For once in a long time my sister, and Joy had Thanksgiving and Black Friday off and so we headed up north for five days in the bay area. Tuesday morning i went to pick up a minivan but ended up coming away with a Chevy Tahoe instead because they delivered the wrong car. It was fine though as it was roomy enough and it was nice to try out an SUV for once. The drive didn’t take any longer than normal since Alice slept all the way there, except for our one lunch stop in Kettleman City. We opted for a McRib instead of In-N-Out, because you know, its McRib season.
We reached the Bay Area just around sunset and got to go over the new Bay Bridge with the sun still barely out. We checked into our airbnb.com rental which was just a block away from Nina’s condo and just above the Safeway which was super convenient. It was a little strange staying in a condo that the person still obviously lives in, but it was still comfortable enough to make it worth it.
We met up with Nina and family at the SOMA StrEat Food Park for some Lunch Truck food and also a little wine. Joy and I split a Kimchi Fried Rice Burrito from Bobcha which was spicy and delicious.
Wednesday, November 27
Nina still had to work on Wednesday so we took the time to do some shopping in the city. We stopped for breakfast at La Boulange de Yerba Buena for some coffee and almond croissants, then headed straight to Uniqlo. I started casually browsing for random items, and once i got into it i just went all out and got a new wardrobe. I really like their jeans, and when i saw that they hem pants for free it was definitely a sign. I walked out of there from head to toe of new clothes.
Dinner was at Super Duper Burger which was a tasty burger with garlicly fries.
Thanksgiving, November 28
Thanksgiving morning we loaded up the SUV with another car seat and drove down to San Jose to see more family while Jesse stayed home and cooked. Its definitely getting much harder to travel now with so many people to account for. For lunch we stopped by for some chow fun, and soup at Washington Bakery of course.
Back at home Jesse finished off cooking the turkey with all the fixings even if we couldn’t get the right kind of stuffing at the last minute at the market. It was so nice to be with Nina and family for Thanksgiving, because its been since she lived in Irvine that we got to actually eat Turkey on Thanksgiving.
Friday, November 29
One thing cool that i got to do while up north was go on a lot of runs around the bay. Its probably one of the best city trails i can think of because there are so many landmarks to see, and no traffic lights to stall your activities. Its a little chilly but once you get up to speed you don’t notice it anymore.
For “Black Friday” Nina and I went to Tartine to pick up some pastries for breakfast. We got there before it opened and had to wait for the store to open and we joked that of course we would wait for food in the morning like this. We picked up some morning buns, quiches, and croissants for everyone back home.
One of the things that Joy was looking forward to most was eating some oysters which she had to avoid during her pregnancy. We had to wait again for a good half hour for a table and made up for it by ordering basically everything. A couple dozen fresh oysters, a dozen baked, and some clam chowder stuffed everyone. Afterwards we all headed back home for nice nap before dinner.
For dinner we headed to R&G Lounge for some salt and pepper crab that my dad has never had before. Looks like everyone had the same idea, but thankfully we had reservations for once and didn’t have to wait too long.
Saturday, November 30
I woke up Saturday to go on a run by myself and found that running in the fog is pretty difficult with glasses on, but it was worth it. I got some really cool shots of the Bay Bridge with the sun rising and the fog clearing before heading to Philz for some coffee.
It happened to be Alice’s 1 month birthday and our last day in the bay so we headed to Yank Sing for some tasty dim sum. It was really fun, but sad at the same time as our time was counting down.
My last goal of the trip was to get a picture of Alice out of her stroller and with one Bay Area landmark. The weather was so nice, and we got our shot with the Bay Bridge. Now we have proof that we took her to San Francisco when when she was a month old.
