Coit Tower and Golden Gate Bridge

Last week I had a couple of day long workshops in San Francisco for continuing education. One of the workshops was on Friday so we figured we'd take advantage of the trip and try to do a few things on our list of 'Things to do while still in the Bay Area'. Kevin had to go to Berkeley that day so he dropped me off in the morning and met up with me that evening (after sitting on the Bay Bridge in traffic for over an hour).

We had a hotel near Union Square so we walked there and had a lovely dinner at Annabelle's Bar and Bistro. The next day we had an early lunch at this adorable place in North Beach called Piazza Pellegrini before heading to Coit Tower.
The tower was built in 1933 on Telegraph Hill with money donated to the city by Lillie Hitchcock Coit and serves as a monument to the firefighters of San Francisco. We were there on a beautiful day and had a great view of the Bay Bridge, Alcatraz, the Golden Gate Bridge, and the rest of the city.

The famous Lombard Street as seen from the tower. Driving on the crookedest street in the world is a little overrated but you should definitely do it once if you have the chance.

In the viewing area of the tower.
The Bay Bridge and the San Francisco Ferry Building.
Golden Gate Bridge in the background if you zoom in.
Our next mission was to walk across the Golden Gate Bridge. We've both driven across it many times but in our almost 5 years we have never walked or biked across it.

I'm glad we finally took the time to do this. The bridge is so impressive.
A view of downtown San Fran from the bridge. We spent quite a bit of time watching a couple of body surfers down below. This one guy in particular was amazing. He could ride this waves in so far and then he'd turn around and head back out to do it again. (He was wearing flippers to get out quickly)
They had a display of one of the cables next to the gift shop areas. It really allows you to appreciate what a huge and magnificent bridge the Golden Gate really is.
A lot of people only go halfway across the bridge and then head back to their car but if we were going to do it we were going to do it right. We went all the way across and back. Luckily it was a gorgeous day and not too windy.

It was a fun little getaway and I was happy to check a few things off of my list!