Get ready for Day 6 of our California to Oregon road trip recap!
In May 2013 we drove 1,840 miles from San Diego, California to Portland, Oregon. Just two states but we covered such a significant part of the west coast which included over five national parks, three breweries, three factory tours, a visit to one of the best restaurants in the world, and countless other amazing things along the way. As you can see we avoided Los Angeles and the coast, which was done on purpose to diversify our California experience. Check out our route:
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Our second full day in San Francisco began bright and early, and again at the Ferry Building.
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This time we went through the front doors which lead into a huge foyer with huge hanging historical placards. The Ferry Building was built in 1898 as a terminal for ferries traveling across the San Francisco Bay. In the 1950’s the building was adapted for office use after usage of the building decreased. In 2002 a full renovation of the building occurred and the marketplace in the first floor was created.
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John and I got breakfast at Cowgirl Creamery (I told you we’d go back).
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We then headed to the TCHO Chocolate Factory right next to the Ferry Building for a tour.
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We couldn’t take photos during the tour or tasting so my pictures are a bit limited.
The tour started with a comprehensive video about the company, where they source their cacao, and how they make chocolate in San Francisco.
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They passed around some cacao pods, beans, and a sample of cocoa butter.
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This is where I had to stash my camera here are a few pictures of the chocolate and interior of TCHO.
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The chocolate at TCHO was incredible: expertly made with care and love, perfect in its depth and robustness, full developed in its unique flavors. I am officially a fan and plan to buy a stash online soon.
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We bought a few small samples on the way out (the dark and fruity for him, the serious milk chocolate for her).
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We took a trek back to the Mission district to get the highest rated burrito on Yelp. Too bad it was utter garbage, worst burrito I’ve ever eaten. John managed to keep a smile on his face though!
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After the sad burritos we hustled over to the Anchor Brewing Company for their brewery tour.
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The tour was awesome – our guide was extremely knowledgeable and passionate about Anchor beer. The building was really amazing too – it definitely has that century-old brewery feel.
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We got to check out the fermentation room which was cool – of the 30+ breweries we’ve been to I’ve never seen a set up for fermentation like this.
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We also checked out the hop room and the storage tanks.
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I love Anchor’s packaging; there is so much amazing detail in their labels.
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After the tour it was back to the tap room for some free samples.
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We sampled the Anchor Steam, Liberty Ale, and California Lager.
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After the brewery tour we took a really long, hot bus ride back to our hotel. We were in need of some relaxing after such a busy day so far so we vegged for a couple hours.
At 6ish we grabbed the car and headed downtown to Tyler Florence’s Wayfare Tavern for dinner.
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In addition to The French Laundry I was also really excited about eating at Wayfare on our trip. I’ve been hearing about it for years and couldn’t wait to go.
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For starters the drinks and popovers were amazing. The iced tea I ordered had lemon granita ice cubes in it. I loved it so much I immediately made my own version when we got home from our trip. It also made me want to make popovers ASAP too.
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I got the butter lettuce salad to start and it was exquisite: fresh butter lettuce, avocado, and grapefruit with the lightest, most delicate dressing. For dinner I had the chicken paillard – the chicken was cooked perfectly and the turnips and mushrooms paired beautifully with the earthiness of the dish.
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For dessert I had to get the mint chocolate chip ice cream dessert (decked out with local TCHO chocolate). We also received a complimentary tasting of the cinnamon coffee cake which was so yummy.
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Stuffed is not the word to describe how we felt when we left but it didn’t stop us from making one last stop to end our time in San Francisco.
We hit the road and headed over the Golden Gate Bridge one more time.
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The first stop was Fort Baker to check out the bay views of the Golden Gate Bridge.
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I took this panorama too!
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After freezing our butts off down there we drove all the way back up to the Marin Headlands.
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It’s pretty cool because you can see down to Fort Baker from up in the Marin Headlands. The view was unreal.
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The views of the bridge were incredible, I am so glad we made the time to drive up here and check these two places out.
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Stay tuned for Day 7 where we explore northern California and cross into Oregon in the snow!
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