could ride on that bike. The other bike had the trailer attachment for Selah. I was worried the tag-a-long extension would make my bike unstable and wobbly, so I decided on the bike with the trailer.

…I would later regret that choice!

Blazing Saddles was great in helping us map out where to go, gave us a map, and even had a mobile app to navigate the city and tour information! We didn’t use the app, but that’s a great idea!

We made our way on our bikes to the bike path along the bay towards the Golden Gate Bridge. The views and the weather were GORGEOUS!

Side note: The tag-a-long bike for Eli was perfect. Before this trip, he was still on training wheels at home. I think this attachment allowed him to understand the full mechanics of pedaling a bike and feeling the balance aspect. When we got home, we took off his training wheels and he was riding with NO help. I would credit this trip as a big influence to the next step of riding his bike!

We made one last stop before the bridge, at Fort Point. This was a really fun place to stop and let the kids run around a bit. They loved the cannons! Read about the history behind this fort here : https://www.nps.gov/fopo/learn/historyculture/index.htm

Tip: It is important to note that there are two sides to the bridge- one is for bikers only, and the other for pedestrians only. So make sure you get on the right (west side) path!

Oh man, this is when I really felt the weight of the loaded trailer I was pulling…going uphill over the bridge! I was able to stop a few times for a breather, and it was okay!

Once over the bridge, we made our way over to Sausalito- which honestly, was just a bunch of hills! Now, I am in pretty good shape. I’ve run marathons for crying out loud. But this. THIS was intense! There were several times I had to get off of the bike and walk it to the top of the hill.

We made our way to Sausalito, and stopped to get a snack at the Joinery. The food looked fantastic but we all just split some fries, Chris had a beer, and we all tried the ever popular “It’s It.”

If you go to San Francisco, you MUST try one of these! It was very yummy and I am still dreaming of having another one. We had the mint chocolate chip flavor: mint chocolate chip ice cream sandwiched between two oatmeal cookies, and covered with chocolate!

Honestly, at this point my legs were so tired, the very thought of biking back to San Francisco made me want to cry. Chris had decided NOT to buy the ferry tickets, and was firm on that decision. Ferry tickets? Yes, we could have boarded a ferry with the bikes and had a relaxing time going back to the city and my legs would have been saved.

Nope. Not today!

Chris promised to buy me a churro and a Ghirardelli sundae when we got back. That was enough to keep me going!

All I remember was that it was almost entirely UPHILL all the way back until we made it the middle of the Golden Gate Bridge! We reached the bridge as the wind picked up and the maritime fog started rolling in.

What an experience going over the bridge in the fog!

It was mostly downhill and flat roads after that. Oh, was I tired! We dropped our bikes back off at the Blazing Saddles store, and headed straight towards the rewards: ice cream! Ghirardelli Square is really cute, filled with shops and restaurants, plus plenty of outdoor space to let the kids run around. The line to actually have a sundae in the main ice cream shop was long, so we opted for the smaller store on the street level, which is to-go style. It was a pretty night so we took our sundae outside to enjoy!

With a sugar coma, we walked back to Fisherman’s Wharf- where we enjoyed watching some street artists make cool paintings with spray paint! 

And finally, as promised, I got to have a churro. You may not know this about me, but I LOVE churros. And I earned this churro! 

By now it was nighttime and we were tired from our long day. Chris was so gracious in getting us an Uber for the rest of the way back to the hotel.

It was such a fun, FULL day in San Francisco! Had we more time, we would have loved to ride the Powell-Hyde cable car, visit the “Full House” house, and visited Lombard Street. Even more, we would’ve loved to have rented a car and take a drive to Muir Woods to check out the massive redwoods! All things to look forward to on our next visit!