TrvlMaven

DH and I just celebrated our 35th Anniversary in SF. We live in the East Bay, so after church, we hopped on BART and, in no time, were in our favorite city. I booked the Hotel Vitale on-line with the "locals' discount" for a water view room. I called the hotel on Friday to ask for an early/late check-in/out and when the reservation clerk looked up our reservation he saw that I had entered "Anniversary" in the reservation notes; he said, "Of course you can check in early, and let me upgrade you to a higher floor." (sweet!)
I also made reservations for Waterbar--a place we had wanted to try for a long time. (opentable.com--also added note about anniversary).
Easy check-in and then off to Hog Island to indulge in our favorite mollusks. Lots of families celebrating Mother's Day--but we got into the line to be seated anticipating a lengthy wait.. When the hostess came down the line--we said "Party of two, we'll sit anywhere." She pulled us out of line and seated us right away. Dozen oysters, gumbo and clam chowder (de-constructed and delicious!).
Even thought the weather folks had predicted a chance of rain--it was a beautiful day and we enjoyed walking along the Embarcadero. We got a call from dear friends from SoCal who were in town and we made plans to meet at the hotel for champagne toast. I called Waterbar and they very kindly changed our reservation from two to four (which became a surprise five when their adult son tagged along--but the restaurant was wonderful in making it work).
We enjoyed our champagne on the rooftop terraces at Hotel Vitale--a gem of a hotel. Beautiful view of the Bay; great people-watching. Walked over to Waterbar--lovely restaurant, The food was innovative and delicious--serrano ham wrapped sturgeon (delicious!); Florida rock shrimp over risotto. For dessert they sent out a plate with "Happy 35th Anniversary" written in chocolate and coconut & rum granita on five tasting spoons--great finish to our meal.
The hotel is luxurious and we had a great view of the Bay Bridge and the Embarcadero. We walked over to the Ferry Building and grabbed breakfast at Market Cafe (smoked salmon bruscetta and biscuits with poached eggs). Walked through Embarcadero Center, on to Yerba Buena Gardens - what a gem! We love just walking the city and made our way over to AT&T park. Lunch at MoMo's--then back to the hotel to pick up our bag and make our way home via BART. Pedometer on my IPOD says we walked 14,700 steps today! It's always fun to play tourist in our own backyard!

yk

Happy Anniversary, TrvlMaven. What a lovely way to spend the special day! Thanks for sharing.

sf7307

You were in my backyard! (I work in the Embarcadero). Sounds like a wonderful day, and happy anniversary.

china_cat

we stayed in the same area on our last, too short, trip to San Francisco. I think I even had the smoked salmon bruschetta for breakfast too. I think its a great location to stay.

Happy Anniversary, and thanks for sharing your trip report!

elnap29

Happy Anniversary! It's nice to hear when a local has a good experience as a visitor.