Hey, everyone! I’m in San Francisco! The City By The Bay!

I went back and forth in my head about if I wanted to wait to do blog posts the end of the day/next day or wait until I come back. I decided that writing my post at the end of the day or the next morning would provide more of an honest view of my experience here. So here we are.

This is the first time I’ve ever been this far west. It was a spur of the moment trip that I really needed. This year has been extremely crazy for me, so to end the year with something like this is a wonderful experience.

Yesterday, was the beginning of my trip. I arrived at Cleveland-Hopkins Airport coffee-less and blurry-eyed around 7:30am. Once checking in, going through security (that’s intense), and finding my gate, I was on a plane headed to Charlotte, North Carolina. I didn’t take any photos by this time because I was barely awake enough to get in my seat.

Once I touched down in Charlotte, I had just enough time to grab a bite to eat before I was on the 5+ hour flight to San Francisco International Airport. I ended up sitting between a woman who forgot her headphones and a businessman who worked for William-Sonoma (I love their product design).  That was a long flight. My seat-mates were pretty good, but a woman to the left of us talked non-stop with a thick North Carolina accent (I felt bad for the woman next to me). An older lady behind me gave me this advice at random, “Stay away from people that suck your energy & you don’t have to save the world.” I needed that.

After a nap, some editing of my novel, a bit of sketching, and listening to music, I finally touched down in San Francisco. I was hoping to get some sightseeing done (I touched down a little before 3pm), but the car rental place had other plans. It took forever to get the car and I ended up hitting rush hour traffic.

When I finally got to the hotel, I was exhausted, but I needed food. I found a little place called Polker’s Restaurant in Russian Hill to have dinner. I’ll write a separate review of all the restaurants and museums I end up going to so I don’t bog down the general posts with too many photos.

So far my immediate reaction to the city is that it’s hilly and quite chilly (highs of 50s and low 60s)! It seems very casual with a lot of friendly people who immediately know that you aren’t from here (if my camera didn’t give it away).  The buildings are aged. I love the older style which makes it feel so welcoming and honest. I can’t wait to take more photos later today. Don’t expect to see many photos of me standing in front of things. I don’t do that. I like to capture the sites without interrupting them.

Here are some more photos from yesterday:

Peace,