I was born a Valley Girl. I lived in LA (Northridge) until I was nearly six and my family moved to Atlanta. I have spent over 30 years in the South but I don’t consider myself a Southerner. I’ve been back to California many times since the big move, mainly to LA. I have an aunt and Uncle who live in San Francisco and I’ve visited them many times since I was a kid. Recently my husband and I took our son to see them and the Bay Area. We had many fun experiences during our San Francisco vacation (and a few setbacks) but thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
From touring the city to an amusement park, a county fair, a national park, and a sailboat ride, we packed it all in during our stay. It took a full day’s travel there and back, so we had five days of sightseeing and activities in the Bay Area. (and a sixth unplanned day, which I will cover later)
Day 1: Sonoma-Marin Fair
We had a great time at the Sonoma-Marin Fair in Petaluma. It was my second visit to this fair. I went when I was thirteen years old and visited my family over the summer. Now, I got to experience the fair with my husband and son. We enjoyed the rides. My son and I loved going on the Ferris Wheel. My husband would not get on a Ferris wheel, so he watched us from the ground. My son rode on a pony, rode his first little roller coaster, and rode all day. There were livestock shows, rabbits to look at (raised by kids in the local 4H club), artwork, and farm animals. It was a wonderful day.
Day 2: Train Town
My son LOVES trains. He plays with toy trains and runs model trains. He could talk about trains all day. He knows the names of all the parts and how they work together. He loves Thomas and Friends and The Polar Express. On the second day of our trip, we went to Train Town, a train amusement park. He was in heaven. We rode a small train that went throughout the park. It was a wooded area with waterfalls and a small town similar to those used in model railroad displays. We got off the train and went to all the shops, the fire stations, the school, etc. It was so neat to look at everything. We fed llamas and goats at the petting zoo.
Train Town also has amusement park rides. We went on the scrambler and that was the most fun I’ve had in a long time. We all loved it. We then rode the roller coaster. The coaster was much bigger than my son rode the day before at the fair. He was so brave. I went on it with him the first time. It had been so long since I’d been on a roller coaster, and even though it was a kid’s ride, I still felt a rush of adrenaline, and it was a little scary for me. My husband and son went on it next and then my son rode it all by himself. He was so brave and had so much fun. Train Town has a few old caboose and train cars that have been renovated and restored. My son had a blast walking through and climbing on these cars playing a pretend game riding the train. We stopped for lunch and then returned to the park, closing it down. He still talks about going back.
Day 3: The City. San Francisco
There is so much to see in San Francisco, you can’t possibly do it all in one day. We drove across the Golden Gate Bridge. It was foggy, so not a great view. We started our city day by driving down Lombard Street, the crookedest street in the world. It’s neat to look down from the top and see the winding road. We stopped at the bottom to take pictures and headed to our next stop, Fisherman’s Wharf. We played vintage arcade games at Musee Mecanique. This was my first time there and we all loved it. The arcade is one of the world’s largest privately owned collections of coin-operated mechanical musical instruments and antique arcade games. You can play any of their 300-plus machines in original working condition. Most games are between 25 cents to a dollar. We played some of the musical instruments. My son especially enjoyed the self-playing mechanical pianos and wack a mole. I liked the fortune teller and the mechanical carnival. They also had pinball machines and some more modern games from the 1980s. Many of the arcade games are from the early 1900s.
We then had lunch on the Wharf at Boudin Bakery. Their calm chowder in a sourdough bread bowl is the best. Afterward, we went to Ghiradelli Square and got huge ice cream sundaes. I still can’t believe we at the whole thing! Delicious! We ended our day with a cable car ride, my son’s favorite thing of the day. He sat in the front on the outside of the car and loved every second of the ride. San Francisco cable cars are the only man-operated cable car systems operating today.
Day 4: Muir Woods
We enjoyed being in nature at Muir Woods National Monument, where you can walk among beautiful, huge redwood trees. It was very serene and incredible to be among the giant trees. We walked the trails and then drove up Mount Tamalpais, the mountain in which Muir Woods is located. We saw the beautiful scenery of the Bay Area. You could barely see the Bay Bridge beneath the fog. We had lunch at In N Out Burger, one of our favorite burger places on the West Coast that we don’t have at home in Atlanta.
Day 5: Sailboat Cruise on the Bay. Pier 39
My husband booked us on a sailboat cruise on the Bay, and it was wonderful! We boarded the boat on Pier 39, a touristy place with shops and restaurants. The famous seals relax on the docks at the pier, but there were not as many seals as usual that day. We boarded the boat and were very excited to set sail. Then, a camp group boarded with about 15 kids and two counselors. We were less than thrilled about all the children on the boat, but they were very well behaved and my son made friends with a little boy from the camp. They played pirates and my son tried to give this little boy he’d never see again our address, which was very cute.
The boat was a bit rocky on the bow. You could ride on the very front of the sailboat in the open air and see the beautiful views. We passed Alcatraz Island, the prison, and saw dolphins riding behind the sailboat. The boat passed under the Golden Gate Bridge, which you could only see clearly for about a minute beneath the fog. The ride was one of the most enjoyable highlights of our trip.
Baggage Issues and Flight Delays:
We had 3 major bag issues on the trip. Three! When we arrived at the airport in Atlanta, we checked in our bags and decided to go on the Plane Train. We didn’t even need to go on it because we were departing from T gates, but we wanted Nathan to experience the ride. Ryan was in charge of my carry-on bag. We got off the plane train and stood by the exit to decide what to do next. We wanted to let Nathan ride on the moving sidewalk. Then, I got a phone call. An airport worker told us he had our bag and tried to return it to us. What?! We didn’t even know it was missing! Ryan left the bag on the plane train! The guy was very nice and returned the bag. We were very thankful.
Our bag struggles had just begun. We landed in San Francisco and it was time to get off the plane. I got off first, thinking Ryan would grab the carry-on bag and come behind me with our son. Well, I got off and waited for them. They didn’t come. I called Ryan and he asked if I had the bag. I said no. He told me it wasn’t in the overhead compartment. Someone must have taken our bag off the plane by mistake! He stayed on the plane and talked with the flight attendants about the problem. He told me to go to baggage claim and see if I could spot someone with our bag. I was a little intimidated about confronting the person who took our bag. I didn’t see anyone with the bag. I also got my checked bag off the baggage carousel and my son’s bag.
Ryan called me and said that one bag was left on the plane. It must belong to the person who took our bag. The flight attendant told him to take it, call the number on the luggage tag, and see about swapping bags. They said if it didn’t work out take it to bag services. We crossed our fingers that it would work. Ryan called the number on the bag tag. No answer. He texted them. No answer. Finally, they picked up the phone and said they would return to the airport to exchange the bags.
Meanwhile, Ryan’s bag did not come off the baggage carousel. It was lost luggage! What was happening to us? We have the worst luck with bags! Ryan went to claim his lost luggage. We looked at the bag tag the agent had given us when we dropped off the bag in Atlanta. It said “Greg Storm, McAllen, Texas.” What?! They had marked the wrong bag and it went to Texas instead of San Francisco.
While Ryan was handling his bag situation at bag services, I exchanged the carry-on bag with the strangers. They had left the airport and returned to meet us outside the baggage claim for the swap. I recognized our bag and we swapped. They were very apologetic. We have the bag back! I still couldn’t believe that this was happening.
My aunt and uncle took us back to their house without Ryan’s bag. It was supposed to arrive in 24 to 48 hours. We put our son to bed and then went shopping for some clothes and necessities for Ryan. We were planning to go to the city the next day and all he had were the clothes on his back. He needed something warm and we did not find anything warm for him at Target. We pushed back the city trip and bought him shorts, T-shirts, and toiletries to get him by. The bag finally arrived the next evening at 10 pm, almost 28 hours later. Whew! What an ordeal!
Unplanned Day 6:
The morning we were leaving San Francisco, we got an email saying our flight was delayed and we would miss our connecting flight. Therefore, they changed our itineraries. Since we booked the flights separately, they put us on different flights! They had Ryan going to Miami, and then to Atlanta, arriving the following morning. They had my son and me flying to Dallas and then staying overnight to arrive in Atlanta the next day. What?! Just our luck… Ryan called the airline and got us all on a reasonable flight, but we would have to stay an extra day in San Francisco. Luckily, we were staying with family so we did not need to get a hotel. We were ready to come home but made the best of it by taking our son to the local park and out for lunch.
Finally, we flew home and arrived in Atlanta late that evening. Our son fell asleep on the ride home. He had the worst time recovering from jet lag. He couldn’t fall asleep until very late and struggled with it. His sleep was interrupted for nearly 10 days. It was a struggle. Kids and time change do not mix!
Overall, we had a wonderful family vacation. We experienced fun and exciting things and look forward to our next adventure.
pieces of april blog 