A Saturday in San Francisco

We're just far enough away from San Francisco that we don't go super often, but we're close enough that we really could spend more time there (it's only 45 minutes without traffic); so this weekend we decided to put Ender in daycare and spend the day in the city.

I don't think I'll ever really feel like I know my way around, mostly because it's just such a huge city but also because there are so many places to go, eat, and see that I've only been to a fraction of them so far, but Rob and I do have our favorite places that we always make time for every visit. We went to a couple new ones on Saturday, so I thought I'd make a list of our favorites.

• We always go straight to the Mission for croissants at Tartine Bakery. I'm sure you've heard of this place already because it's pretty famous, but seriously--it's worth the trip. Sometimes I feel like I could go into the city, stop at Tartine, and head right back home and it would have been worth the drive.
• We get our treats from Tartine to go and walk to a coffee shop--usually Ritual but this time Four Barrel. My other favorite coffee shop is Sightglass, although I haven't been to the one in the Mission.
• After we were properly caffeinated we walked back in the direction of the bakery to spend some time in Mission Dolores Park. There are benches everywhere, or you can bring a blanket and lounge in the grass--in the morning there are always a ton of off-leash dogs playing, and in the afternoon people come out in droves to hang out in the sun. It's such a fun spot.

Some other favorite spots in the Mission:

• Trick Dog: Amazing cocktails, really good food. We didn't go this time but I love having dinner there if I'm in the city later.
• Bi-Rite Market: One of the sweetest little grocery shops I've ever been to. Across the street is Bi-Rite Creamery, which has amazing ice cream (get the black sesame if they have it). 

• After watching the pups play in Mission Dolores park, we decided to really take a walk and strolled through The Castro on our way to The Painted Ladies. The Castro is another favorite spot of mine, and The Panhandle is super gorgeous along the way.
• We sat in the park in front of The Painted Ladies for a while before deciding to Uber back to the Mission for some tacos. There are tons of spots to choose from but we decided to go to Tacolicious--they have great margaritas and I really like their queso dip. The tacos are way more filling than I think they're going to be and we always end up ordering too many--I've found that one is actually all I need if I'm having chips and guac or queso, too.
• After lunch we found our car and headed to the Ferry Building, which is one of my favorite places. We walked through all the stores (you have to check out Heath Ceramics--so gorgeous) before meeting up with one of Rob's coworkers at a brewery in North Beach.

Then we headed back down to the South Bay, picking up our very tired pup on the way!

There are so many other places I love in the city, and even more that I haven't experienced yet, but these are just some of the ones that I always plan to go to whenever I'm nearby. Sometimes I have doctors appointments in the city and I always just try get in and then get out, but I want to start slowing down a bit and take myself out to coffee or lunch more often! 

As usual, I posted plenty of photos on Instagram, so if you want to check those out, you can right here.

If you have any San Francisco favorites, I want to hear them! My list of places to visit is never-ending and I kind of like it that way.