Monday, October 20, 2008

San Francisco...A Trip Back Home...

Todd and I were able to travel from Utah to San Francisco and spend five days there while I attended a surgical conference. I absolutely loved the year that I was able to spend living there while doing my internship at UCSF. For me, this was truly a visit back home. My dear husband on the other hand, does not have such "fuzzy" feelings regarding the quick trips he would make to SF while completing his last year of medical school in SLC.



We flew out of SLC early Sunday morning during a wicked blizzard and arrived to beautiful weather in SF....October is the best time of the year there! We drove straight from the airport to Candlestick Park for the 49ers vs Eagles game. We had a blast! Our tickets were on the 5th row up from the 49ers home endzone. We were surrounded by crazy fans who have had those tickets for years! The game was awesome and exciting, however the Eagles ended up victorious...hard to be sad when you like both teams!





A view of the field from our seats!


Nice behind McNabb...I love him!!!



Coach Andy Reid...a fellow mormon and good guy

O'Sullivan back to pass...

Just enjoying the game and our surroundings!


A view of the final score...high scoring and very entertaining!



The dejected team after a tough loss...

A view of Steve Young's retired jersey...man is he a hottie!!!


A view of the field from just below our seats right after the game...
Following the game, Todd and I drove around the baseball park and the financial district...our old stomping grounds!


Our old apartment. We lived on the 10th floor and had a

perfect view of the Bay Bridge and water from our living room!

While living in San Francisco, I was obsessed with Nob Hill....the view, the cable cars... Todd and I were able to stay at the Fairmont atop Nob Hill during our trip.

Monday was spent at the conference, but that night Todd and I walked down to Union Square for some shopping and sight-seeing. As most of you can imagine, Union Square was a place I spent much of my free time enjoying!!! On our walk from Nob Hill down, many begging homeless people were passed. One was even holding a sign, "Need a Hooker, please give money!" I was dying to take a picture, however couldn't justify contributing to his cause.

Right in front of Nordstrom on Market Street, an elderly man holds this sign and yells.

A similar aged man next to him has a sign about "sinful sex".

They have been there since we lived there...


The following pictures were all taken from the same street corner. Man I miss this city!!!



After our time shopping, Todd and I ate dinner at an Italian restaurant near our old apartment overlooking the Embarcadero and the Bay Bridge. I had my camera, but didn't stop to take any pictures.

Tuesday again was spent at meetings during the day. That night Todd and I met up with some of the other residents from Harbor-UCLA for a great steak dinner at Mortons in Union Square.

I became a true "city" gal on the trip down from Nob Hill.
I wore flip flops and carried my heels. Here I am in front of Saks...
We took advantage of the cable car to spare my footsies even with my
flip flops. I had always wanted to ride them and never did
the entire year we lived there!

The only "heart" that Todd leaves in San Francisco...

Being serenaded while waiting from the cable car after dinner.

Wednesday after the meetings finished, Todd and I drove out near the SF VA Hospital and to the beach. We ate dinner at a fantastic restaurant we found literally the night before we moved to LA...

A view of Golden Gate Bridge from the VA parking lot.

Quite the scenery to enjoy during the few spare moments you had to eat lunch!


The Cliff House restaurant and it's spectacular surroundings!
Thursday we spent time sight-seeing before heading to the airport.
The Golden Gate Bridge...






Coit Tower with Bay Bridge in the background from the top of Lombard Street.


Lombard Street...one of my favorite places in the city!

No trip to SF is complete without stopping at Ghiradelli Square for sundays!




One of our favorite parts about SF was our ward.

Who can forget the homeless people coming into sacrament, leaving multiple times within the hour to go out for a smoke in front of the building...

How about the man dressed as a woman who was never lacking comments to contribute to the Relief Society lesson...

The journey to get to church was also never without excitement.

One Sunday while Laurel was visiting, we had to brave the Gay Rights Parade...

Every Sunday we had to pass through the sinful city's perception of Eden to get to ours...




Now to our Garden of Eden in the wicked city...

The church sits on the corner of a neighborhood surrounded by apartment buildings.

The parking lot can only hold ~12 cars so it was always an adventure trying to

find street parking and get into church on time!


And of course, we had to drive by UCSF and SF General Hospitals.



On the little terrace you can see with the trees, the homeless people would sit and wait for you to through your lunch tray away and then go and eat whatever you had left on it. It only took me a short time to realize it was better to just hand off my unfinished plate than to make them dig through the trash for it. You also quickly learned not to eat from the salad bar after seeing the homeless people eating out of it with their bare hands...I didn't eat much when I rotated there!


The Bay Bridge and Embarcadero just a block away from our apartment...



No vacation is complete without documenting Todd managing our luggage...

Hey, I was gone for 2 weeks....what's a girl to do....wear something twice???

I truly have such fond memories of our year living in SF. I am one who leaves a small piece of their heart in the city. It was so fun to be back as a tourist and do some of the things I never got to do while living there. I can't wait for the next visit back!!!























8 comments:

Laurel said...

Love all the pictures. SF was so fun to come visit you, but I am glad you and todd are together and at least you both could go back and visit for fun. Glad we got to see you the week before and this weekend. i am glad you smartened up and wore flip flops while carrying your shoes.

Veronica said...

Thanks so much for posting about SF. I always loved to visit there too. I am thankful that Heavenly Father continues to guide you to the places HE knows will be best for you. I loved all your pictures. They brought so many good memories to me of my visits to you. Love you sis...THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT AND LOVE THIS STRESSFUL WEEKEND! YOU ARE A TERRIFIC DOCTOR AND ALWAYS KNOW HOW TO HELP US! LOVE YOU.

Mindy M. said...

I love all the pictures from this last blog. I hadn't looked and didn't realize you had updated!! I love how you comment on all the many things ~ you make me laugh!! I am so glad you and Todd got to get away together for a bit and romp in your old stomping grounds. Nice to visit but wouldn't want to live there!! Love ya so much!!

Jeff Tingey said...

Hey guys. I am going to be in Pismo Beach this weekend with our football team.
How close is that to you?

John and Brittney said...

You did a great job of documenting your trip. I love the pictures and the stories. It was fun to see you this weekend.

Team Tingey said...

I can see why you left a piece of your heart in San Fran. You are totally in your element there. Me on the other hand....well that is a different story. Do you remember when we went to Stanford to watch the boys run. Well on of the days my Mom took me to SF and i was scared out of my witts. As a shy, sheltered farm girl I quickly realized I was way out of my element. Anyway sorry for sharing that story but everytime someone talks about SF I have flashbacks of that day. I am glad to see you guys made the most of your five days. Looks like you had an absolute blast. Jeff was jealous.

TaMara said...

When Matt worked for H-P he was over that area and we loved visiting SF! It is definitely one of our favorite places. Loved all of the great pics.

Anonymous said...

Well, I'm sure that this "wicked city" is glad you're gone