Maggi: "Neither apparently, did they, since no one asked to see her ID. "

Maybe don't tell too many folks about that. It is a MAJOR no no and Coppia can have their beverage license suspended if ABC gets wind of it.

Ugh the worst traffic is driving east from the Bay Area on 80 on a Friday. Musch worse than ay day of the week. Glad you made it back in time fo the performance.

I remember when La Bou was La Boulangerie (the bakery) and there was one in Davis. Great croissants, although now I prefer the ones at Ettore's. But I miss the LB cheese and pesto sandwich.

Thanks LoveItaly, Hershey and Susie! Janisj, mums the word. Underhill, I didn't realize it was short for Boulangerie, how clever. Great place.

Well, it's 11:30 and we just rolled into the room from San Francisco. Got a bit of a late start and with the traffic (again!) we arrived noonish. It was really cold and windy, people were wearing parkas, so we scrapped the bike ride immediately. Was shocked at the $25-30 day price in the parking structure at Fisherman's Wharf, so tried a meter for awhile, until I realized it would end up just as much as the structure. We stopped for lunch at one of the places on the wharf and bought some sunglasses and tshirts for souvenirs to bring home. Jessica was geeked that she got three tshirts and a hat for $18!

Then we did something we might get flamed for, but we decided to go on a boat tour under the bridge and around Alcatraz for $15 a person. They validated our parking which reduced it to $10 for the day, so in essence our boat ride came to $5 a person, It was very windy, wavy and cold on the boat, but they had blankets and the narrator was very funny and informative, plus I got some great shots of the bridge, so I am happy we did it.

The next thing I wanted to do was the cable car. We took one look at the 100+ people waiting in line at the foot of Hyde St. and decided to hoof it up the street instead. (We missed our workout this morning). We went all the way up and down again on Lombard St. It was fun strolling through all neighborhoods, all the way to Chinatown.

On the way, we stumbled onto an Italian festival in Little Italy and had espresso and wine in a lovely espresso bar whose name escapes me just now,

In Chinatown we strolled into a tea shop and ended up doing a tea tasting and getting quite an education about how to prepare tea. We asked our server about a good, clean place to have Chinese food and she sent us to Washington Bakery on Washington Street. She certainly steered us right. The only problem is we ordered way too much, as usual and our leftovers, which are going to waste in our room right now, could feed a small nation.

We decided to walk all the way back to Fisherman's Wharf, which was quite a trek and here we are nibbling on our dessert from the bakery.

Maggi, would you believe although I have lived here all of my life I never went to the tea tasting place you and your niece went to until friends came up from Southern California and took me there. I am not a tea drinker but oh how I enjoyed their tea! How fun,

And going out on a cruise in SF Bay, fantastic! I am a lover of boating and our SF Bay so personally I think that was a great decision.

And espresso and wine at a cafe in North Beach, perfect!

Walking throughout the day, priceless!

I love your trip report and have so enjoyed reading about your experiences. Sorry about the traffic though Maggie it just gets worse and worse, as does the lines for the Cable Cars in SF.

Wishing you a comfortable trip home and many more good trips!

Love, wish i could remember the name of that place in North Beach. It was so cool. The decor was an interesting mix of old/modern. Chandeliers and dark wood, but then large modern artwork hanging from the ceiling. The espresso was just like I remember it in Italy. Very European vibe. They serve wine and beer, otherwise I would have ordered a Grappa.

Oh, and Suze, we missed the Chihuly because the DeYoung closed at 5:15 and we didn't want to rush over there. Too bad. I have seen his installations in other cities though. I just wanted my niece to experience one.

I hope your meeting went well today and The E-man made an appearance!

It sounded like you and your beautiful niece had a GREAT time in SF.
Looked like you covered all the basics.

Was the place in NoBeach Tosca's?

BTW, Ms Bets...
We got the same darn room earleir this year when we stayed at the Sheraton and it did not have a closet!

I swear on Mrs Kal's little tushie!

The E-man spent an hour with us (sigh) and the K-man and K-woman showed up too How lucky we were! Photos will be on my blog in a few days.

I don't think it was Tosca. This was on a corner as we were heading to Chinatown with lots of windows to the outside. They only serve wine and beer, no other alcohol.

OK, I'm going to take photos of the closet now.

Maggi

Excellent on E showing up. I guess he is a class act!

Take a picture of the window ledge, too so I can show Mrs Kal.:-"

Photos posted on Picasa is anyone is interested (Kal your window seat photo is there!)
http://picasaweb.google.com/maggiwun

"If" anyone is interested! Click on Sacramento 2008.

"On the way, we stumbled onto an Italian festival in Little Italy and had espresso and wine in a lovely espresso bar whose name escapes me just now"

I just noticed on my charge slip the name of that great North Beach cafe and coffee bar in San Francisco and thought I'd pass it on: Cafe Divine
http://cafedivinesf.com/

Oops, Kal. Missed your 8/17 update. Re your encore in the closetless room at the Sheraton: That room must have been flagged as yours whenever you stay there. God works in wondrous ways. I'm guessing that it's reserved for their special PL customers.

Mags..I don't know how many times we've walked by that place and never went in!
Not anymore!

Bets,
My momma always told me I was sp-sp-sp-special!

Just wanted to add a restaurant recommendation for Sacramento in case anyone finds Maggi's post in the future. It is called Evan's Kitchen. We went there the night we saw Hairspray at Music Circus. It is not downtown so you will need a car. We really enjoyed it.