Here we go. Cross country flight. At least it was direct?
We left early in the morning- our flight was leaving around 7am. So, in order to be safe, I made sure we got there by 5 ish. We thought the kids would fall back asleep quickly once were in the car, but they surprised us, and chatted the entire time.
The good news was that they were happy, and excited, the whole wait. We had a little breakfast at the airport, and the time passed really quickly- we were knocking on wood, because it was too easy!
Next assumption- they will definitely fall asleep on the plane, in their car seats!
Nope.
They were awake (but happy!) the entire flight. We broke out a new assortment of in-flight entertainment for them on this trip, consisting of snacks, kindle fires, books, animals, and the newest addition- color wonder markers!
I think they spent most of the flight coloring with the color wonder markers. Prior to the flight, we hadn’t had all that much experience with markers, so I’m not sure if that’s what caused them to be such a huge hit, but I wasn’t complaining.
Once the flight landed, we jumped on the tram to the main terminal to gather our checked baggage, before making our way to the car rental area. I have never experienced such a smooth transition! Our luggage was waiting for us when we got to baggage claim. We grabbed our bags, and moved towards the air train, which would bring us to the rental car building.
Signage was impressive, and we found the enterprise counter quickly and easily. So quickly and easily, we beat the representative from Cloud of Goods, who was meeting us there with our rental stroller. We were thrilled to find no line at the Enterprise counter, even though many other counters were struggling.
In the meantime, TT Dad was able to bring our luggage down to the garage, and load it all into the small SUV we had rented, including the car seats, which he installed.
The kids and I waited by the counter, and we identified the rental stroller right away! The kids were happy to climb right in, since it was the same stroller we had at home- this also meant we didn’t have any questions for the representative, even though he was more than willing to answer any we had, or demonstrate opening or closing the stroller.
First on the agenda for TT Dad and I- was lunch. It was only 11 ish, San Francisco time, but for our east coast bellies it was long past lunch time.
By the time we could discuss a game plan for lunch (we had googled kid friendly restaurants, and chose the first on the list) the kids were fast asleep. New plan. We’d drive the touristy route to Fisherman’s Wharf, thinking we’d be able to easily find something there we could all enjoy!
Sure enough, the only thing easier than finding lunch was finding parking. We decided (quickly) on Alioto’s, and it didn’t take much convincing before the kids were wide awake and ready for lunch.
We found the more casual part of Alioto’s to be perfect for us (and our air travel-ing selves). They won bonus points right off the bat- bringing lobster bibs for the kids, once they realized TT Dad and I would be wearing them for our meals. Another small (but much appreciated) action was when Z was using my appetizer fork to eat her mac & cheese- and dropped it on the floor. The spoon that was brought to them was just a big big, so they preferred the app forks. An employee realized quickly that her fork was on the floor. Instead of assuming Z would be okay using another utensil from that table, or replacing it with a larger spoon or fork, this employee brought Z another app fork to use.
We have nothing but good things to say about our lunch! Thank you, Alioto’s!
After lunch, we walked across the street, towards the water, directly into the Arcade museum! As a lover
of arcades, this was particularly interesting to me, especially since I beat the pants off of my husband at a couple games 😉
We spent the next couple of ours walking along the wharf, and checking out pier 39. This led us to Aquarium of the Bay. We are pretty big Aquari
um people, so this was a no brainer. We were blown away- particularly with the underwater walk. Very cool. All of the staff seemed friendly and helpful, as well.
After that, we figured we would be able to check in the hotel, so off we went. We stopped at target on the way, to supplement our supplies- more pull-ups, and a few other things we may have forgotten to pack. oops!
Once we were at the hotel, we pretty much crashed. We set up the kids’ room, with their beds, noise machine, monitor, books, and everything else needed for bedtime.
By the time we were done, it was getting closer to dinner, so TT Dad ran downstairs to gather
something from the Herb ‘n’ Kitchen in the lobby.
The kids were pretty exhausted, so they didn’t each much, but we successfully kept them awake until about 6:30 CA time (9:30 east coast!)- score! It didn’t take long at all for them to crash, and we weren’t that far behind them!