62. Napa Valley by Hot Air Balloon – Napa Valley, CA

So as I said in my previous Napa Valley post, I was not a huge fan of the wine trail. I was, however, a huge fan of Napa by hot air balloon. We used Napa Valley Balloon Company and were pleased – very professional and took every precaution needed to make our trip safe and enjoyable. They picked us up at 5:00 a.m. and it was a little touch and go if we were going to go […]

61. Napa Wine Trail – Napa Valley, CA

I love wine and I love wine tasting and I was so excited to finally get to Napa Valley to enjoy all that wine goodness. I have also tasted wine from some of the best wine regions in the world from South Africa to Italy to the Pacific Northwest.  That being said, I’m certainly not a wine snob by any stretch but I’m probably in the minority here as I could not have been more disappointed and […]

60. Haight Ashbury – San Francisco, CA

Being old hippies at heart, Haight Ashbury was definitely on the “to do” list while we were in San Francisco. Nothing more really than just a very ecclectic assortment of shops and cafes with a fair amount of homeless hippies to add to the colorful atmosphere. Once you’ve been, that’s enough but we liked it and were glad we went.  

59. Muir Woods – Mill Valley, CA

We visited Muir Woods on a very foggy, drizzly kind of day. The paths were muddy and the views not that great but all in all, it is a beautiful place no matter what the weather and we enjoyed hiking the trails. The star attraction of Muir Woods is definitely the Coast Redwood. These relatives of the giant sequoia are are known for their height. While redwoods can grow to nearly 380 feet, the tallest one here is 258 […]

58. Alcatraz – San Francisco, CA

Let me preface this by saying that I wasn’t particularly excited about going to Alcatraz on our San Francisco vacation – I thought it was kind of a guy thing. But life and relationships are all about compromise so I went and I am very glad I did. We took the audio guided tour and I found it very, very interesting and not a guy thing at all. I did not know that the guards […]

57. Fisherman’s Wharf – San Francisco, CA

If you love fish and seafood, what’s not to love about Fisherman’s Wharf.  Hands down the best clam chowder I’ve ever eaten. But aside from the eating, we just loved hanging around down by the pier and watching the fishing boats come in with their catch. We just found it to be a great little area to people watch despite all the tourists and jip strip t-shirt and souvenir shops. One has to expect that anyway, […]