'Round The Country Vacation Recap

Serious case of the Monday blues, folks. But I wanted to recap our vacation! It's a long one so get comfy.

On April 30th, we were off to Des Moines, Iowa for our friends wedding. We had a 3 hour layover in Minneapolis first which was spent having dinner and a couple drinks. From Des Moines, we drove the 45 minutes to Ames which is where the festivities were. Our friends are big into brewing their own beer and just beer in general. We went out for a bit with them before heading to the hotel around midnight.

The next day was the wedding but we had some time to kill before that so we ate at an awesome place called The Cafe in Ames. After that we took a little nap and then got ready for the wedding. It was at a winery and unfortunately it rained right before the ceremony, so it was held inside but then it cleared up a bit so they had pictures outside which was nice. Weddings in the midwest are very different than here! Much more relaxed and casual. We had fun sampling the couples home brewed beer!

On Saturday, we met up with the bride and a couple friends for lunch before heading to the airport.

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We arrived in Seattle Saturday night pretty late but we were hungry. The hotel recommended a place called Ten Mercer which was two blocks from the hotel. We had a drink and some awesome half price appetizers!

Sunday morning, my aunt and uncle picked us up and we went to Magnolia Park where you get a great view of Seattle, the Fremont Sunday Market and famous bridge troll, followed by the Ballard locks, Shilshole beach and dinner in Capitol Hill at Terra Plata.

Saro @ the top.

Monday, our anniversary, Saro and I went to the top of the Space Needle, Olympic Sculpture park, Pike Place Market, the gum wall and then took the bus over to Issaquah for dinner at my aunt and uncles. We grilled some awesome burgers and enjoyed with potato salad and tomato mozzarella salad.

Gorgeous moutain views from Olympic Sculpture Park!

The gum wall. Yuck.

Tuesday, we took the ferry boat over to Bainbridge Island. Fun Fact: Dr. Derek Shepherd is supposed to live on Bainbridge in Grey's Anatomy.

It was a bit rainy but nice nonetheless. We had lunch (see a pattern here? lots of eating last week!) followed by gelato and stopping in a few shops. We met my uncle downtown near the market around 5:00. He works nearby so it worked out. We had dinner at Etta's and then I ugly cried when I had to say goodbye to my aunt. Happens every. time. 

The original Starbucks @ Pike Place Market

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Wednesday, we flew to San Francisco from Seattle, rented a car and drove 220 miles south to Morro Bay, CA which is where my grandma lives. She lives a block from the beach but beaches are very different on the west coast. It never gets hot in MB and you need a wet suit if you so choose to go swimming. Brrr.

5 miles from my Grandma's coming up and over the mountain in Cayucos, CA.

We arrived around 7:30pm where she had beef chili and sourdough garlic bread waiting for us. It was perfect! I hadn't seen my grandma in 5 years so it was really nice to see her and catch up. She always makes me laugh. 

The Morro Bay rock

Thursday, I took Saro to San Luis Obispo which is 10 miles inland from where my grandma lives. It's a town of about 50,000. It has great restaurants and shops. We had breakfast at a great spot called Louisa's Place followed by a latte at Scout coffee.

I can't believe I didn't gain any weight after this trip!!! SO much good food, drinks and treats. We did manage to get 5 Beachbody On Demand workouts in plus one run and a bunch of walking.

Thursday night we ordered Mexican from a great place I remember as a kid, Lolo's. My grandma had some sparkling pinot grigio for us and her friend came over. We talked and laughed some more.

Friday before heading back to SF, we stopped at her house for breakfast and said goodbye. 

We decided to take highway 1 up the coast back to the city. It definitely adds on an extra 2 hours or so but the views are SO worth it. If you've never done it or are looking for somewhere to visit, I definitely recommend Northern California and doing the coast drive. one way. Specifically San Francisco, San Luis Obispo and Morro Bay.

We drove by the Painted Ladies and the house from Mrs. Doubtfire. They're located on the same street in a beautiful neighborhood of San Francisco.

We checked into our hotel, walked over to The Top of the Mark which is a restaurant at the top of the Intercontinental Hotel and has magnificent views of the city.

From there, we walked over to The Stinking Rose and met my uncle and cousin for dinner. Garlic, garlic and more garlic. Stinky but yummy! I had the short ribs.

Saturday morning we woke up early to meet more family for breakfast at The Hollywood Cafe near Fisherman's Wharf. From there, we headed to the airport and that pretty much concludes our trip.

Phew!

It was really fun and we covered a ton of ground in a little over a week.