San Francisco!

Well, I'm back from San Francisco! We had a great time! The counseling competition went really well, but I didn't make the top 10. There were 93 people competing, so there was quite a bit of competition. It was a great experience though, and I plan to try again next year. We were able to have a lot of fun while we were there! We went to Alcatraz Island, and toured the building where they kept all of the prisoners. We also got to sample real San Francisco Sourdough at Boudin Bakery in Fisherman's Wharf (a bayside section of San Francisco). At Pier 39, a big shopping and restaurant area, we got to shop and see the Sea Lions. One day, we went to Napa Valley and spent time visiting different wineries. We went to Andretti Winery (the yellow building in one of the pics), Sterling Winery (we saw the wine barrels on our tour), Mumm Winery (known for Sparkling wines). For lunch, we were able to eat at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone. This was quite a treat because one of our friends knew someone that worked there and we got to take a tour of the culinary school and teaching areas (normally not open to visitors). Back in San Francisco, we spent time in Chinatown, on Lombard street (the crooked-est street in the world), and in Ghirahdelli Square sampling chocolate (yum!). On Saturday night, we had an amazing evening! One of the girls we were with had a brother that lived in Orange County. The man that he lived with was an older gentleman who did not have family. He took us all out on Saturday night, and treated us to dinner, drinks, etc. to celebrate our friends Lori's b-day. We went to McCormick and Kuletos, this AMAZING seafood restaurant right on the bay. After that, he took us to Buena Vista, a little bar that is known for their Irish Coffees, then we got to ride the trolley (and hang off the side). Finally, to top of the evening, he took us to the Westin Hotel in San Fran where we were able to ride up 32 stories in a glass elevator! This was so beautiful because you could see all of San Francisco! Here are some memorable things that happened:
-Driving to Napa Valley in our rented Impala....singing "Wanna be a Bulla"
-Hanging off the trolley while the driver slammed on the brakes to watch us almost fall off! (it really was funny!)
-Getting Godiva chocolate bunnies from the special man that took us all out!
-Seeing Calla Lilies AND Aggapanthus (my wedding flowers) growing all over!
-Going to Andretti Winery (it looked like it came straight from Tuscany)
-Bill, the wine guy at Andretti
-Going across the Golden Gate bridge
-Jamie doing her sea lion imitation
-Seeing Alcatraz (and the actual cell of Al Capone)
-Going to Ghirhadelli and seeing the big chocolate mixing machine
-My amaretto sour at McCormick and Kuleto's with REAL lemon juice (not Sweet and Sour mix)
-The Irish Coffee bar tender who made 9 Irish Coffee's in like 30 seconds!
-Seeing LOTS of homeless people who were always asking for change
-Eating at Sears Fine Foods (for the World Famous Swedish Silver Dollar pancakes)...and cucumbers in the water
-Going to Chinatown and getting a fake Coach purse for $25 (when the real thing is like $300-$400)
-Hiking up Lombard street to the twisty part (it was a steep climb!)
-Spending time with Alicia and acting goofy
-Our big hotel room at the Travelodge with 2 bathrooms (I've never seen one hotel room with two bathrooms)
-Seeing all of the San Francisco style houses (tall, narrow, and 1 inch apart due to earthquake regulations)
-Almost being late for our exam!

Well, that's all I can think of now! It was an amazing trip...oh yeah, the convention was nice too! :)