A Weekend in San Francisco
A few months ago, Scott heard about a small art show that was going to be held by his favorite artist (Thomas Campbell) at a surf shop up in San Francisco. We've talked about going to one of his shows since we began dating, over nine years ago! After years of not making it happen, at the mention of this I said, we're going. San Francisco is one of our favorite cities to hang out in together, and by far the city which Scott enjoys photographing the most. I'll travel just about anywhere for good sourdough bread and a unique coffee shop doing it right. Six years ago was our first and last trip to San Francisco together, and it was for my birthday so that I could visit Tartine. Naturally we spent plenty of time at both of their locations on this trip, but discovered a few more we fell in love with too. Here is our travel log and photo diary of this whirlwind thirty hours in San Francisco, a mere fifty-eight minute flight from our home here in Orange County (faster than driving to LA, if you can believe it). All photographs are by my husband, Scott, except for a single contribution by yours truly. Here we go!
x Jessie
Morning Flight to Tartine & Heath
It was Saturday morning. We boarded our plane at 6:50am, landed in SFO, hopped in an Uber, and were at Tartine Manufactory for coffee and breakfast by 8:30am. It was a beautiful summer day, much chillier and drier than back home (thank goodness). We each had a small backpack with some overnight essentials, including a container of homemade granola bars I snacked on for breakfast on the plane. Just me and my bud and my sneakers and a small backpack I named Benny - I can hardly explain how excited I was for this weekend.
Tartine Manufactory was beautiful and bustling. We ordered our coffees and Scott's breakfast sandwich from the counter and waited for a seat to open up. After snagging a spot we sat and enjoyed our morning together, the smell of sourdough wafting through the air. I made a promise to carry a loaf back with me on the plane, Scott agreed, and we headed next door to visit Heath Ceramics.
In the entryway of Heath is a mini bookshop/news stand with the most unique and interesting books. Special travel guides to different cities, maps, magazines, books, newspapers - I could have read every one. After flipping through one or two city guides, we headed into the ceramics store. It's beautiful, shelves lined of every different color plate, bowl, and mug that Heath makes. As you turn around each corner of the shop there are more ceramics, vases, bowls, serving platters, etc, as well as items curated by Heath - such as jars, cookbooks, and jams. We spent quite a bit of time here.
Dolores Park & Lunch
We walked to Dolores Park, and it was so beautiful and green! It has the nicest view of the city, and was full of people enjoying the day with their pups in the sunshine. After walking around a bunch, we hopped in an Uber to take us to a Whole Foods near our hotel for lunch. It was almost check-in time and Scott was eager to drop off his backpack. We always stop here for one, or multiple, meals while traveling in different cities. Its just easy. Plus I was able to stock up on some fruit in my backpack to have for snacks later.
Lands End, Sutro Baths, & The Art Show
After checking in at our hotel near Union Square (The Orchard Garden Hotel) we got another ride over to the Lands End trailhead. It was a really beautiful trail, with views of the cliffs and Golden Gate Bridge from the south. We took it down to the Sutro Baths, which were really neat too. And walked along the coastline south a bit before getting another ride to Mollusk Surf Shop for the art show.
Thomas Campbell's show was super neat, he was there as well as a store packed full of people itching to see his work. What was funny to us is that we hadn't a clue how small of a show it actually was - in terms of the size of the space. There was a narrow door you walked into and could either turn left or right, and then walk about 10 feet before you had to turn around. It was packed full of his work, paintings, stitched artwork, etc. But totally unexpected! We had a good laugh about it afterwards. Still totally worth the trip.
There aren't any photos from dinner, but we went back to Tartine Manufactory and gorged ourselves on avocado and fresh sourdough bread. Scott snuck in a tasty dessert, and we headed back to our hotel for the night.
Last Morning, The Mill, & Bread
Our hotel was so comfy and quiet. I woke up early feeling extra well rested and snacked on one of my homemade granola bars in bed while I waited for Scott to wake up. We checked out of our hotel around 8am and got a ride to The Mill for coffee and some breakfast for Scott. It was a foggy, grey morning (my absolute favorite) and I could have sat in The Mill all day. It is my new favorite place to be in San Francisco. Its on a neat street, feels tucked away, has the coolest brick facade, its big, bright and open inside, and there is a bakery that runs out of it too. It was fun people watching, and the community 'feel' was definitely present. Scott got a thick slice of cinnamon sugar toast made with Josey Bakery Bread (its the bakery that operates out of the cafe, and their bread is amazing). I bought a loaf of Josey's bread before we left, and we walked.
Eventually we made it down to Tartine Bakery to snag a loaf of bread from there too, but their line was too long, so we continued walking to Tartine Manufactory - once again. Scott got a pastry, I ate another one of my granola bars, and we picked up a gorgeous loaf of bread plus the Tartine No. 3 cookbook (happy, happy girl). Then it was off on our last Uber ride to the airport around 11am. I sat with our loaves of bread nestled against my feet and flipped through my new cookbook's pages for the flight back to Orange County. We were home by 2pm, and resumed normal weekend life as if San Francisco had only been a bus ride away. We wish ;). Thank you to Thomas Campbell for putting on your tiny art show that lured us away for a special weekend in this city, we are so grateful.
