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Writer's picturefrankie houck

Pork Buns Change Lives

Seriously, have you ever had a pork bun? I went to San Francisco for 3 days and enjoyed one. Needless to say, I am changed. I will most likely hopelessly search for one here in Ohio. Someone please tell me where I can get an authentic pork bun here in Columbus.

Anyways, this is about planning a whirlwind yet casual trip to San Fran in the middle of July.


Real quick highlights if you don't want to read.

Where we ate

San Fran:

Breakfast: Plain Jane

Lunch: Good Mong Kok Bakery

Dinner: Escape NY Pizza

Alameda:

Lunch: Blue Dot Coffee and Cafe

Dinner: Angela's Kitchen


Tourist Traps:

-Chinatown

-Coit Tower

-Lombard Street

-Pier 39 and Fisherman's Wharf

-Ghirardelli Square


We landed in Oakland Friday evening and it was sunny with some clouds. We hopped into an Uber and headed for San Fran. Going over the Bay Bridge was like something out of a movie. I felt like I was crossing the bridge into Gotham and Batman would be waiting for me. It got overwhelmingly cloudy and dark. You could just see the lights of the buildings as your crossed the bridge.

The ride from the airport to where we were staying was about 40 minutes and $44! Not bad! We were lucky to stay at a friends place while they were out of town. They live right next to Twin Peaks, very close to Noe Valley and Mission. It is basically the burbs.

We ordered pizza for delivery that first night because their neighborhood was pretty much engulfed in a cloud and we didn't have a car.

We went with "Escape from New York Pizza". It was pretty pricey for a medium sized pizza and wings but at least it was good and arrived quickly.


The next day we woke, still in a cloud. Hopped an uber to an adorable and delicious breakfast place called Plain Jane. She was anything but plain! The pancakes and bacon were off the charts! Not to mention bottomless coffee! It was so good we went both mornings we were there.

Around lunch time we headed down into chinatown. PORK.BUNS. & NOODS.

good mong kok bakery. Go here, wait in line and enjoy! There is no where to sit, so we walked around the corner and sat on the sidewalk and ate. If you aren't starving and don't mind a little walk, Coit Tower isn't too far, 15ish minutes. That is where we went after we ate. It is a cute walk, restaurants through china town and colorful walk ups in the neighborhoods.

We didn't go into Coit Tower, but the view is amazing and it was hazy while we were there. You can see the city and Alcatraz Island. From there, we walking down to Pier 39. You can Lombard street in the distance on the way. Think of Pier 39 as the Santa Monica Pier but no rides, tons of shops and restaurants, crowds and SEA LIONS! It is fun to walk through and at the end you get a stunning view of Alcatraz. We didn't have time to do it but I have my eye on a night tour of Alcatraz.

From here you can walk down to Fishermans Wharf and Ghirardelli Square. We did stop at a cute little wine shop to do a tasting and decompress. The bartenders were very knowledgeable and the wines are all local, Cali wines.


Unfortunately, that was all we had time for in the city, but so many things are still on my list! The next day we went into Oakland to drive around the neighborhoods to try and find my husband a temp living situation while he is out there for work. Emeryville, Lake Merritt and San Leandro were nice.

Our last day was spent in the small island of Alameda. It has a cute little main street with restaurants and markets. They also have some outdoor shopping malls and there is a beach! It wasn't bad when we went and the water wasn't cold, people were swimming!

It was a cute little beach town, I am really looking forward to going back and seeing a little more!

Happy Travels!

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