The AUA (American Urological Association) held their annual conference in San Francisco this year; as soon as I learned Aron would be attending, I started scheming to figure out how I could tag along and how we could visit with friends and family. We packed it in–which may have contributed to the sense of pure exhaustion experienced by both of us upon our respective returns to New York.
We flew into Oakland, rented a car, and drove to our friends’ house in Alameda. Much laughter and a delicious dinner of Burmese food was followed with some valuable bonding time with Dave’s and Katy’s adorable (nearly one-year-old) little girl. She had met us once previously, but wasn’t quite sure what to think; I’d like to think we became fast friends with our faux cell phone chats.
After saying goodbye, we drove on to Sonoma–both to take in the beautiful views of the valley and to pay a visit to Buena Vista Winery (a family favorite). We decided on a few bottles for our luggage and then decided to become members for the year. Eek! Very exciting…
From Sonoma, we drove to Aron’s hometown of Davis (site of our alma mater). We met up with his parents and, with some updates on the town’s new developments, went for lunch. We proceeded to spend as much time as possible out of doors in the sunshine–welcoming summer with a fresh crop of his mother’s blackberries (like jam off the vine) and sweet peas–catching up on each others’ news and sampling strawberry shortcake before dinner with family friends.
After a quick slideshow of our India photos (relatively quick, that is–we have over 600 in our “edited” folder), Aron and I visited with some other close friends, Ben and Stacey. Ben’s parents were visiting from Germany–and we made introductions over Madeira and chocolate (Ben butters his toast before adding Nutella, fyi). They were nice enough to listen to us discuss some of the challenges of being somewhat bicoastal and we were sorry to say goodbye.
The next morning, we left for Berkeley, where we would reconnect with friends from Los Angeles. Brian and Amy had family visiting as well, so we were glad to be included for sandwiches and some gymnastics practice. Their daughter continues to be one of the coolest little girls I’ve ever met and we seemed to pick right off where we left off. They have a new baby boy, who also seems quite adept at being a charmer.
After a few hours–too few–Aron and I drove to San Francisco. We had planned to return the rental car at Oakland and take BART into the city, but instead found we could drop the car across from the hotel. We learned that we had narrowly escaped some heavy rains; the city was all blue skies and warm sun. We checked out the Top of the Mark and then walked along the Embarcadero before having dinner at Town Hall in SoMa. We found ourselves constantly drawing comparisons between this city and ours.
The next morning I went to meet my friend Marija in the Mission (the neighborhood which felt the most like my New York home to me) and she introduced me to a lovely little bakery called Tartine, and to the pleasure of spending a sunny SF day in Dolores Park. We both showed up in very similar striped shirts, which was absolutely hilarious but also bit distracting during conversation. Mental note to self: consider storing striped shirts until trend dies down a bit.
Around the time that Marija and I parted ways, my parents arrived in town! We met them back at the hotel and the four of us checked out the Ferry Terminal for some awesome views of the bay, and beers and cheese from Cowgirl Creamery. (My dad found Red Hawk to be too stinky; we love it but couldn’t have agreed more when we made the mistake of trying to save some of the round in our ice bucket back in the room.)
My parents and I made our way up to Coit Tower to check out the murals and the fantastic vistas. We walked back to Union Square and then met Aron for dinner at a cute spot on Nob Hill–1550 Hyde.
The three of us were on our own for some of the following day as well, but we all got together and rented a zip car to drive around the city. Though we’d been to SF many times over the years (Aron lived there for six months while I started graduate school in Los Angeles), I felt like we needed a refresher/overview. We decided that, if we were ever to live there, it would have to be outside of the fog belt. One highlight was stopping at Gelateria Naia in the Castro with my parents for their “young coconut” sorbetto–incredible.
Soon afterward, on Monday afternoon, I made my way to the airport for my red-eye flight back to NY; my parents headed back south to Long Beach the next morning.
Aron presented his research and went to other professional meetings (including an all-important bowling match). Before he left, he found time to meet up with our friend Phil and dish about his new little girl, Ruah, as well as bike over the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito with two other residents.
Aron may have been a bit busy, but I must say: I love these professional meetings!
Have a good weekend!
{ 31 comments… read them below or add one }
Gorgeous. So gorgeous. LOVE that part of Cali.
Last time I was through there was at night. All I recall is fog and glimpses of the huge red bridge supports as we drove across. An ethereal memory.
Wow – what a weekend!
SF is one of my most favorite cities (we're partial – it's the city we got engaged in). So great that you packed it in with family, good friends and good food. Wonderful pics as always!
you've just confirmed every romantic thought I've ever had about Northern California with this post.
I'm exhausted just reading all that! The berries and shortcake, mmm,mmm, mmm! Beautiful pictures, lovely friends.
Awesome weekend!!!
Oh. So you were totally lying when you said that your pictures didn't come out as good as usual because you were rushing around? Because these shots are amazing.
Thank you! I was happy when we downloaded them…
I think we got really lucky with the weather–I can't remember ever seeing SF so sunny–though the fog can be really atmospheric.
How fun! The clarity in these photos is amazing. I didn't know Aron is a urologist!
I love Northern California. I'm in Sacramento so going to where you went is so easy- but I know I don't go there often enough!
Oh you're making me so homesick! I could use some of that fog with the temps in New York this week…
Thanks for visiting my blog.
NY is only a dreamplace for me..Like your pictures, favorite is the bridge.
What a wonderful trip.
I am definitely planing a Sonoma… Napa Valley Wine tasting trip one day!
Have a great upcoming weekend as well:)
Ashley, I'm so glad you found my blog and commented…I'm now a big fan of Hither and Thither! Looks like you had a great time in the Bay Area, and I'm glad the weather was on your side.
Just saw your comment on my blog. Thanks for stopping by. You certainly have terrific photos here along with such interesting stories. It's fun to see photos taken by others in my part of the world. Glad you enjoyed your visit to the SF Bay Area!
Beautiful, beautiful pictures…..not an hour ago I was telling my husband that I would love to fly somewhere in CA and rent a car and just drive on the coast……you make me want to even more….where should we land and start driving???? would love suggestions….
Looks(and sounds) like an absolutely lovely weekend! Wow! All I did was sleep in it seems!
I am in AWE of your blog and the storty between Aron and Ashley. Can't wait to see more adventures from the both of you.
ps. having a dog, and traveling with her is the best. Thx for your blog comment
hi aron and ashley…
thanks so much for commenting in my foodie blog, really do appreciate it.
this post is amazing. thanks for sharing such a wonderful trip to s.f. with us. your photos are all mesmerizing and the children are adorable.
hope you're having an awesome weekend.
^-^
All that was one weekend? What fun!
You've made terribly homesick with these stunning pictures of the bay area. How lucky that you were able to see family while you were out there and capture your trip with such graceful pictures.
Glorious photos! So nice to see the new family members as well.
ashley, thanks for your tips! we are going to italy and can't wait– were the shoes you bought from italy or before you left? we decided on rick steve's book too
it's been great so far. and one more question- is it really true that italians rarely wear shorts??? i am afraid i will be a big pool of sweat the whole time i'm there!
Your photography is just marvelous!!
Kristin- its worth it! You can go big and have great tours or go small and have an personal experience.
Hannah- I'm so glad you visited!
Nanna- you really can't go wrong with the whole coast. If you could do an open jaw from LAX, then drive and fly out of SFO or OAK, you would get a glimpse of the whole coastline. We've a brief trip report (on the right side of the page) on a coastal drive we did this winter you may be interested in.
Lea- thank you, we're happy to have you!
Thank you for sharing the weekend with us, so glad you liked the photos!
Thank you, Willow!
crikey, your photos are SO beautiful.
wow that was a busy weekend. I'm tired just reading that. ha
sounds great. I'm dying to get out to CA one day.
love this post!
these CA photos are killing me with nostalgia…I am totally curious about your bicoastal-ness because I constantly think of moving back to CA once NY clears up my career direction a bit (hopefully!). I am aching for a little norcal vacation right now!
How long have you been living out east, Nidhi? It took us a little while to feel at home here. Now we just wish our families and friends from CA would come to us…
What work are you getting straightened out?
Beautiful photos! Your shot in Alameda shows how wonderful this little city by the bay is.
Beautiful photos. You packed in some good stuff in a short time. The Ferry Building is one of my favorite spots. I go there for lunch at least 2 times a week. I've never been to NY and I'm curious what comparisons you made.