J and I had talked about an overnight trip for who knows how long. So a couple of weeks ago, we finally just said, enough, let’s go. Since it was going to be a hot weekend in Sacramento, it was a good time to get away.
Saturday morning, we headed out to the North Bay (which is the area north of the Golden Gate Bridge). We headed out around 11 a.m. and all roadtrips ask for fast food lunches, am I right? So we stopped at In’n’Out for a quick bite.
We had booked a small hotel. the North Bay Inn, in San Rafael and took State Highway 37 along San Pablo Bay. Unfortunately, we hit a bit of weekend traffic, but made it to the hotel by 2 pm.
On our way to the Golden Gate Bridge, we stopped at Philz Coffeeshop for a quick caffeine fix. Jon had never tried Philz Coffee, so it was a good time to give it a try.
Originally, we had planned to drive to the Golden Gate Vista Point on the west side of the bridge, but the exit and a whole stretch of the road was closed. So we ended up driving down to Fort Baker, on the east side of the bridge, which actually provides a really nice view angle of the bridge.
We got superlucky, too. Although it was kinda overcast, the Golden Gate Bridge was not covered by Karl, the fog. I repeat, the Golden Gate was not shrouded in fog. That was not a given at this time of year!
It was fun taking some pictures, we even saw a seal, but we didn’t stay very long as it was windy and kinda chilly.
We decided to head over to Sausalito and walk around for a bit. As always, Sausalito was full of tourists…. we heard a lot of German, French, Italian, and other languages.
There were also a gazillion people on bikes. They’ve done the Golden Gate Bike Tour and were catching the ferry back from Sausalito to San Francisco. One of these days, I’d love to do that bike tour with J as well.
Since we only had an early lunch, we were cold and hungry by 6 p.m. and decided to pick up a pizza, head back to the hotel, and take advantage of the HBO channel. Ha. Our hotel was nothing fancy, but the room was clean, the bed was firm and comfortable, and I loved the bed sheets. (There are few things I despise more than top sheets, scratchy woolen blankets and dingy bed covers.) All this to say, we had a good night’s rest.
Sunday morning, we checked out at 10 am and decided to drive over to Muir Beach. We hadn’t been to the North Coast in a while and I wanted to put my toes in the sand for a little bit before heading back home.
As the day before, it was quite cool and windy, but at least the sun peeked out a little bit and we saw patches of blue sky! And as they say, there is nothing better than standing at the edge of the ocean and taking some deep breaths!
Disregard my crazy hair. Did I mention that it was windy?
On our way back, we stopped at “Philz Coffee” again to get a hot drink and a bagel, since we hadn’t really had breakfast yet.
In order to beat traffic, we headed home around mid-day, but we definitely want to go out explore more soon!
Tanja
August 28, 2019 at 9:31 amLove the pics of J and you !
But hey, your toes are not digging the sand…. :)
Charlotte
August 28, 2019 at 3:47 pmIncredible photos, and so glad you guys were able to get away for a night. I miss Cali so much, especially when I stop by here. So many beautiful sites and things to eat ❤️ I’m going to have to work on B to get away with me sometime this fall, too. One night can make a big difference!
Beth
August 28, 2019 at 11:48 amThat sounds like the perfect little getaway! We keep having Ollie go to one of our parents for an overnight but then we just go have dinner and pretty much stay in town, but I’ve been feeling the itch to go away somewhere too, even just an hour away or something. I might have to suggest that for this Fall. Go explore somewhere! :)
Lisa of Lisa's Yarns
August 29, 2019 at 5:55 amWhat a fun little getaway! I love Sausalito. I went to SF with some blogger friends to run a trail half in the Berkeley area. We stayed in the Mission district and did a bike ride over the GG bridge. We didn’t do a tour, though. We just rented bikes at a place close to the bridge, biked over to Sausalito, had brunch, and took the ferry back. It was a super fun morning and such a fun experience. Probably one of my favorite things I’ve ever done in SF!
Phil would love to do a weekend getaway but I’m not ready to leave Paul just yet… I wish I had an easier time being away from him but I would miss him so much!
Stephany
August 29, 2019 at 6:34 amI love little getaways like this! It just feels so good to get out of your normal routine and environment for a short time. I’m glad you and J were able to make it happen!
Shybiker
August 30, 2019 at 7:49 amWhat a terrific trip-report! You did lots of fun things and the photos are excellent. Makes me nostalgic for the time I went to the same place, 18 years ago.
Anthea
September 1, 2019 at 11:15 amLovely pictures! Looks like you had a fabulous break and I’m nodding along to top sheets and woolen blankets LOL! Just give me crisp linen sheets underneath a soft duvet and I’m happy as a clam.
That burger looks out of this world.
Tobia | craftaliciousme
September 8, 2019 at 11:10 amAh you make me wanna go and visit SF again. One of those days it will happens as hubby’s never been there and I am sure he would love it. When I was down there the bridge was always visible. It must have been a rare stretch of days it seems like.