I Left My Heart in San Francisco

Is there anything better than a girl trip?

Since my folks have retired, my mom has made an annual tradition out of taking one of her daughters on vacation.  (There are four of us; I’m number three.)   We go in rotation–oldest to youngest–and the Daughter of the Year gets to pick the destination.  (This is limited, of course, to locations offered by the time share my parents participate in.)

This year was my year.  I’d skipped my last turn–the kids were too little and I was (am) a stay-at-home mom.   And you can’t sub that kind of work out.  It’s not that hard (usually) but the hours are impossible.

My youngest is in school now, though, so when my year came up again, I jumped.  I’m on the plane as I type this, flying home from an incredible week away with Mama Sey in San Francisco.

Why San Fran? 

I don’t honestly know.  Neither of us had a particular connection to the city.  But the climate is perfect and it’s close to wine country, and I stopped listening when somebody said, “Wine.”  Sold!

I can’t begin to sum up what a wonderful time we had, so I’ll let my pictures tell the story.  I’ve attached them all along this post, so here’s a little snippet about each of them in order:

The first photo was taken from the center of the labyrinth inside Grace Cathedral downtown.  A local artist had just completed a project in which parishioners wrote their prayers on long ribbons and hung them from the ceiling above the labyrinth.  I had just finished walking the labyrinth, looked up and there they were. 

The second photo is a selfie of me and Mama Sey aboard our first street car.  (I love selfies, as some of you may know.)  Mark Twain (I think?) famously said of steep, hilly San Fran, “If you ever get tired of walking in San Francisco, you can always just lean up against it.”  The best decision we made all week was investing in MUNI passes so we could hop on any bus, street car or trolley that happened by when the walking got too steep. 

Then there was our wine country tour.  One of the wineries took us on a behind-the-scenes tour of their plant.  We took our glasses along, because we live in hope.  The rest of that day’s a little fuzzy.  It eventually devolved into napping, but not before I decided to purchase the expensive but delicious bottle of pinot noir currently in my suitcase.

We stopped for lunch in Yountville, and OH DEAR LORD LOOK IT’S THE FRENCH LAUNDRY.  We didn’t go in–we got a decidedly “reservations only beyond this point” vibe from the staff–but if I’m ever King Midas rich I’m going to book reservations here and have chef Thomas Keller do up a tasting menu just for us, with hand-picked wines and artisanal cheese and everything.  Because everybody needs a dream and that’s mine.

And last, but never least, this is me and Mama Sey biking (that’s right, I said BIKING) across the Golden Gate Bridge.  Because it was there and we could.  Boom.

And now I’m flying home, missing my mom and wondering why on earth I let Wisconsin and an entire Great Lake (Michigan) come between us.  It’s so hard to step out of daily life, to make that space for something new.  But every time I do, I’m filled with wonder at what comes along to fill it.  This time it was falling in love with a new city, and realizing that someday, if I’m really good and really lucky, I’ll grow up to be like my mom. 

I can’t help but wonder what the next four years will bring, and what kind of lives we’ll both step out of the next time my number comes up.    

So how about you?  Have you stepped out of your normal life for a week?  A day?  An hour?  For what?  Share!