I was asked to go to a conference in San Francisco and when I told Nikki last November, she was interested in going out as well. This was going to be her first time on west coast. We left the house Sunday morning around 5:20 am to get the car parked in long term parking and get through security. It was a good thing we gave ourselves that amount of time, as we got caught in the slow line in security at John Glenn International airport and by the time we made it to the gate they were starting to load the plane. We had a layover in Chicago and were able to grab a bite to eat and didn’t have to wait too long for our next flight. The flight to San Francisco was uneventful and we arrived shortly after 11:50 am local time. We gathered our luggage and found our way to the Car Rental Shuttle and called the rental place to come pick us up to take us to the rental place near the south side of the airport. We got the van and then headed back to the airport to pick up a number of my co-workers who were scheduled to arrive at 1:10 pm. After a few laps around the terminal, they had all gathered their luggage and were waiting for us to pick them up. After we got everyone’s luggage in the mini-van we headed out towards the Golden Gate Bridge. After crossing the Golden Gate Bridge we headed over to Muir Woods to see the Giant Redwoods. Even though it was wet and misting the rain held off for our visit and we were all amazed at how large those trees end up growing and realized that some of them were probably seedlings about the time Jesus was born.
After our time at Muir woods we headed back over the Golden Gate Bridge and into downtown San Francisco where we were to check in at the Park Central Hotel on the corner of 3rd Street and Mission St. We left our luggage with some of the guys and then Nikki and I headed back towards the airport to find dinner, drop off the van and head back to the hotel. After we dropped off the van we got a ride back to the airport via the rental shuttle and then found our way to the BART to ride back to the hotel. On the train just as we were getting off on our exit, Montgomery Street, Nikki was told by a crazy man who sat on the other side of her that she was possessed by the devil and he could release the devil if she just let him pull her hair. She retorted back that if he pulled her hair she would definitely see the devil! She then got up and over to the other side of me just as the train stopped and we disembarked. The train was so loud in the tunnels, I didn’t hear him talk to her at all or hear her response until we were out on the station platform and she told me about it. We made it the short walk to our hotel without any other incident or drama.
The next morning we found a local place around the corner called The Grove and it was a nice little place to have breakfast as there was none provided by the conference or hotel. We ended up liking that place so much we had breakfast there everyday we were there. The next several days Nikki wandered around the city on foot while I was at the conference. We would meet up after the conference for the day and have dinner with my co-workers.
Wednesday after the conference was over we took a trolley ride up to the top of Russian Hill where we got off and took some pictures from the top of Lombard Street. The views were spectacular. We walked down the hill to Fisherman’s Wharf and walked around there for a bit. We made it to a beach, between Fisherman’s Wharf and Ghirardelli square, but there was a sign that said BioHazard Do not approach. We took some pictures of the swimmers behind the sign and headed up to Ghirardelli Square, where we had dinner at McCormick & Kuleto’s Seafood & Steaks. The food was excellent and we took the trolley back to a couple of blocks from our hotel. The views down some of the steep hills into San Francisco were amazing with all the buildings lit up. Unfortunately we didn’t get much notice and missed the picture taking opportunity.
The next morning we headed to the airport and took our time getting ready to leave as we didn’t want to feel rushed. We flew into Houston and had an hour layover there before our flight back to John Glenn International in Columbus. Our flight was a little early arriving in Columbus, so we made it back to our house before midnight.
Overall it was a nice conference and San Francisco was a nice place to visit. Although everything was very expensive. I would like to go back sometime and visit when I have more time to enjoy the sights and fine dining that is available there.