Our Sunny World: San Francisco By Night

We decided to enjoy a weekend night in San Francisco and so as planned we perused through a couple of the local neighborhoods. We started in Union Square so that Lance could get a great taste of some of the shopping district. I think it's good for him to know where I'll be spending most of my time. Well, I definitely won't be doing that, but it's always fun to window shop.

At the corner of Union Square we hopped on one of San Francisco's infamous cable cars as we rode up to Chinatown. Oftentimes I feel like Chinatown has many of the same trinkets, dolls, fans, pearls--though still pretty--shirts 3 for $10, and much more. Well, this time, I made an added effort to find some of the more unique stores that appealed to us. One of the perks living out here is that I don't feel that I'm not in a rush to see and do as much as I possibly can in one quick trip. One of my favorite shops was Krystal Rock. What drew me into the store were the nautical decor and boats. I love boats, sailing, being on the water, and mostly the beach. I have been known to say that half of my heart lives on the ocean, specifically the beach. Lucky for Lance, we're here in the Bay Area and close to so much water. The store also had cars that looked quite antique, but the store owners said that everything was specifically made that way in China, not quite as antique as anticipated. I thought they were pretty cute and any guy who collects cars would think they were a hit. We spent a few extra minutes talking to them about some of their favorite things to do in the area. I love talking to people about their favorite ins and outs and best restaurants and activities in the because it gives me a taste of the local culture and fun flavor of life. Most people say many of the same things, but when you specifically ask for the local hot spots, you tend to get a few extra bonus attractions.

One of my next favorite stops we made was at the Chinatown Kites store. One of my favorite memories living in Washington D.C. was going to the National Kite Festival with my friends. Once a year on a beautiful spring day, the National Mall (when not under construction) is filled with kites galore, hundreds of them. There are tiny kites, homemade kites, kites that look like Chinese dragons, kites running in to each other, and any other fun shape you can imagine. Kites everywhere. I was lucky because my dad heard about the event and he sent me a kite that looked like the NASA Space Shuttle. I was impressed because little NASA did quite well.

Before we left Chinatown, and headed into North Beach, we made one last stop. City Lights Bookstore. It's full of books galore, those you love, those you don't love, and everything in between. The store is all over the maps, tourist spots, and people say it's also a local hangout joint. Apparently, it was also one of the first bookstores to have all paper back books. Paperback books, what an innovation. Now we can get books anywhere from a Kindle, Nook, Iphone, Ipad, and any other smart phone or tablet device.

After reading all this, aren't you hungry, because we sure were at this point. We headed into Trattoria Pinocchio where they are known for their famous homemade pasta. I loved my butternut squash ravioli and recommend it to anyone. Lance had a traditional chicken parmesan. I recommend the food, and just the decadent smells that filter through the kitchen should be good enough to love the food.

We ended the evening with a wonderful walk around Ghirardelli Square. Maybe Lance will want to buy one of these wonderful chocolate making machines.

There we found a treasure. I'm not talking about Ghirardelli chocolate, but Star Wars. Yes, Star Wars. We came upon the best Star Wars picture books for everyone, both young and old. They are part of series written by Jeffrey Brown. The only books we saw and purchased were, 'Darth Vader and Son' and "Vader's Little Princess." Here you'll see a few of my favorite pages. How can anyone resist this amazing find?