THE 2019 CALIFORNIA ROAD TRIP: DAY 2 (SAN FRANCISCO!!)

Aw yeah, first full day of vacation post over here. Day 2 of our 2019 California Road Trip was a PACKED day in San Francisco.

That’s fun to say. But yeah, we did A LOT on Day 2 so get ready for a heck of a post.

Being that we were making the switch from East Coast to West Coast time, Day 2 started pretty early. I think we were all up at like 4AM. We laid in bed for a while, talking about how we should go back to sleep until finally we all made the decision that it was time to start vacationing.

At around 5AM.

The first order of business was to get the rental car, which was back at the airport. Thankfully, our hotel was a hop, skip, jump, and an Uber away. We were actually scheduled to pick up the car at noon, but we called Dollar and they said they had some now for us to take. So I mean. Win. Obviously.

I quickly showered, grabbed a coffee in the lobby, and called up the Uber to the rental counter. Within 20 minutes of leaving the hotel, I had this piece of amazing.

Yeah, a Ford Mustang convertible. You can go ahead and start being jealous….now.

Check out what happens under the door when you open it.

Now, to be honest, I was a bit apprehensive about the whole convertible situation. I was a bit worried about how the kids would react to having the top down all the time and how comfortable it would be to drive. But mainly, I was concerned about the trunk space. With us driving for 17 days, it seemed impossible that we should be able to fit all our luggage.

First world problems. Amirite?

In order to prepare, though, the four of us limited the amount of luggage we could being. Each of us were allowed only a duffel bag and a backpack.

It was definitely a good idea to limit the luggage, but the trunk was actually more spacious than I had expected.

We ended up being able to fit pretty much everything into the trunk though it was also helpful the Nerneys rented a Suburban as additional bags started making their way into the back of their car as the trip progressed.

I drove the car back to the hotel, picked up Nickie and the boys, and we got our first taste of CA-1.

We wanted to have breakfast in Sausalito that morning. Nickie and I had breakfast in Sausalito when we did our cross-country honeymoon trip so we wanted to see if it was as pretty as we remembered. Spoiler alert. It was.

But first, on the way there….

The drive over to Sausalito takes you right over the Golden Girls bridge. Named for the sauciest 4 elderly women ever to grace a television screen, this bridge was erected in the late 80’s as a way to commemor….hm?

Oh right. My mistake. It was actually the Golden Gate bridge.

And on the other side, there was a vista point to stop and take in the whole thing. And we are suckers for vista points. That’s what they call me. Old “Vista Point” Goodreau.

It was an insanely pretty morning. And we are all insanely photogenic. So this all just made sense.

But our tummies were all, “pictures, schmictures” so it was time for breakfast. We drove over to Sausalito and made our way through the hilly, windy roads (of which there were many, the low-riding Mustang was VERY close to emitting sparks) to the Lighthouse Café.

We were honestly unsure as to whether this was the same restaurant where we had breakfast on our honeymoon or not, but eh let’s pretend it was.

It was a cute, tiny little place. I have read that the lines can get pretty long here but we were pretty early so we got in no problem.

To start, I got a coffee, Nickie got a tea, and the boys each got a hot chocolate.

For breakfast, Owen got the Mickey Mouse pancake. Check out this adorably delicious little guy.

Nickie got scrambled eggs, a grilled English Muffin, and a side of hash browns.

Myles of course got the largest breakfast he could get – the Ultimate Breakfast (two eggs, bacon, blueberry pancake, home fries, and toast.)

I went for the two eggs with Danish meatballs, on account of meatballs for breakfast (with a grilled English and a side of home fries.)

But seriously. If anyone ever asks you, “Want meatballs for breakfast?” always say yes.

We all really enjoyed breakfast. Good stuff. If you ever find yourself in Sausalito, I recommend checking it out.

After breakfast, we stopped for some quick modeling.

And then it was time to head back over the bridge to our first official destination of the day – The Walt Disney Family Museum!

Now, I know it’s hard to believe given how much I have made you read so far, but it was only like 9:30AM at this point. And the museum wasn’t open until 10AM. So we parked and spent some time at the park across the street.

And while sitting was my preferred activity, the boys grabbed the football out of the trunk of the car. We kicked off our shoes and ran some plays while we waited for the museum to open.

Thankfully, I incurred no injury by the time we hit 10:00 AM so we all walked over to the museum, presented our tickets…

…and made our way into the museum. Ugh with this place. I don’t know if you know it or not, but we are kind of big Disney fans. This place has been on our list for a lonnnnng time. And there was A LOT to take in here. We could have easily spent more time here, but we really only had the morning. But yeah, lots. Even when you first walk in, before you enter the actual museum rooms….

…you get to see some furniture from Walt’s apartment in Disneyland…

..and a bunch of his awards, including his Snow White Oscars…

The rest of the museum is set up as though you are walking through Disney’s life, from birth through death and across all his many achievements. I toyed with the idea of taking you through room-by-room (which would definitely be amazing) but I am already in 4 pages in Word and it’s only like 10:15AM on Day 2. So instead here are some pics and videos, with captions.

Appreciate my brevity.

So yeah, there was a lot. At the end of all that, there was a room showcasing tributes to Walt after his death in 1966. This room was a tough one. Not that it’s surprising to anyone, but I didn’t make it out of here without shedding any tears. To be fair, I make it out of very little without shedding any tears.

Seriously, this was an incredibly well put together museum. It really helped to bring to life the man behind so many of our family memories and moments of joy. I loved it and highly recommend it to any Disney fan.

We weren’t quite done, though. There was still the whole business of a café. We obviously HAD to order Walt’s Chili. We split the chili, along with a lemon-vanilla cupcake. That chili was bomb.com and the cupcake was a cupcake. So, good.

After we left the museum, the next main order of business was meeting up with the Nerneys (Matt, Laura, Will, and Jack), who would be joining us for pretty much the rest of the trip. Which is obviously much excite.

But we had a little bit of time, which enabled us to visit the nearest Safeway to stock up on some supplies. Namely, chips and alcohol. We got some Pringles, canned wine, Coors Lights, Shock Top, and Lagunitas to last us a little while. We couldn’t get too much on account of we only had the Mustang still. But I still did manage to fit this in.

We then drove over to the Holiday Inn Express Fisherman’s Wharf, our home for the night.

Seemed like a nice place. ANNNND they had some of this.

Man, I love free cucumber water. But free cucumber water with watermelon? Mind = blown.

We met up with the Nerneys and the kids had one place on their mind for lunch…

…

Morton’s Steakhouse!

….

OK, fine. Not Morton’s. But still…pretty close…

And I mean, of course it was good. But, unfortunately, I was the only one that ordered correctly, getting a Double Double Animal Style. Everyone else? Amateurs.

Their arteries not yet fully clogged, the boys decided to chase down their burgers with some Krispy Kreme donuts.

I opted to not purchase a donut. Instead, I just had a gigantic bite of Owen’s birthday cake one. Economical.

We finished lunch and made the short walk back to the hotel. We had to catch a ride. On one of these dudes.

That there is an electric Tuk-Tuk. We hired two of them from Dylan’s Tours to take us on a 2-hour tour of San Francisco.

Prior to leaving for lunch, we packed up a cooler of beers and canned wine specifically for this part of the day. On account of THEY LET YOU DRINK ON THE TUK-TUK. We split into groups of 4 (kids in one Tuk-Tuk, adults in the other) and we were on our way.

We chose the Tuk-Tuk because it seemed the easiest way to get a good look at San Francisco in a short amount of time, since we only had a day. And it was exactly what we were looking for.

Also, it’s fun to say. Tuk-Tuk.

Some of our stops included the Palace of Fine Arts…

… the Golden Gate Bridge from Fort Point.

We drove down Lombard St. In the Tuk-Tuk. Drinking beers and canned wine.

But I mean. My absolute favorite stop was Lucasfilm San Francisco.

They stopped in the parking lot and we walked around the grounds a little. And we checked out the lobby, which was chock full of Nerdifacts.

Oh and we also visited Dylan’s bathroom. On account of the beer and canned wine.

Also, as we were driving up to Fort Point, we in the adult Tuk-Tuk heard the kids’ drivers asking them “You guys smell that?” This led to a good amount of chuckling from our car (again, beer and wine). Turns out it wasn’t related to farts. It was . But this gave us our first overused quote of the trip because we asked, “You guys smell that?” at least three times a day for the remainder of the trip.

After the 2 hours was up, we had our drivers drop us here for dinner.

We literally only had like ten minutes for dinner so I grabbed a bread bowl of chowder and an Anchor Steam. Both were delicious.

Time was getting a bit tight as our next activity was beginning shortly. Nickie had a couple spoonfuls of chowder and walked ahead with Laura while I finished the rest, drank my beer, and also drank her beer. Waste not, want not.

Our boat was departing at 5:55 and it was 5:45. Which seemed fine until Nickie texted that it took her close to 15 minutes to walk down there. She did say there was a later boat leaving but Matt and I weren’t having it. We rallied the kids and began a chowder and beer fueled run, unsure if even that would cut it.

Turns out it did.

I know, super exciting right? We were heading to Alcatraz. This was a first for everyone in the group. I mean, not prison…Owen’s done some hard time. But Alcatraz.

Anyways, the ride over was pretty awesome.

And within 15 minutes or so, we were on The Rock.

Our guide gave us a rundown of the evening activities and presentations and then we walked in, grabbed our headsets, and began our audio tours of the prison.

I am a big fan of the audio tour and this one did not disappoint. It did a good job of talking through the history of the prison.

It took us throughout the entire grounds, both inside and outside.

The coolest part was when the audio tour took us step-by-step, with sound effects, through a riot that happened in the prison. It was super cool. And gave me some good ideas in case they ever catch up to me.

Around 8:40, we hopped on the boat back. And it may seem early, but for the Nerneys it was probably feeling more like 11:40 since they started Day 2 on East Coast time. Matt let us know he didn’t like being reminded of what time it was back home as it messed with his brain. So of course, we told him constantly.

The boat ride back was even more stunning as we got to catch some sunset.

I got to share in this beauty with Matt. So, like, it was extra special.

Once docked back on Pier 33, we decided to walk back to our hotel. It was about a 15-minute walk and it allowed us to get away from the Fisherman’s Wharf crowds, all trying to catch an Uber.

We said a quick goodnight to the Nerneys and retired to our room. And then we slept. Because like…we did A LOT. Man, Day 2 was packed, huh?