Bouchon
Sausalito
Golden Gate Bridge, South Vista point
Walt Disney Family Museum
Palace of Fine Arts
Westin Hotel, Market Street
Pomodoro’s Pizza
Today we relaxed in our fantastic room at the Yountville Inn until about 11:30a, including continental breakfast with fresh cut fruit and orange juice. We then headed out for our noon lunch reservations.
For lunch, we were quickly seated quickly at a beautiful little bistro called Bouchon. Made famous by it’s counterpart just down the street, the French Laundry, Bouchon has an ever-changing seasonal and regional menu. We sat on the patio, had a delicious lunch, and then hit the road for Sausalito!
Sausalito looks like a small, historic town right on the water, with a grand view of San Francisco and the bay. We parked along the main road and wandered down to a waterfront park where we just sat and looked out over the water for about half an hour, watching the turkey-sized seagulls and two wooden "tall ships" cruising around the bay.
From Sausalito, we took highway 101 to the Golden Gate Bridge, taking full advantage of the huge retracting roof of the 2009 VW Jetta station wagon to see the bridge supports directly above. Once we got to the south end of the bridge, we stopped at the vista point to take some pictures, and just sit and relax and enjoy the BEAUTIFULY clear, warm day.
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Before leaving the parking area, I called an acquaintance of mine at the Walt Disney Family Museum at the Presidio, to see about stopping by his office to say hello. He said to come on over. It was only a few minutes drive, and we chatted for a short time before he had to run over to the main museum. We said our goodbyes, then drove over to see the new rear exterior glass of the building. I got some good pictures and we started heading out. But, on the way out of the parking lot, I saw my friend walking toward his car, so I waved and said thanks again. He waved, then called out for us to stop, and called for Diane Disney Miller to come meet us. This truly made my trip! I got to visit with Diane for just a few moments, but she was so gracious and thankful for my service to Walt’s Barn. It was really wonderful to get to meet her!
About three minutes away from the Museum is the Palace of Fine Arts. We got there a bit after "the golden hour" for sunlight, so didn’t get many good pics, but may try again before we leave San Francisco. Again, just sat on a bench and enjoyed the relaxing atmosphere and the perfect weather. I finished the 2nd half of my Dean & Deluca sandwich (which was STILL excellent!) and enjoyed having just met Mrs. Disney – Miller. Really a great day!
About 6:45p we checked into the Westin Hotel on Market Street in downtown San Francisco. After settling in just a bit, we headed out for a walk around downtown and found Pomodoro’s Pizza on Kearny and ordered a pizza to go. We stopped at Walgreens for some water and snacks, went back to the room and watched a couple episodes of Kitchen Nightmares, ate the really delicious pizza, and finally hit the "Heavenly Beds"…
For me, today might not be topped for quite some time!
Tomorrow – downtown San Francisco…