Where It All Began

Tyler and I decided the perfect way to celebrate our 10 year anniversary (on June 27th) and the fact that he is FINALLY DONE WITH SCHOOL (for the first time ever in our marriage) was to go back to where it all began -- San Francisco and Berkeley. Tyler and I had our first "date" (date is in quotes because at the time I didn't realize it was a date, unlike Tyler, who did) in San Francisco. We rode the  BART over and went shopping and then went back to Berkeley for dinner and a movie with friends. But neither of us can go to San Francisco without thinking of that first date, and the spark that started between us. Both San Francisco and Berkeley feel like a special kind of home to us -- it's the birthplace of our love, our marriage and our little family.

We spent the first night in The Fairmont -- a super swanky hotel where the presidents stay when they come to the city. We had dinner at Pizzeria Delfina, walked around Market Street and then rode the cable car back up to our hotel.

The next morning we got up bright and early and had breakfast at La Boulange. Then we headed over to the Ferry Building, walked around a bit, sampled some fruit from the Farmers Market and picked up some lunch. We headed out to The Palace of Fine Arts to eat where we shared a bench with a guy who rolled a joint, lit up, smoked it, shared it with the homeless guitar playing man on the grass behind us and then rode away on his bike.

We tried to go to Baker Beach but it was just too foggy on that side of the city. So we drove up to The Legion of Honor to see if there was a view and the fog was too thick again so we decided to just head out to Berkeley to beat the traffic.

We stayed at the Berkeley City Club, another really cool hotel right in the heart of Berkeley. It's got a really cool history and the architecture is just beautiful. The view from our room was amazing -- sixth floor with a full panoramic view of the Bay. We walked around campus for a bit and decided to have dinner at the food ghetto. I tried to relive my college days and order the "combo plate" from the Vietnamese restaurant there. It made me feel just as a I did when I was 18 -- satisfied and disgusting all at the same time. Ah, memories!

The next morning Sally met us at the Oakland Temple (she was working there that day) with the kids and we took them to hang out in Berkeley for a bit before we had to drive home. (Our plan was to stay a bit longer but we had found out Max was getting a special reading award at school and we didn't want him to miss it.) We went up to the top of the Campanile -- something I had never done! The view was amazing. We walked around campus for a bit, had lunch (Fat Slice for Lia and Top Dog for Max and Tyler) and then we each got a new Cal shirt and stopped at Berkeley Bowl before we got on the road to drive home.

We didn't get home until almost 10pm that night and the next morning Max was SO tired he could hardly get out of bed. Poor kid. But we made it and we had a wonderful time! I wish we could go to the Bay Area all the time. Maybe someday! For now I'll take what I can get.