Review of trip to San Francisco/Monterey/Napa

My wife and I just returned from spending 5 nights in San Francisco. I gleaned a lot of info reading through this board, so I'd like to share my experiences to possibly help someone else that may be heading that way soon. I apologize in advance for the length. I have pictures to post, but I am unsure about copying them from my photo library on my work PC. I have seen people on the OT get into someone's entire picture library just by posting one photo on TD.

Thursday 2/28/19: Flew out of MSY nonstop to OAK on Southwest. Our flight out was at 2:55, and checking bags took an hour. Thankfully we had Pre-check so we saved time in security. There was a strong headwind on the flight, we were in the air over 5 hours. Took a private car from OAK to the Huntington Hotel in Nob Hill. About a 25 min ride. The hotel was lovely, a great location. We had a junior suite, and it was spacious and quiet. By the time we unpacked it was after 8:00 pm. We went down to the hotel restaurant, The Big 4, and had a burger in the lounge area. The restaurant was packed, and had a piano player in the lounge. The vibe was old school, carpet floors, wooden walls and green leather chairs/booths.

Friday: 9:30 reservations for Alcatraz. We did the jailhouse audio tour, and spent about 3 hours on the island. The weather wasn't bad, chilly but not windy. No fog, so we were able to get some good photos of the Golden Gate Bridge. After that, we walked down the Embarcadero towards Pier 39. We ate lunch at Fog Harbor Fish House, it was a little more upscale than the touristy spots on the Pier, and the meal was great. We browsed around that area for a while and made our way to the Ghirardelli shop. Hung out there for a bit and rode the cable car back up the hill to pick up our rental car. We parked it in the Masonic Temple garage next to our hotel. $38 per night with in/out if you park overnight for 2 or more nights. That evening we walked around Union Square and stopped at a diner on the corner for a quick/easy meal.

Saturday: Left the hotel around 8:30 and drove down 101 to Carmel/Monterey. We stopped at the Mission San Juan Bautista about 30 mins outside of Montery. It is one of the 21 missions established in the early 1800's by Spanish Monks. We walked the grounds for an hour, there is a museum, church and gardens. Very peaceful and some interesting history. Next stop was Pebble Beach Golf Course. We took the 17-Mile Drive right to the club, and parked and walked over to the 1st tee. Watched a few groups tee off and visited the Pro Shop. The staff was very courteous and friendly. Talked about the US Open coming up etc. Bought a few shirts and gifts for friends back home. We ate lunch at The Bench overlooking the 18th green. The food was good, but the view was actually better at Stillwater Cove restaurant. It was upstairs and had better sightlines out over the course and bay. We were able to walk right out on the cart path and take some pictures near the 18th green. The course wasn't overly busy because of the off season and the weather was cold and slightly rainy.
We finished the day driving along the coast, stopped a couple times at scenic overlooks, including where John Denver's plane crashed. Ordered room service for dinner that night.

Sunday: We got up early and drove to Napa for an 11:00 cave tour and barrell tasting at Del Dotto Estate Winery in St. Helena. The scenery on the drive in was nice, obviously all of the vines were dormant. Lots of water on the sides of the road and in the valleys due to the serious rains they have been getting. The wine tour was fantastic. I wasn't familiar with Del Dotto wines before the trip, but the tour was very intimate and informative. We tasted 12 wines in all, and at the end of the tour they brought us a selection of house made meats and cheeses, along with a pizza to go with our wine. It was first class.

We then drove through Yountville, past the French Laundry restaurant. We parked in a public lot across from Bouchon, and there was a line to get in the bakery. My wife talked to the hostess at Bouchon Bistro, and after about a 10 minute wait we were able to get a great corner table. The food and atmosphere was great, definitely a highlight of the trip. We drove back to SF, and made a pit stop to see the Painted Ladies rowhouses, and drove down the crooked section of Lombard Street.

That evening we walked across the street to the Fairmont hotel. It is a beautiful older building with murals and ornate decorations. We decided to eat dinner at the Tonga Room inside the hotel. It is a Polynesian/Asian themed restaurant with a "lake" right in the center. They had live music playing on a boat in the lake. This place was very cheesy and corny. Felt like we were in Disneyworld, but inside a very posh hotel. Not impressed with the food or the atmosphere, but no big deal.

Monday: No plans for our last day in town, basically a "catch-up" day for anything we missed. We took the hotel town car to Sweet Maple for breakfast. It was excellent- the millionaire's bacon is well worth it. From there we walked to a few shops around Union Square, and then up Grant Street through China Town. We stopped and saw the 2 ladies making Fortune Cookies, it was a really cool little spot. From there we went up the Filbert Steps to the Coit Tower. The views were amazing, but the tower itself isn't anything special. We had a nice walk down through the Italian Section of town. We ducked into a few stores along the way, including the Cable Car museum. You can pop in and see the giant gears working to pull the cars across the city. Very neat to see how it all works.

We took the car across the GG Bridge to take some pictures from that side, the sun broke through a few times and we got some nice shots. We then went to Sausalito and parked at the waterfront. We walked up and down hitting shops and art galleries. We had a bite at Sausalito Bakery & Cafe. It is a very quaint place with an Italian lady as the owner. She had beautiful pastries and light cafe food. We drove back across the bridge and turned the rental car in and packed up to leave the next morning.

Tuesday: We took a private car from the Huntington to the airport. With traffic it took about 35 mins. Check in at OAK was a breeze, they had the self serve kiosks that allowed you to print your own checked bag tags. Hopefully the new MSY terminal will have this capability. Uneventful flight back home, and as always we were welcomed back to reality with the overweight TSA agents and loud black ladies in the terminal.

All in all it was a fun trip. I had been to SF about 10 years ago, but it was the first time for my wife. The weather wasn't bad, it rained most of the day Saturday, but other than that it was mostly cloudy and cool.