Save Me, San Francisco

“The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco” ~Mark Twain

This statement is very true, as the warmest it has ever been, anytime I have ever been in San Francisco, no matter the month, was about 73. As you may have noticed, if you have read the various links on my website, I enjoy traveling. One of my favorite places I’ve ever visited is California. I love the entire state, top to bottom. In 2011 I was asked to perform the National Anthem for the Oakland A’s MLB team. I decided to turn it into my first ever solo trip and I planned a week long getaway, visiting all the MLB stadiums in the state of California very strategically, while there, after flying into San Diego and, over the course of a week, driving all the way up to Sacramento. It was amazing and I felt incredibly honored to be asked to perform.

 I spent a few days in Northern California again in 2012, this time visiting my life long friend and her family, showing my lovely sister around San Francisco/Napa Valley, since she had never been, and having the honor of singing the National Anthem for the 2nd year in a row, at the Oakland Athletics MLB game. We had such a wonderful time exploring the sights, relaxing and just “letting our hair down”, in general. My sister and I both seemingly work 27/7, with very little downtime, so any time that we have together, is always appreciated. Neither of us had ever been to Sacramento before, so we enjoyed a couple days of exploring the California State Capital, and old town Sacramento with our friends. We had a lovely dinner at a local place called “The Yard House” before heading south, to Oakland. After the baseball game festivities (The A’s beat the Cleveland Indians, 7-0, sweeping the series – how I remember that, I don’t know!) we walked around Fisherman’s Wharf  and the Piers in San Francisco until it started to get dark. Then, we walked to the Bart (Subway) station and, after staring at the schedule and not finding the stop we needed listed on the train schedule, we realized we were reading the BUS map! I guess even a couple of smart ladies get a little confused, at times =)

After finding the correct information, we safely arrived back at our car, then to our hotel, after a brief stop at a very cute local seafood restaurant, along the water.  The next morning, we woke up bright and early (or, at least *I* woke up early), grabbed a quick breakfast, and headed up north to Napa Valley. After a full day of wineries, exploring, driving along the countryside, we had an early dinner and crashed. The following day we went back to San Francisco and explored Lombard St, Alamo Square (think “Full House”), the shopping district, and we ran across the Golden Gate Bridge. Yes, we RAN ACROSS THE BRIDGE. It was freezing. It was a wonderful trip, and we had a wonderful time, just being together.

I guess this blog post has no other real point, other than to share how thankful I am for the support my sister ALWAYS offers me. No one on the planet has a better sister, I am convinced. When exciting things happen for/to me, no one is happier, cheering me on, or congratulating me, more than she does. We both celebrated birthdays in October, so this is really just a tribute to her. Feel free to drop birthday wishes in the comments =)

Below, are a few pictures from our trip, way back in 2012. We have taken a few other sister trips since 2012, but it remains my favorite trip we have ever taken together.