San Francisco: the city of the diverse. Somewhere I belong. One of my dream spots. Last September when I was itching for an adventure and needed some change, I piled up enough dough to plop myself on a plane headed to the west coast. Sick of the fast-paced, I’m-better-than-you ways of the east coast (at least in New York), one of my brothers moved out there and landed himself quite the fantastical job (in San Fran, you’ll need that). So I figured, “Hey, I have a place to stay, now’s a great time to visit!” I stuffed some clothes in a bag, grabbed my boyfriend, flew through the air, and in a matter of hours, we were on the other side of the country. Our first vacation together.

We drenched ourselves in rosé, Pinot noir, chardonnay and the like in Sonoma in the mountains while playing Bocce, surrounded by breath-taking scenery; we went to a San Francisco Giants game (where a sea gull pooped on my head during the seventh inning); we took a ferry out to Angel Island and Alcatraz, where we took depressing pictures in jail cells; we visited the Painted Ladies and tried to pinpoint the spot in the park where the introduction to Full House was filmed; we rented a little red Suzuki and drove across the Golden Gate Bridge; we leaped into the Pacific Ocean, just because; we waited on a long line to ride a trolley; we visited the Twitter building; and we took a stroll down Castro Street where we said hello to a drag queen and ate a chocolate cookie shaped like a big, long…yeah…

If you’re fine with breezy but sunny weather (and some fog here and there), appreciate fine wine and delicious food (who doesn’t?!), don’t mind walking or driving up and down big hills (exercise, yeah!), keep an open mind, and an appetite to explore, San Francisco is a place you have to visit in your lifetime. I would go back in a heartbeat. Below are some more of the memories I’ve captured forever.