We also wandered around the Mission district a bit and ate at Tacolicious, the Bi-Rite Creamery and Delfina Pizzeria.  There were quite a few cute local shops to browse in this district and it is not touristy at all.

My sister had some friends over for game night while we were there and baked up some pizzas we had gotten the ingredients for at Zachary’s Chicago Pizza (third trip, third time eating Zachary’s – what can we say, it’s that good!)  One night we ventured over to Berkeley for some southern/Louisiana cuisine at Angeline’s Kitchen.  We were a little wary of trying southern food in San Francisco, but we were very pleasantly surprised.  I would highly recommend it to anyone planning a trip to the area.  Another new experience for us was an Off the Grid meetup of food trucks!

Angeline’s Kitchen

Food Trucks at Off the Grid

 Salted Caramel at Bi-Rite Creamery

We decided to revisit Sonoma since it has been over three years since our first time there.  After checking some Yelp reviews, we ended up at a small winery’s tasting shop in downtown Sonoma instead of taking a tour.  Westwood offers tastings of five wines that are slightly older than what we usually receive on tours.  One of the appealing things about their tasting was that it offered a 2005 Pinot Noir.  For a few years, we have been wanting to buy some wine from the year we were married to save and enjoy on milestone anniversaries.  We knew it would be more fun to have a little back-story of how we got the wine than just pulling it off the shelf at the grocery store.

For two days, we went south to visit Monterey and Big Sur.  Our first stop was Point Lobos Natural Preserve.  This was a really nice park – we saw Sea Lions, Harbor Seals and Sea Otters, all playing in the water and resting on the rocks out in the ocean.  We took a free guided tour that pointed out a lot of vegetation in the park – native and non-native.  We also drove the 17 mile scenic drive at Pebble Beach.

The Monterey aquarium was wonderful – we enjoyed watching the feedings for the penguins, the open seas tank, and the sea otters (adorable!).  Big Sur was our biggest disappointment.  The park has very few signs posted to direct you to trails and attractions.  Several of the bridges were out and ultimately we were unable to find the Gorge nor the Waterfall that we were looking for.

Point Lobos

 17 mile drive

 Big Sur

 Secret Lives of Seahorses at the Monterey Bay Aquarium

A final stop on our trip was the Company Store at Cupertino.  It is the only place to find Apple logo merchandise.  In addition to shirts and other novelties for Bradley, we picked up a little souvenir for our niece!

Find info from our previous San Francisco adventures here:
Visit 1
Visit 2

Savannah is a slow town with most stores and attractions closing by 5PM.  We visited the Davenport House, Wormsloe Plantation, climbed the Tybee Island Lighthouse, walked River Street and generally wandered around the historic downtown district.

The lighthouse has 178 steps and tours are self-guided.  My thighs felt those steps for days!  The Wormsloe Plantation has a 1.1 mile drive back to the site that is lined the entire way with live oak trees covered in Spanish moss.

The Spanish moss is so iconic of Savannah.  Pictures simply cannot capture the magnificent beauty you get in person.

There were 24 original squares in Savannah, and we saw most of them on our trolley tour the first day.  This is the large fountain at Forsyth Square, the largest square.

All of the squares had large old live oaks draped in Spanish moss.

A big part of our trip was all about the food.  Savannah has some of the best southern cuisine around.  We used Yelp to help us find the best and brightest places to try.  Besides our very favorite meal of the trip (mentioned yesterday), we visited Vic’s on the River, the Olde Pink House, and Alligator Soul for dinners.  We did happen upon Paula Deen’s Lady and Sons without much of a wait, so we tried it for ourselves.  The food was very southern and very good.  If you did not grow up on this food, it would blow your mind.  Same goes for Mrs. Wilkes’ Boarding House – the food is served family style at 12 person tables that you share with those in line next to you.  Just like a southern family reunion or church potluck.  We had hummus and a sandwich at Zunzi’s that was very good – it is considered South African cuisine.  I got my seafood fix at The Pirate House.  We also tried the pizza at the highly recommended Vinnie-Van-Go-Go’s.  I was a little underwhelmed due to the fact that the pizza place next to our house, Big Pie in the Sky, is so amazing that nothing can hold a candle to it.

Traditionally, the 6th anniversary gift is iron and the modern gift is wood.  I didn’t follow those guidelines at all this time.  Bradley likes nice, polarized sunglasses so I gave him a Sunglass Hut gift card that I scored on ebay before we left for the trip so that he could have some new glasses in Savannah.  I tucked the gift cards into this awesome card I found on Etsy.  A side note is that we found out at the store that we can send in his old glasses with a scratch on the lens for replacements for a fraction of the cost of new;  so once we do that he will have a nice pair for both of our vehicles!  He chose a pair of Maui Jim’s, which evidently is his favorite brand for sunglasses, seeing as how it is his third pair in a row.

Bradley was amazingly sweet and did a great job sneaking around to get my gift.  (Since I handle all of the bills, I would see anything on a credit card.)  I don’t tend to wear much jewelry and feel self-conscious about it, but I have been interested in getting a right-hand ring.  Something nice, but not too flashy, that I could feel comfortable wearing anytime.  I thought I found the perfect one online at Jared.  I love the wide, open criss-cross feel, with only a few of the bands set with diamonds – an overall more casual feel so as to not compete with my wedding bands.

Pretty right?  Bradley ended up buying one that was a little different – and because it had been returned, it was a lot more ring for the money.  He loves when I want jewelry over some gadget for the house because it is more romantic I guess, and more diamonds means a girl should like it more:)  But it felt too flashy, so we went back to compare the two rings.  I was so disappointed.  The ring I had picked out online for shape and aesthetics looked nothing like the picture in person.  It was dull, seemingly no stones to speak of, certainly no sparkle.  I am not good at predicting what 1/4ct. will look like in different settings.  After returning the ring, we looked at all the mall stores when we went to buy his sunglasses, but to no avail.  Obviously, the average woman wants a lot more bling than I do, so we decided to postpone our search until Savannah.  Unfortunately, there was only one jewelry store in historic downtown, so we came up short.

Ultimately, I decided to hold off on the ring and get something for the house.  Surprise, surprise!  Ever since we got the hand-me-down couches from Bradley’s parents, I have been dissatisfied by the size of our end tables, especially in the corner.  We got the tables and our old coffee table for our wedding when we lived in a one-bedroom apartment with a smaller sofa.  They are now dwarfed by the oversized sofas.   I thought a round end table would look very nice and soften the corner between the sofas.  I found this table by Paula Deen (which is especially funny since we visited her restaurant while we were on our trip!)

During our San Francisco visit, we spent a little time at Pier 39 (still not a lot of sea lions this time either).  One day was spent strolling around the San Francisco botanical gardens – lots of interesting plants I have never seen and a fun hummingbird encounter!  We also spent a day in Napa since we toured Sonoma on our last visit.  We were able to get into the tour at the Hendry Vineyard, which is a 2.5 hour tour and tasting.  It was very interesting and more involved than any of the other wineries we have been to.

Pier 39

Botanical Gardens

Napa

Cakebread Winery

Hendry Ranch Wines

There were fourteen of us at Yosemite.  I really enjoyed having other people to explore with, but we could also do our own thing if we wanted.  We stayed in Curry Village, which has permanent tents on wooden floors with beds and screen doors.  That is my limit when it comes to ‘camping’.  The waterfalls were SO beautiful.  Evidently, there is record snowmelt this year, so what was a trickle the last time my parents visited is now this:
Lower Yosemite Falls

 Half Dome

 Yosemite Falls

 Curry Village

On the way to Tuolumne Meadow

It is a great size for light packing.  I wrote the name of each medication and the recommended dosage on the lid of each compartment.  This way I never worry if I am using the right amount.

I thought this might be helpful to anyone that has ever been caught on vacation with an upset stomach or stuffy nose and no medication.  I leave this filled at all times, so I can just toss it in my bag and I am ready to go!

This was the perfect vacation for two type A, over-planning, over-anxious people like us.  Everything is taken care of in advance and no surprise last minute changes to plans, so we may be utilizing the all-inclusive route more often.  Our only complaint was the rock hard bed.  We were very sore by the time we got home.  Maybe it is just a Mexico thing, or maybe the resort is hoping you will book spa treatments at an extra charge to help with that:)

He had never been to the space museum there, so we were happy that the tickets to the exhibit also included admission to the museum.  We even made it into an overnight trip since the drive is about 3.5 hours, which would make for a long day in the car.

It was really cool to see the props, models and costumes from the actual films and not just reproductions, but I was hoping there would be more behind the scenes details for us to read about than there were.  I can see how it would be great for parents, because there were quite a few interactive stations for kids to get involved with the science and technology behind these kinds of sci-fi movies.

Overall we had a great time, but I do think the ticket prices were too high for the actual experience.  I think the price point would have been well worth maybe half what it actually cost.  But that’s just my opinion:)

On our way home, we did stop by the unclaimed baggage store in Scottsboro since it is dead-set on the way, and picked up a few pairs of sunglasses on the cheap (I have had two pairs of my favorite sunglasses break in the last month).  We also ate at a couple of really great places:  We had fantastic BBQ at Gibson’s in Huntsville (and in the south, it is hard for BBQ to stand out, since everyone makes good BBQ) and we found a great little breakfast place (for dinner) in Chattanooga via Yelp called Aretha Frankensteins.  I had the most amazing belgian waffle I have ever had and Bradley was completely won over by their shrimp and grits.  Too bad we won’t ever get to try another restaurant in Chattanooga, since we will surely go back here every time we find ourselves in the city:)

We stayed in the third floor of a renovated historic house in Chelsea.  The bus stopped right in front of the house, making it easy to use public transit all week.

We ate in the North End every night (Little Italy), I know, not very original of us, but it was good for the most part.  My favorite meal by far was Pizzeria Regina.  How have I never had a pizza with ricotta cheese on it before?  It was A-mazing!

We walked the Freedom Trail on Tuesday.  It is about 3 miles long and marked with a red line (either painted or made from bricks) that winds through the city with stops at major historical sites.  I do wish we had had a tour guide to give us more history, but it was interesting none-the-less.  While on the trail, we stopped to eat lunch at the Union Oyster House, which is the oldest restaurant in continuous service in the U.S.

On Wednesday, we toured the Harvard Campus and the city of Cambridge.  We took a student-led tour that was fun and interesting.  We ate at a local burger place called Mr. Bartley’s Gourmet Burgers.  It was good, but not Flip:)  The owner sits outside and takes orders as you wait in line for a table to open up.  Like all restaurants in Boston, it is cramped, but exciting because of it.  Major downside: Cash only.

On Thursday, we split up and Lane and Brett went to Martha’s Vineyard while we stayed in Boston and tried to catch up on a few touristy activities that we hadn’t gotten to.  We started out with a Duck Tour of Boston.  The DUKW vehicles are from WWII and are built to run on land or water.  So it is a corny, but a fun ride during which we were taken into the Charles River!

For lunch we stopped at Sam Lagrassa’s.  You know you have found a local treasure when it is packed with local business men.  We spent the afternoon at the John F. Kennedy Library.

Bradley and Brett went to the Red Sox v. Texas Rangers game Thursday night, while Lane and I waited in a forever-line to eat at Giacomo’s because we had been told how amazing it was.  I couldn’t tell much difference between it and the other 30 Italian restaurants I have eaten at in my life except that it was uncomfortably packed.  Also, this is a cash-only restaurant.

We had a really great time even though there were a couple of things I would have liked to have done, like the Swan boats at Boston Public Gardens and the Sam Adams Brewery Tour.  We ran into time issues because all of the touristy activities closed early and we really only had three days to squeeze things in because of the insanely long car ride:)

This time out we stayed at the Trump hotel.  The room was nice, not more so than the Flamingo I thought, except that we had a mini kitchen so our dinner leftovers became next-day lunches (yea for saving those pennies!)  It was much easier to navigate this time and we did not get exhausted like we did a few years ago before losing weight.

Bellagio Conservatory & Botanical Gardens

 Fountains at the Bellagio

Enjoying some mexican food at El Segundo Sol

Photo op with the ‘Blue Man Group’

‘Tiger’ helping Bradley set up a putt

Meeting ‘Nicholas Cage’ at Madame Tussauds

We went to lunch with them at Jackson’s Bar and Bistro in Homewood, AL.  VERY good sandwiches, even though they did lose our order in the kitchen.  Such a wonderful weekend!