www.WhatsUpForKids.com
15
We were interested in checking out the local neighborhoods so we walked from our hotel on Columbus towards Union Square, and that allowed us to really experience Little Italy. Along the way we passed many Italian Restaurants and Mara’s Italian Pastry with the most phenomenal goodies, have cash because they do not accept credit cards!! Staying on Columbus you eventually will transition into Chinatown and many little shops to explore. We eventually wound our way to the Union Square area and our little one was tired and hungry so we checked out the food court in the Westfield San Francisco Centre on Mar ket str eet (a fancy mall!). It was the per fect choice, Pizza for her and many gourmet choices for my husband and me. We took the street car back to North Beach for a lovely ride at night through San Francisco’s hilly streets. Continued by Cathy Alessandra….. While Cindy‘s last stop was the Westfield San Francisco Centre, that was my recent destination in San Francisco! Now having two older daughters (19 & 21) who live in Northern California, their mission for our “girls weekend with mom” was shopping ! We decided to stay in Union Square for easy shopping and transportation access. We stayed at the Kensington Park Hotel, (www.kensingtonparkhotel.com) just a few steps from the main square. While this is an older hotel, it has massive charm and very reasonable rates. Plus they are part of a group of hotels that also accommodates families with a kids’ suites! (See pictures at right). Restaurants are plentiful in Union Square and dinner for us one evening was Morton's Steakhouse. We had br eakfast at Sears Fine Food (www.searsfinefood.com) which has been in San Francisco since 1938 and is known for their 18 Swedish pancakes—a meal that was quite tasty! We did venture down to Pier 39 and the Embarcadero which was fun, but extremely crowded on a weekend! And of course, no trip to San Francisco is complete without a cable car ride, which we took back towards Union Square from Pier 39!
San Francisco offers so many options for lodging, meals and things to do! No matter what the age of your children for a family trip, or a quick girls weekend or couples escape, there is something for everyone. Southwest and Virgin airlines often offer specials of $49-$59 each way—or just a 7 hour drive!