San Francisco

The City by the Bay itself! From the Golden Gate Bridge to the iconic Ferry Building, San Francisco has so much to offer!

With over a century of vending to passers by, various shops line the stalls inside this historic building by The Bay. Stroll along for charcuterie options or empanadas to tickle your palate as you wait for a ferry across the Bay or continuing your stroll down the Embarcadero.

Bay Area oysters are known for their freshness, taste, and quality. While there are many fabulous places around The Bay to sample some of the local fare, the Ferry Building is home to a location of Hog Island Oysters who supply their own fresh catch direct from Tomales Bay, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean in nearby Marin County. If you can’t experience the direct from the water freshness in Marin, the Ferry Building comes highly recommended.

Food Trucks are parked outside the Ferry Building on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Don't miss the porchetta sandwich and potatoes from the Roli Roti truck. You may be in a food coma afterwards from this delectable delight. You’ve been forewarned!

SF’s popular Señor Sisiq offers Filipino-fusion burritos. They now have a stall inside the Ferry Building along with their food trucks spotted throughout the city.

The Presidio is up and coming in its transformation from a naval installation to a public space full of parks and green spaces. From the deep woods, to the views of the Golden Gate Bridge, Crissy Field, there’s much to be offered in The Presidio.

We parked near the Presidio Visitors Center prior to the opening of the museum. Please be advised, parking is limited. As we always say "early bird gets the worm." More info about The Presidio here.

For our excursion, we were there to check out the Cats & Dogs temporary exhibit at The Walt Disney Family Museum. While this museum is not Disney Company, it does offer access to all that Walt and his family have in their archives.

From Oscars to art, this museum is worth the stop. As you wind through the first building, you’ll eventually enter a room with two levels and as you approach the lower level, you begin to see the miniature scale replica of Disneyland, complete with moving rides! Walt especially loved miniatures, as this museum showcases, and this model has it all, even down to spinning tea cups on Mad Tea Party.

After we completed the tour of the first building, we headed to the Cats & Dogs exhibit. The temporary exhibit was housed in a secondary building not far from the original museum and they had arrows to point your way to the building’s entrance. Each vignette inside housed a different theme of cat or dog to explore their art and origin.

One exhibit had drawing exercises to sketch the likeness of a cat or dog. There are even color sheets for the kiddos!

To burn off some steam, we stopped by the Outpost play area for the kids, and they thoroughly enjoyed being able to climb on a multitude of structures with views of the Bay. The park is free and open to everyone!

There is a public restroom at the Presidio Transit Center and Presidio Pop Up food trucks that park nearby for all sorts of eats amid the views to keep your fun going. Food truck schedule is updated here.

Beware of Karl the Fog! It could be sunny and Karl can blanket even the Golden Gate Bridge, but he can’t spoil the fun!

After exploring the de Young Museum at Golden Gate Park, we found out the Legion of Honor is a sister museum. So, we decided to make the short trek down The 101 to visit the Legion of Honor upon its cliff overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge. With mesmerizing views and fascinating culture, this is a can’t miss!

The Legion of Honor is located in Lincoln Park. It is also the terminus of the Lincoln Highway which was the first “improved” road for automobiles across the United States. Made of interconnected roads between towns, it predates interstates and even the "Mother Road", Route 66. Read more about the Lincoln Highway here.

If you’re a Bay Area resident, you can visit on certain Saturdays and the General Admission is free. The de Young Museum, The Legion of Honor’s sister museum, honors the same program as well. See more here!

The Museum was salvaged from a model of the Palais de la Légion d'Honneur of France, which translates to “Legion of Honor”. It was shown at the The French Pavilion of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco in 1915. Much as the Palace of Fine Arts and the Japanese Tea Garden of Golden Gate Park are remnants of previous Expositions, Legion of Honor was resettled upon a former cemetery and potter’s field in order to preserve this grand structure and its significance after the end of the Exposition of 1915 and opened in 1924.

This makes the museum over a century old!

We were drawn by the temporary exhibit of impressionist Mary Cassatt and later found out the purpose for the museum was to highlight Auguste Rodin’s work as the proprietor of the museum was a fan. So, who should greet you in the entryway atrium, but The Thinker himself!

There was even a painting by surrealist Salvador Dalí of the founders’ daughter, Dorothy Spreckels Munn, in the museum. Dalí and his wife, Gala, lived with her as she sat for the piece during multiple sittings. Read more here.

The design of the rooms and the scale emphasize Rodin’s work making the experience awe-inspiring as you wind your way between galleries housing these smooth, yet refined works of art.

Be sure to check out the smaller models of The Three Shades and John the Baptist among other aspects of Rodin’s work.

There is also a hidden Organ in the gallery with The Three Shades. The thousands of pipes are enclosed in the walls of the gallery. Organists play on Saturday afternoons per the Legion site.

The ceiling of one gallery is in a gilded medieval Spanish style, so don’t forget to look up!

At the end of the row of galleries lies a Monet’s Water Lilies , one of my favorites.

The temporary exhibit housing Mary Cassatt’s phenomenal and groundbreaking work was downstairs. Be aware, there are more permanent and temporary exhibits downstairs, so don’t miss them!

The Legion of Honor is also home to the Gunn Theater which holds chamber music concerts with the SF Symphony. More details of performances here.

We highly recommend visiting this century old cultural beacon high on the cliffs and also take in the views of the Golden Gate Bridge next time you’re in The Bay.

Speaking of “The Rock” itself, an Alcatraz Island excursion is worth your time. Ferries depart from the Pier 33 where you’re taken to the middle of the San Francisco Bay to Alcatraz Island winding up the walkways towards the imposing former penitentiary center. Enjoy the surprising and stunning flowers surrounding this unforgiving terrain. There are expansive views of both the San Francisco skyline and the Golden Gate Bridge from various viewpoints around the island.

Be sure to do the audio tour of the former penitentiary, which is self-directed. You'll learn all about the rich history of this cold, yet beautiful island which doubles as a bird sanctuary. You can catch a ferry back to San Francisco at any time from where you were initially dropped off. As for any SF outdoor activity, pack a wind breaker or travel jacket as the constant chilly breeze on Alcatraz is present even in summer. More on ferries to "The Rock" here.

Pier 39 is one of the more popular tourist areas in the Bay and has a few spots worth mentioning if you find yourself there. Be sure to stop and see the sea lions laying along the floating installment off Pier 39. This area offers great views of Alcatraz Island!

Any carousel fans will love Pier 39’s carousel near the sea lions. It has two levels, San Francisco iconic landmarks, and sea creatures to ride.

Musée Mécanique is home to coin operated amusements and many other novelty machines unique to this shop near San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf at Pier 45. Attractions from the now-shuttered Playland at the Beach, such as Laughing Sal. Admission is free!

Read more on Musée Mécanique's history here.

I assume there are better places to sample Boudin sourdough bread, yet you can’t deny Pier 39 is a convenient location. If you don’t have time or care to wait and stick around for an eat-in restaurant nearby, it’s one of the quicker food spots at Pier 39. Their bread bowls filled with warm broccoli cheddar soup on a cold day or a grilled cheese sandwich make this go-to an easy choice in a pinch. Their tables have decent enough turnover, you can grab a table to nosh before moving on to your next stop. See what's on their menu here.