This past July, I visited San Francisco – my first time. When we arrived, it was too early to check-in to our hotel, so we did a little walk around the neighborhood. Our first San Fran meal was pretty tasty. Great service, food and atmosphere at Grand Cafe – Brasserie and Bar (French [...]]]>

This past July, I visited San Francisco – my first time. When we arrived, it was too early to check-in to our hotel, so we did a little walk around the neighborhood. Our first San Fran meal was pretty tasty. Great service, food and atmosphere at Grand Cafe – Brasserie and Bar (French Cuisine). If you know me, I was checking everyone out. There were lots of fabulous looking people around, drinking champagne and wine with their breakfast. I would have taken pictures with my iPhone, but I was in my Carlow University gear and already looking un-fabulously after a 3 a.m. wake-up call for a five hour flight to this fabulous place. Let’s just say, they were staring at me.

For breakfast we had a flat bread with goat cheese and sliced apple. I can’t for the life of me remember the french name of  the dish but I can certainly remember  the taste. Yummy! Here are a few photos of our food. Thinking back, food was our first pictures of San Fran…That’s quite fitting for us

After our belly’s were full. We headed out to Chinatown. Wow! That was an experience. It is the oldest Chinatown in North America, and outside of Asia, it is the largest in the world. We did lots of shopping. Already exhausted, I was carrying several bags; it’s only noon, and we can’t check-in until 3 p.m. Here are a few photos from Chinatown.

That killed a many hours and we were ready to check into our hotel – The Prescott Hotel, a four star hotel. It reminded my of our hotel in Venice, Italy, but it had a French flare. Great service and the rooms were fabulous. They also served complimentary wines and teas in the afternoon. Here are a few photos…

Our first order of business was our reservations to the SupperClub. The Boy and I had heard about it on The Travel Channel. There are five other places like this in the world – Amsterdam, Singapore, Istanbul, London, Los Angeles and of course, San Francisco. Supperclub is not a traditional style restaurant. It’s unexpected – you do not know what is waiting around every corner. The front doors are closed until the party gets started. We were greeted by a lovely woman dressed in pink, saying, “Welcome to my party.” We are then taken to a room to set the mood, and have a few drinks before entering the bedroom. The menu is pre-determined and you do not know until it’s served. It’s a place of discovery in creative imagination and freedom of expression. Surreal. Here are a few photos…

The next day we ventured out to the typical tourist attractions -  Fisherman’s Wharf, Golden Gate Bridge, and Alcatraz. We ate at Fog Harbour Fish House – Excellent crab cakes and clam chowder and the dessert…you can see by the plate it was delicious. Here are a few photos…

During our trip to San Francisco we also ate at the Sushi Boat. Quite a famous place. Very fun atmosphere and the sushi melted in my mouth. As the boats float around the bar, you just pick and grab your piece. Highly recommend this place if you visit.

This was my first trip to San Francisco and would love to go back someday. A great city.

“Leaving San Francisco is like saying goodbye to an old sweetheart. You want to linger as long as possible.” Walter Cronkite

We arrived around 6 p.m. Vegas time, had dinner, unpacked and changed [...]]]>

Recently I vacationed in Las Vegas. I slept at Excalibur. It was a 20+ year planned vacation. When I was a teenager, my friend Shannon and I had planned to go somewhere…anywhere. Finally, it was here and we were excited to celebrate.

We arrived around 6 p.m. Vegas time, had dinner, unpacked and changed into our PJs. STOP! HOLD ON… We were in Vegas! Since we didn’t want to miss anything, we headed out to explore the hotel as we were dressed. No big deal, right? We were in lounge pants and t-shirts – no one was going to stare at us. And, no one did. There were women walking around in their teddy’s. SAFE! You can do just about anything you damn well please and it is sociably okay.

We were up at 7 a.m. every morning. We’d get breakfast, a cup of coffee and hit the slots. Around 10 a.m. we’d head to the pool. At 11 a.m. we’d order frozen margaritas from Dick’s Last Resort. Around 1:30 p.m. we’d go get lunch and margaritas at Dick’s Last Resort. After lunch, we’d head to the room, with more margaritas, and get ready for an evening out. Then, for dinner and margaritas, we’d hit Dick’s Last Resort.

Dick’s wasn’t the only thing we did. “That’s what she said”...We did see Blue Man Group and Cirque du Soleil “O”. Both shows were unreal. We bounced in our seats and bobbed our heads for Blue Man and held our breath in amazement during “O” – two shows you don’t want to miss.

One night, we had dinner at the Stratosphere’s Top of the World resturant.  I had the best filet migon. The price was, well, pricy but worth it.

We did a strip stroll one day and it took us five hours to walk a quarter of the way down the strip; of course stopping and sightseeing. When we were hot and very thirsty, we decided to head back. We stopped and ate at Serendipity’s at Caesars Palace. I think we both drank about eight tall glasses of water. We did the strip stroll mid-afternoon while it was about 90+ heatwave. I highly recommend walking in the evening hours, plus, there’s more things going on, and the city lights up at night.

Coyote Ugly was on our list of must sees. I have to tell you, I was very disappointed. The bar was very small and not too much going on other than the bartenders dancing on the bar. I can get that in Pittsburgh.

Overall, we spent most of our time poolside sipping frozen margaritas at Dick’s. Though, I’m not sure why exactly we frequented Dick’s because the bartenders and wait staff our unbelievably rude, throw shit at you, write nasty things about you on handmade, paper hats, and do obscene things behind your back. I never enjoyed anything as much as I enjoyed Dick’s. This comment goes out to Blink and Taco.

Las Vegas Got Dick’s!

Blue Man

Picture taken from Stratosphere

Las Vegas Strip

Dick's Last Resort Las Vegas