Road trip to San Francisco
San Francisco has always been one of my favorite cities in the US since I visited it for the first time when I was eight years old.
The city is located in a beautiful bay, surrounded by picturesque hills and two impressive bridges, the Oakland Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge.
The first time I visited was with my parents while we were on a trip to Disneyland. The second time was many years later during a hackathon in which I participated. I have visited San Francisco many times since then, and I have a lot of great memories traveling with my wife, my kids, and attending tech conferences and hackathons.
One of the things I always liked about San Francisco is how enjoyable it is to walk around the city. There are many hills and beautiful views where you can get lost while walking for hours. And then there’s the hiking and amazing views from the Marin Headlands. In addition, San Francisco’s historical homes and buildings are both beautiful and impressive. As a coffee lover, this place is not unlike Seattle or Portland, where good coffee shops can be found everywhere.
There is also wildlife that can be seen from the piers. Since 1989, a colony of California sea lions has camped out on PIER 39. They bark, they nap, they fight, and in a way, they remind me of us. If you like sea lions, don’t worry, you can still see them even if you aren’t in San Francisco.
At one point, I considered moving to San Francisco, but to be honest, the cost of living and the increasing social problems over the past 10 years made me think twice about it. We moved to Seattle in 2019, and we are very happy with our choice. I know Seattle has its problems too, but the coffee, the nature, the location, and the mild weather are hard to beat.
Last week, my wife, my brother-in-law, and his wife went on a road trip down the coast on Highway 101. What a beautiful road this is; the views of the ocean and forests are impressive, and the food you’ll find on the road is great too, especially if you like seafood. Our destination was San Francisco, a city we hadn’t visited since April 2019 when my family and I decided to do our first road trip down the coast from Seattle to Los Angeles. It was great!
After the Covid pandemic, San Francisco, like many cities, was affected by businesses closing, people leaving, and an increase in social issues such as homelessness and fentanyl addiction. San Francisco was at the center of many news reports and commentators’ criticism. Honestly, I didn’t feel like visiting the city, so we didn’t until last week. What a pleasant surprise! The city is as beautiful as ever, and while many of its problems are still there, there is no question that the city is improving and getting back to what it was before the pandemic. San Francisco is a jewel of a city, and I hope the residents and the local government continue to work together to ensure it remains great.
Our road trip started in Seattle, at Pike Place to be exact. We had some breakfast at Honest Biscuits, a favorite of ours, and from there we drove towards Portland. We could have gone directly to Highway 101 from Seattle but decided to make a stop in Portland since my brother-in-law and his wife had never visited. In Portland, we ate at our favorite Thai restaurant and then walked around the city for a bit.
The next day, we drove towards Cannon Beach in Oregon, one of the most visited places on Oregon’s coast. It’s a must-see with its giant rock formation right off the beach. From there, we continued our drive down the coast, stopping at a few places to eat, sleep, and visit the Chandelier Drive-Thru Tree in Leggett, CA. Something you have to do if you are in the area! Before arriving in San Francisco, we stopped in Napa and visited a winery. It was the perfect place to take in the warmer weather, vineyard views, and a refreshing glass of Chardonnay.
Since we were coming from the north, we got to drive over the Golden Gate Bridge to enter San Francisco. In my opinion, there isn’t a better way to see San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge for the first time.
We spent a few days in San Francisco, walking around the piers, Chinatown, visiting Alcatraz, and on our last day, my wife and I went to Sausalito for breakfast and then to the Marin Headlands to take another look at the amazing view of San Francisco and the Golden Gate. In my opinion, it is the best view of San Francisco.
We will be visiting San Francisco and driving down the coast to Los Angeles soon. I will not wait another five years to do this—I can’t. If you haven’t been to San Francisco or have never driven down or up the coast in California and Oregon, I highly recommend it. It is one of the most scenic road trips I’ve experienced. The only one that impressed me more was the road to Hana in Hawaii.
Hope you have a wonderful weekend. Go outside and enjoy the world.