Sunday, May 23, 2010

100% Tourist

I have so much to tell ya'll....first how am I going to narrow down the 450 pictures that I took? For those newcomers, NT and I just returned from San Francisco and Sonoma Valley. There are few key takeaways from our vacation:

  1. NT and I are 100% tourist (me more so than him)
  2. People love North Carolina and think it would be a great place to live
  3. Homeless people make me VERY sad and really mess with my pretend world of pink unicorns, gumdrops and hugs wrapped in honey
  4. The San Francisco Cable car should charge admission like a theme park because it was the ride of a lifetime. (Imagine: Rice-a-roni commercial....got it? Now picture me holding onto the pole at the front leaning to the side)
  5. The Golden Gate Bridge is beautiful.....and big....and WINDY.
I think I will detail each of these throughout the week. So to start let's talk about Summer as a tourist. Just go ahead and imagine "the typical tourist" and then put my face there....well minus the fanny pack.

This comes to the front of my mind because on the last day of our trip we were shopping in Union Square when I mentioned to an employee at the Diesel store how much I LOVED the Cable Cars. In a quick, terse reply he said...."san franciscans don't ride those....only tourist" and then he looked at me with disgust. I was so confused because the cable cars are SO much fun....I mean they are the ONLY moving national monument in the US! Again, he told me he had lived there for over 5 years and had never came close to one.

This made me realize that everyone should just embrace their inner tourist. Wear your camera around your chest with pride, pose in front of the Golden Gate bridge as many times as you would like, purchase an all day pass on the double decker bus, buy the gimmicky t-shirts, talk to the "bird expert" at Alcatraz for an hour (oh....maybe that is just me).

When I start out the day, I look like I am moving to a foreign country. I have jackets, motion sickness bracelets, anti-bacterial gel, tickets, camera & extra lens, bottled water & more. And NT....well he has his cell phone.

Here are some pics from the trip (WAY more to follow) and some of these showcase me embracing my inner tourist.
The Golden Gate bridge was really cool. Did you know that there is a paint crew working on that bridge every day of the year?
There she is.....tourist Summer listening to the audio tour at Alcatraz. Very cool btw.
I was OBSESSED with the Sea Lions at Pier 39. Out of the 450 pictures probably 100 of them are of the sea lions. I will do an entire posting on these guys so no worries.....
I have to tell you a secret. I don't like seafood. I think it smells. So imagine me in Fisherman's Wharf where there is seafood everywhere. Nonetheless, I can overlook my qualms for good picture moments like the ones above.

We also went to a Giants game which is part of our conquest to visit every MLB ballpark.
And friends, we were on the 3rd row. Thank you so much Sandyman. Ladies, we were so close that you could see these cute baseball pants REAL close.
And the mascot was right in front of us. I think he is a cat.
Did I mention that we ate this? Please don't tell Todd the Bod (our trainer).

Ahhh...the beautiful wine country. It will get a posting of it's own but for now here are two fun pictures.
So the take away from this blog posting.....embrace your inner tourist and wear your fanny packs proudly as you swing from a cable car.

More San Fran /Sonoma postings this week!


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6 comments:

  1. How fun...so glad you had a great time. Love the pics...homeless folks are not in the land of unicorns, sweetie. I love you...

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  2. Sounds like you guys had a great time!! Call me and tell me all about it!!! :)

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  3. I can't wait to see all your pics. We missed you at our night shoot downtown last week. It was a blast but I am sure it didn't come close to your trip!!!

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  4. Welcome back to NC! Love the sea lion pic - can't wait to see more. Hugs!

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  5. my brother loves those sea lions too! i've only experienced them once :)

    as for your tourist obession - this is no new news! think about why summer loves cruises so much....how you embrace all the touristy activities. love the diseal man story.

    see you next week! call me about that btw.

    -lauren

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  6. Dave and I have a goal of visiting every mlb ball park too! maybe we can plan fam trips and do it together! xoxo Jen

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