As I have said before, a perk of being an Event Planner is travel. Last Fall I assisted with a conference in this awesome city and although I basically saw four walls for most of my trip (the convention center), a coworker and I extended an extra day to explore. If possible, I try to extend on the back end of my conferences knowing that the onsite is over and I can truly relax and enjoy the city.

This particular onsite was over Halloween and included the last couple games of the World Series – (Cubs vs Indians) – and my team is the Indians. The conference had ended, we wrapped everything up, said goodbyes and headed back to our hotel rooms to regroup and get ready to cheer on our home team for game 7 of the World Series. We got our Indians gear on and headed to a pub to watch the game. Coincidentally, a friend of mine from high school lives close to the city and drove in with his wife. After a nail biting game – sadly the Indians lost. The only good part of that game was eating our feelings with Mac & Cheese, wings and the most amazing chocolate sundae from Ghirardelli Square. Defeated, we headed back to the hotel to rest up for a busy day of exploring.

My coworker and friend, Holly was my San Fran side kick. Since we worked with the city on the conference, we were gifted complimentary Hop on – Hop off tickets including a SF Bay ferry ride. I recommend buying a ticket as their are two different routes and they literally take you everywhere. It was a GORGEOUS day! We explored Pier 39 with their famous sea lions, ferried under the Golden Gate Bridge / around Alcatraz and then took some necessary photos wearing our #23 Lebron James jersey by the GGB to pay tribute to our Cleveland Cavaliers being World Champions – wish we could have added a World Series win to that list, but can’t win them all! We ate clam chowder and meandered our way around the sites. We ended our day visiting the Pink Ladies and having a seafood dinner at the boardwalk.

The next day we had brunch on the Chestnut Street at a quaint French bakery called Le Marais (recommendations from @BrunchonChestnut and @GalMeetsGlam) After walking around China town and grabbing souviners, we headed back to the hotel in Union Square (shopped a bit more) and packed up for the airport.

San Francisco is a busy and expensive city, but full of culture and food. The bay is beautiful and if you get up early enough to experience the boardwalk at Pier 39 before the crowds – you will see a new side of it.

What are some of your favorites in San Francisco?