Walt Disney World

We're headed back to Walt Disney World tomorrow! I'm pretty excited :D Our Florida annual passes expire soon, so we decided to make one more trip...

I'll be back with an update later!

San Francisco

I had to travel to San Francisco for a couple days for a HR Test Prep Course. I've got a big exam coming up in December to get my Professional Human Resources (PHR) certification (eek!). So I went up there, alone, from a Tuesday night through late Friday night. I flew Southwest, of course, and stayed at a boutique hotel named Hotel Diva. I would not stay there again. It was a little too...unique? boutique-y? for me. That and my bed was uncomfortable. But it was close to the SF State University Downtown Campus and it was in my business budget. I had class Wednesday through Friday from 8:30am until 5:00pm and it was hell!! After class I would wander around the Market Street area. There's a ton of shops (not including the Westfield Mall) and sights to see. I did duck out of class early on Thursday and hopped on the cable car and rode it all the way down the Fisherman's Wharf. I was able to see Alcatraz pretty clearly (I wish they had a night tour available while I was there!), but I was very bummed that I could barely make out the Golden Gate Bridge due to the heavy marine layer. I didn't do too much sightseeing, I would have liked to do more, but I wish I had someone else traveling with me to make it more fun. I was very excited to come home, I missed Chris and I missed my pup :)

Tips:
I took the Super Shuttle from SFO to my hotel, which worked out fine. But I found out that I was close to the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) and they have a direct line that takes you straight into the airport.

There are three cable car lines. You can hop on either at the ends of the lines, or if you see the brown sign on the side of the street, you can flag down the driver and hop on. Tickets are $6.00 each way (you pay it once you are on board, or you buy it from the ticket counter at the ends of the lines), or I was talking to an older gentleman from Austin who bought a trip pass from Walgreen's. I checked out this link before I hopped on, just to be sure of where I was going and all the rules, etc.

SF has a TON of homeless people. There are homeless people in Marina del Rey too, but they don't bother you. The SF homeless will badger you for change. I found that it's best to just ignore them and keep walking (even if they try to walk with you).

Food:
SF is known for some great food. Although most of it is seafood (which I don't eat), and Chinese (which I'm afraid has MSG in it [I'm allergic]). So where did this picky eater eat? My top spots were:
Pinecrest Diner for breakfast - I had a cheese omelette with hash browns and an English muffin. It was probably THE best breakfast I ever had!
Burger Bar - Located in the huge Macy's next to Union Square, it's the same as the Las Vegas location. I love the LV Burger Bar, so of course I had to eat here as well! Downside, crappy service, and I wish I had ordered my burger medium well instead of medium. It was a tad too pink for me.
Cupola Pizzeria - My last meal in SF was SOOO good. But not a good idea if you're already checked out of your hotel (too much cheese O.o). For an appetizer I had the warm, pulled to order mozzarella (picture below) that was out of this world. Then I had the Bianca pizza that was so thin you could see through it!

I took a handful (or more) of pictures, so this is gonna be more of a "pictorial" post...Enjoy :)

My window shade at Hotel Diva

View from the front of the hotel on my floor

Steam from the tunnels

If you're a "Party of One" at the Pinecrest Diner, you HAVE to sit at the counter :/

My view outside my classroom 

Market Street

 

 

At the end of each line, they have a turntable to turn the car around! 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

xx, Chrissy

San Juan Capistrano

El Adobe de Capistrano

Katy has a friend, also named Katie, who works at a Mexican restaurant in San Juan Capistrano called El Adobe de Capistrano. I think I've been there maybe once before when I was pretty young. It's off of Ortega Highway near the mission on that main drag. The restaurant is pretty well known for having President Nixon and his wife visit...and also because it is haunted! Oh yeah, and if you watch "The Real Housewives of Orange County", last season's 80s Bunco Party episode where Vicki went postal in Gretchen's face was filmed there ;)

President + Mrs. Nixon's chairs they sat in when they would visit

El Adobe used to be a couple of homes, a hospital, and also used to house the Juzgado (courts and jails) back in 1812. Katie gave us a tour down into the wine cellar, which used to be the jail. You can reserve the table down there to have your meal and dine with spirits (alcoholic varieties and undead as well). We didn't see any ghosts, but it was pretty creepy down there - low ceiling, no windows, and it's tucked away from the rest of the restaurant. I can't wait to eat in there!

Then Katie brought us back up to the front room that's off to the left as soon as you enter El Adobe. She told us a couple of stories about sightings of an older Hispanic woman. A medium was once brought in and reported that the woman is friendly, but sad. She mainly stays in the front room because it used to be a part of her house. Katie then showed us the chair she is usually spotted in; Chris sat in it but we didn't see or feel anything.

Old Barn Antique Mall

Next stop was across the street to the Antique Mall. Chris and I have purchased a few of our more "creepy" items we have at home from the massive place.

Dad being "covert like"

During this trip we were unsuccessful with finding anything of real interest to us. Mom and Dad found some glasses and bottles though. It was pretty warm that day and I was sweating - the Mall doesn't have air conditioning and it makes it hard to want to stay and look through the bajillions of "antiques" in the hundreds of booths they have.

I did have a good moment though...back in high school I always had this one substitute teacher, Mrs. Shostrom (and I'm sure I'm not spelling it correctly!), she was an excellent teacher (I wish I had her as a permanent teacher at El Toro) and I have it stored in my memory that she owns a couple of booths in the Mall. I hadn't seen her in quite a few years, but I saw her during this trip! She doesn't remember me (it's been 10+ years and Lord knows how many students), but I said hi to her and chit-chatted for a couple of minutes. That's really made my day :)
Then it was off to Starbucks to lounge in the air conditioning for a few moments before heading back home.

And of course, Disneyland

Our trips to Disneyland have slowed as of late. I think the last time we were there was the night before our trip to SJC because Katy was at the Disneyland Hotel for the Mobility 21 Summit that our company was exhibiting at. Katy's pass has long since expired but because she was exhibiting, she got a free half day pass to the parks. And because this may be the only time that we could all be inside Disneyland together as a family, Mom wanted to take our Christmas photos...in September. I have no clue if we're going to actually use any of the pictures Dad took of us over in Cars Land, but whatever...

Tip: Do NOT try the pickle flavored popcorn...bleh!!!

Kelly and our friend, Alex, who we ran into

xx, Chrissy

Sneak Peek

I'm in San Francisco for a certification test prep course...Chris had to stay home :( I'll be back with an update soon from an outing down to San Juan Capistrano and my trip to SF!
xx, Chrissy