California

Our vacation started out in Capitola, CA. We stayed at Ryan's Granparents condo again, the same place we stayed for our honeymoon almost 3 years ago! It was just awesome! The views are GORGEOUS, the condo is right on a cliff looking over the ocean, and we'd go out and just watch all the boats, we had breakfast out on the benches overlooking, and just enjoyed the fun California breeze! It is also just the cutest, and most quaint little town I've ever been in, such fun and unique little restaurants to eat at, and little boutiques to walk around. I really just LOVE this little town and I'd move there in a heartbeat! We had such a great time there!

This is the view from the condo parking lot...talk about to die for right?

The first day we were there was Monday the 21st, we went to the grocery store to get some food for breakfasts and picnic lunches on the beach, then we headed down to Capitola Beach and layed out and played in the sand, it was so much fun!

Ryan helped me make a sand castle, but then the tide started to come in, so it got too mushy and wet, so we gave up and wrote our name :)

After the beach, we decided to go out to dinner and movie! We at a yummy place on the beach in Capitola, The Stockton Bridge Grill, and then after drove up to Santa Cruz and saw the movie Toy Story 3...so stinkin' cute, we loved it!!!

these were our delicious dinners from Stockton Bridge Grill, we ate like kings and queens for the whole trip! mmm!

Tuesday Ryan took me to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, and it was so much fun! We bought tickets and then rode tons of rides! We rode on the Sky Coaster, the Ferris Wheel, the Swings, the Double Shot, the Roller Coaster...so much fun! After we ran out tickets, we got some yummy fair food for lunch, and walked from the Boardwalk right down to the beach behind it, and just layed out all day. We saw a bunch of sea lions out in the water playing even!

After a day at the Boardwalk, we were pretty tuckered out, so we just went back to the condo, and Ryan grilled us up some yummy kabobs on the grill, and we watched the movies Valentine's Day, and Sherlock Holmes, then off to bed!

Wednesday, we were planning on going back to the Santa Cruz beach, but didn't want to pay to park again, so we ended up going to a beach right between Capitola and Santa Cruz called Twin Lakes and it actually ended up being our favorite beach of them all! We stayed there almost all day and had a yummy picnic on the beach of some fruit and cheese and crackers, we took a couple naps in the warm sun, and actually got in the water here...but it was so COLD, so we got out and warmed up in the sun again! We saw more sea lions here too, they were so cute!

Thursday we were just a bit sunburned, so we decided to just hang out in the condo, and watched the Giants game, then headed up to Santa Clara to a huge mall and did some shopping....more than we expected actually! We found a store called the Giants Dugout, and ended up buying some hats....and some shirts....and maybe more tickets to the last game of the series against the Red Sox! haha! We actually got a free MLB beach towel for spending over a certain amount, sheesh! So after that store, we decided to be done shopping, and got some yummy dinner at California Pizza Kitchen, and then went back to the condo, and rented another movie to watch, The Informant, then off to bed again!

Friday morning, we woke up earlier and got all packed up, and then drove up to San Francisco...and holy cow! We WEREN'T in Logan anymore! That city is so so so busy and crowded! So many cars, backed up traffic, people walking everywhere, huge buildings, cars honking! It was too crazy! We finally made it to our hotel, got checked in, and then we walked down to get lunch at Chipolte, and then walked down to Fisherman's Wharf, some candy shops, saw Lombard Street, the trollies, so many classic San Francisco sights!

Lombard Street

The Salt Water Taffy store, yumm-O!

The fishing boats at Fisherman's Wharf

That night we went to the first game in the Giants vs. Red Sox series. Our ticket were great! We were on the front row, in right field! It was definitely a classic San Francisco night, the breeze didn't let up, and there was a mist from off the ocean hovering over the field during the whole game. So we ended up getting a big and comfy Giants blanket to keep up cozy! That night we had some yummy hot dogs and garlic fries for dinner...such a fun night of baseball!

Saturday morning we headed down to Ghirardelli Square and walked around more little shops, got some more delicious lunch at a cute Italian place, saw Alcatraz off in the distance...beautiful day!

The game that day started earlier, so it wasn't nearly as cold, it was actually perfect weather that night! We had seats in right field again, and on the front row again, just in a different section. They had a special ceremony before the game to retire the number 20 from the Giants organization. It was for Montey Irvin, he played way back in the day, and now his number is retired! It was so cool to watch and listen to the speakers, and then they had some little boys from the Boys and Girls Club unviel his number, and had a balloon release!

After the game that night, we went to a fun little restaurant called Delancy Street. It was fun to eat there because all the proceeds of it go to the Delancy Street Foundation which helps people who are less fortunate get back on their feet, and find jobs, homes, etc. So we ate for a good cause!

Our last day in San Francisco was Sunday, we went to the last game of the series to see Tim Lincecum pitch, Ryan's favorite pitcher. It was a HOT game! We had seats about 20 rows up on the 3rd baseline.

This was taken after the game, we were super hot, and they had just lost, so we weren't the happiest at this point.

We took off for home right after the game, and saw the Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge on our way out. We really had SUCH a great time, and are sad that it's over! We've been looking forward to this trip since January, and we couldn't have planned it better...well, the Giants could have won all 3 games, and that is the only thing that could have made it better! We're happy to be home safe and sound now though!