We were up at 05:00 for our 07:00 flight to San Francisco. Andrew earns free hotel nights thanks to the travel we do twice per year for his job. We had two free nights at an Omni hotel and the closest one is in San Francisco. We also earn frequent flyer miles with Virgin America so we used all of that to take advantage of a very cheap weekend away for the three of us.

I tried to read Red Mars on the plane but I fell asleep instead. That made a really short flight even shorter so that was good. We took BART into the city and it took us just three short blocks from the hotel. Our room wasn’t quite ready so we checked our bags and left to wander around. Apparently the World Series is going on. I don’t follow sports ball so who knew? Many SF Giants fans everywhere! We barely got a few blocks away when the hotel sent us a text that our room was ready but we were in no rush so kept walking toward the Embarcadero. We sat by the water for a while.

We decided to head for Blue Bottle Coffee and give it a try. I am not a huge coffee fan but their soy mocha was pretty delicious. We found Pepples Donuts and got a nice variety. Blueberry, Mexican Chocolate, Pumpkin Pie, Salted Caramel, Whiskey Orange, and Earl Grey Bergamot Orange Cream. They are a vegan cake doughnut which isn’t my favorite. They weren’t bad but not good enough to venture back.

We meandered back to the hotel, grabbed our bags and went up to our room. We absolutely love the Omni William Penn Hotel in Pittsburgh. It’s become a home away from home and it’s a beautiful hotel. The Omni San Francisco Hotel is no exception. When we walked in the lobby we knew right away we were in an Omni. So beautiful and the service is wonderful. Our room was beautifully decorated, large and had a nice view of the city.

Andrew and I ended up taking a bit of a nap and then the three of us went out walking. We wandered through Chinatown.

And then took a walk through Little Italy past St. Peter and Paul Church.

Up a semi-giant hill to the Coit Tower gaining a ton of potential energy in the process.

The views were spectacular!

We headed back down the giant hill taking a different route back toward the hotel and dinner. We were hoping to eat at a vegan Chinese place Andrew and I had tried several years ago but it has either closed or moved. We couldn’t quite figure it out. We found a different place and had a so so dinner. It wasn’t awful but it wasn’t great either. We still ate plenty though. It was early but Andrew was pretty tired so we headed back to the hotel. He went to bed and I had a doughnut and did some reading. Wayne had a glass of wine and relaxed. It feels nice to do whatever we want!

I used to often wish I could afford to live in San Francisco. I would look at housing prices and try to figure out how we could manage to squeeze five of us into a tiny place that was something we could afford. But now as much fun as San Francisco is to visit, we have been constantly reminded of how much Portland is home. It’s the perfect city for us.

Today I learned that the Coit Tower’s namesake was quite the character.