February 23, 2018

A Girls Weekend in San Francisco

Falon Travel 2 Comments

Back at the beginning of February, I kissed my kid and husband goodbye and hopped on a plane to head up to San Francisco. Mama was in serious need of a girls weekend, and SF is one of my favorite places to escape to. I have posted about SF frequently since we travel up there once or twice a year. It’s the perfect city for weekend getaways because you can tailor your trip to suit your needs. Obviously needs for a family trip differ from needs for a girls trip, but SF has the capacity to accommodate both. Usually we drive up to SF, but since I was traveling by myself, I decided to fly instead. The 45 minute flight from Burbank to SFO was easy peasy, and the Bay Area airports are easy to navigate and find public transportation. Once I arrived and had my bag, I headed up to the BART connector so I could make my way to the train.

I am one of those people who doesn’t mind traveling alone, so even though I had plans to meet up with friends for the weekend, I booked an extra night’s stay so I could have a little alone time before the party started. Also, when I know I am going to be blogging, I like to have some time to take pictures of my hotel space before everything gets all messed up (as hotel rooms tend to do when multiple gals are staying in them). I got to my hotel right about check in time, got settled and then walked up the street to gather some supplies (read: wine and cheese and chocolate) for the night. I had a lovely evening on my own during which I accomplished nothing except devouring a Project Runway All Stars marathon.

One of my very best friends, Ashley, who happens to live in San Jose, met me the following morning and since we are both huge nerds, we decided to take a stroll to one of the best bookstores in the city. Our walk took us through Chinatown, which is a fun neighborhood to explore as there is lots to see. We spent a good chunk of time exploring City Lights Bookstore. Though the space is on the small side, they have an awesome selection of books and I, of course, bought a few (travel book buying is not banned per my no new books goal for 2018). What I appreciated about their YA section in particular is they stocked a bunch of books I haven’t seen on the shelves at Barnes and Noble, so it was good exposure to some new material.

After an early afternoon of walking and book shopping, both Ashley and I were ready for a drink, so we headed next door to this super cool and eclectic cafe, Vesuvio. There was a lot to take in in the space, and it was the perfect place to sit and chill. We snagged a window seat and spent some time catching up.

Later that night, our other two companions joined us and after a quick happy hour in our hotel room, we headed up the street to Hogwash. We enjoyed some craft beers and some sausages before heading out to a bar.

One of the gals recommended Local Edition, a newspaper themed bar on Market Street (one of the main streets of the Union Square area of SF). It was super cool inside, and we had some yummy drinks before walking back to our hotel (and maybe stopping for ice cream on the way).

The following morning we did some serious shopping, hitting the flagship Old Navy store and Nordstrom Rack. Ashley and I also checked out Box Lunch, which is every fangirl and fanboy’s dream. The whole store is devoted to fandom merch, and they have everything: Star Wars, Disney, Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, Doctor Who, Sailor Moon…seriously. Everything. Unfortunately for my bank account, I soon discovered that there is a Box Lunch located in my mall so I’m sure I will continue to give them all of my money. After shopping, we headed up to the rooftop of our hotel for some wine and snacks (we stayed at the Donatello in Union Square, full review is here!). It was a perfectly peaceful way to spend our evening!

That night we headed to Morton’s for some cocktails and apps (see top of the post) before grabbing some sushi and heading back to the hotel, where face masks, wine, chocolate desserts, and general girls trip shenanigans commenced. I woke up the next morning to catch the train to Oakland, where I flew home and back to my little fam just in time for the Super Bowl.

It was a seriously delicious, relaxing, and much needed weekend away and I am so glad I was able to carve out some time to meet up with the girls. We are already planning our trip for next year (Napa anyone?) and I’m already counting down the days!