Happy 2024!

Hello Friend! Happy 2024! Welcome back! I'm so happy we are back together sharing this space again. As you know, I took some additional time away because of the holiday. But also because my birthday falls this time of year too! I wanted to give myself the space to enjoy my weeks off fully and to take care of my needs.

If you are on Instagram, you may have seen that I visited San Francisco during the holidays. We were there for a very short time so I only got to pick one thing to see and I chose the most famous spot to play tourist which was the Golden Gate Bridge. (Not actually gold though. Haha)

We set out after breakfast because traffic in a strange city during the holidays is always a toss up and we wanted to get the most out of the day. We discovered that the usual best spot to take a photo of the bridge at Vista Point was closed off to the public and was only allowing tourist buses. Instead, we went over to Fort Baker in Sausalito and saw that not only did it have a gorgeous photo location, but the fort had been repurposed into a beautiful and pet friendly lodge!

There was a huge field in the center and many people were walking their dogs around the area, us included because we brought Waffles with us! Waffles travels well and is extremely friendly with everyone she meets, human or dog. It was nestled up against a large hill which made for such a beautiful backdrop and a quiet and peaceful oasis so close to such an iconic landmark.

After taking photos of and with the bridge, we drove over it to pay a visit to Ghiradelli Square to get some decadent hot chocolate. We both chose the salted caramel flavor and were very careful to make sure to keep any chocolate bits away from Waffles. We walked the grassy square outside of the Ghiradelli store and I saw Alcatraz island for the first time too.

Alcatraz Island is behind the boat. It was the only shot I could get of it.

I had only ever learned about Alcatraz Island from popular media and historical specials I’d seen on television. I never even learned about it in school so I had kind of forgotten that it was a real place because my brain had filed it as fiction even though logically it knew that it was real. It was kind of a weird culture shock moment in my own country so I couldn’t help but laugh at myself for it. There were lots of tourists but it never felt too crowded.

Our shadows in the corner.

While I was working on cruise ships, I would visit these beautiful tourist destinations but I would feel really envious of the locals in that area because I would see people out with their dog or their partner (usually the dog is the tip off that they lived locally since it can be challenging to travel with a pet), and I just knew they didn’t have to travel far to get home and relax and enjoy their day while living close to such a beautiful place. So when we walked around the grassy square with Waffles drinking our hot chocolate I felt this swell of happiness because I was finally living something that I had desired for such a long time. And while we weren’t technically local to this city, we were local enough that we could travel with a pet so it was a happy compromise for me.

Waffles didn’t get the photo memo. haha

The last thing we did that day was visit the upper shopping level of Ghiradelli Square. We got an adorable photo of Waffles by the fountain and then bought a cute harness for her from a bougie pet store. It's the only harness that hasn’t made her act crazy so I was sold on that alone and was in the holiday shopping spirit anyway. She seems to like it a lot because she’s taken to pulling very hard on her leash. She’s a big stinker.

Anyway, that was our 1 day trip to The Golden Gate Bridge and downtown San Francisco. It’s given me a taste of the city and I can understand why so many people call it home. I found the small part that I saw to be very charming and could see why the area inspires so much creativity in so many industries. I would very much like to visit again for a longer amount of time and explore even more.

If you’ve been to San Francisco, what do you suggest I see? Leave a comment below and let me know!

For everyone else, di you have any travel plans for 2024? I’d love to know what you’re looking forward to whether it’s local or further away, please share!

And thank you for joining me back here our weekly adventures together! I’m excited to see what 2024 unfolds!

Until next time!

Kristen

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