Girl's Trip - San Francisco!

The entrance to China Town.

Em at the entrance to China Town.

Em in front of the Heart in Union Square.

Me in front of the same heart.

So, Emilee was supposed to get rewarded for graduating from college, along with David for graduating high school, with a trip.  I booked a trip to Hawaii months before their graduations for this past August.  But then, she ended up getting a job!  That meant she couldn't take any time off work until sometime in December, and therefore, there would be no trip for her!  Then, David decided he would rather go hike The Subway in Zions, than hang around on a beach in Hawaii with his boring and old parents.  The trip to Hawaii was cancelled (which didn't totally break my heart since airfare was looking like about a thousand a person).  David and Dave went off to the Subway and Emilee decided we at least owed her a trip, if only a quick one over a weekend.  I talked her into waiting for Labor Day weekend and she decided she wanted to go to San Francisco, so that's what we did. 

It was actually our second trip to SF and we had so much fun the first time we went, it was a no-brainer to do it again.  I booked the flights and the hotel - the Hilton in downtown SF, where we had stayed the last time.  We left on Friday night, right after Em got off work.  Our flight was delayed an hour, which is exactly what happened the last time, because of fog or weather in SF.  We finally got there at around seven in the evening and took a cab to our hotel.

The hotel had been remodeled and we had a really nice room that there was an extremely long walk to get to.  As soon as we got there, we headed off to get a late dinner and ended up at a little cafe over by Union Square.  It was actually where we ended up getting breakfast each morning and it reminded us of the cafes in Spain, so that was kind of cool.  We basically did three things.... walked, shopped and ate!  Saturday, we spent the entire day shopping or making that first pass of all the stores Em wanted to look in.  Then, she thinks about everything she's seen and we go back later to buy what she decides she wants - that's just how most women shop - it's a process.  We hit all the major stores, one of the big malls, where we had lunch, and then eventually headed back to Union Square where we waited about an hour and a half for dinner at Cheesecake.  It was so good, as usual, so worth the wait.  The next day, we bought tickets for a Hop On Hop Off bus and headed to Fisherman's Warf.  We had lunch there and bought chocolate, of course!  The weather was perfect in about the low 70's and the fog always burned off mid-morning, but rolled back in at night.

While on the bus, we learned a lot about San Francisco, its history and peculiarities.  It's really a beautiful city with a diverse population.  Everyone seemed incredibly nice and helpful in the stores and restaurants.  We both really love it there and can't wait to go back.  I would love to go back with Dave and David, although I'm not sure what they'll do while we shop!  Both times we have been we have had a ton of fun and have created some wonderful mother/daughter memories.  I can't imagine anything I would rather do than spend time with my fun daughter!