We Left Our Hearts in San Francisco

We totally know what Tony Bennett was talking about when he sang "I Left My Heart in San Francisco"....

I left my heart in San Francisco
High on a hill, it calls to me.
To be where little cable cars
Climb halfway to the stars!
The morning fog may chill the air
I don't care!
My love waits there in San Francisco
Above the blue and windy sea
When I come home to you, San Francisco,
Your golden sun will shine for me!

The energy of the city is unreal.  There is so much to do... Cable Cars, Painted Ladies, Alcatraz, Pier 39, Fisherman's Wharf, Coit Tower, Lombard Street, Union Square, Chinatown.  The list could go on and on.  It's a friendly, colorful, and exciting city and was the exact place that I chose to take Justin to celebrate my sweet husband's 27th birthday.  Yes, his birthday was February 18 but due to his big birthday present (tickets to see "Rock of Ages"), we were forced to celebrate in March - which Justin didn't mind since it prolonged his birthday celebration. 

We intended to make the two hour drive on Friday morning so that we'd arrive in the city early and have all day to explore before the show.  The tsunami that devastated Japan, caused 7 ft waves to crash into beautiful Waikiki Beach on Oahu, and that threatened the West Coast had other plans.  After learning of the huge wave expected to touch down at 8:08am PST, we decided to wait it out at home and leave after all was clear.  We left Pebble Beach near 1pm on Friday and made it to our hotel around 3:00pm.  We stayed at the gorgeous Marine Memorial Club & Hotel on Sutter Street only a block from Union Square/Powell and two blocks from the Curran Theater where our show was.  It was perfect.  We checked in and set out to investigate the fun city.  We headed to Chinatown first where I found a great deal on beautiful pashminas and Justin enjoyed a delicious authentic egg roll.  We spent hours climbing up and down the narrow streets that were still decorated for Chinese New Year which was a couple of weeks ago. 

Next stop was Union Square where we went into a few shops before making our way back to the hotel for Happy Hour.  Happy Hour was served on the 12th floor of the hotel which the most amazing views of the city we'd ever seen. 

We ordered room service for dinner.  Ordering room service is something fun that we started in Republica de Panama when I'd visit Justin during deployment.  It has become one of our favorite parts of any vacation that we take.  Soon, we were off to see the musical "Rock of Ages" starring Constatine Maroulis from American Idol: Season Four.  It was a fantastic show about rock n' roll in the late 80's set on the Sunset Strip in LA.  The 80's music they sang included some of our favorites and we enjoyed clapping and singing along all night. 

Saturday we spent the day walking around Powell Street and Union Square, shopping, watching some of the St. Patrick's Day Parade, driving down crooked Lombard Street, visiting the World War II submarine USS Pampainto, eating lunch in Fisherman's Wharf, and topping off the "sweet" trip with a hot fudge sundae from Ghiradelli Square. 

Elle waiting for valet at our hotel



After lunch at the Fisherman's Grotto

Justin and Elle at the USS Pampanito

We had a truly wonderful weekend together and look forward to visiting again very soon!