Sam’s parents came from Boston to spend Thanksgiving week with us, and it was a complete blast. We played lots and lots of bridge, and we showed them a few of our favorite restaurants and went on a little road trip north. The basic plan was to have Thanksgiving dinner with Sam’s uncle’s family up in San Francisco and see Point Reyes. We ended up stopping at Half Moon Bay along the way to have lunch at Barbara’s Fishtrap, which has the most amazing fish and chips and zucchini tempura. Then we drove up a few more miles to show Sam’s parents Point Montara, one of my favorite places along the coast.

After we soaked in the beauty for a half hour or so, we were back on the road up to San Francisco. Check in at the Mark Hopkins ended up being a little complicated and took almost an hour. The desk was also right next to a beautiful mirror, so of course, I pulled out my camera for a selfie.

Due to a previous visit involving Sam being locked out of his room for several hours, Sam’s parents had a triple upgrade and ended up in an amazing tower suite up on the 15th floor with an INCREDIBLE view of the city. After we settled in, we started another game of bridge… but it was right around sunset, so obviously, both Sam’s dad and I had to take a break from bridge!

Apparently the Mark Hopkins in San Francisco has a petting zoo every Thanksgiving, so we went to check it out before going to Thanksgiving dinner.

Here’s another mirror selfie at Sam’s uncle’s apartment! The roof of the apartment had the most incredible view of the Golden Gate Bridge.

The next morning we said goodbye to the Mark Hopkins and started our drive to Tomales Bay for some oysters. Sam’s mom doesn’t like oysters, but Sam, his dad and I bought 50 oysters and shucked and ate them all! So good!

Then we drove out to Point Reyes Lighthouse! There are hundreds of steps going down to the lighthouse, but it was totally worth it. The view was gorgeous and we managed to hit golden hour as we were coming back up.

We were all glad to pile back into the car by the time we had climbed up all those stairs because it was getting quite chilly! During the drive out, we saw some cars pulled over and realized there were some elk grazing in the grass. We pulled over as well and snapped a few photos before heading to dinner!

That’s the last of the photos! We ate at Marin Sun Farm, which had the most amazing brussels sprouts ever, but slightly disappointing steaks (way overpriced!). Then we stayed at Smiley’s Inn, a charming set of rooms above a saloon that often has live music. After several rounds of bridge, Sam’s mom and I were ready for bed, but Sam and his dad headed down to see the band. Reports were that they were good 😉 The next day, we had brunch across the street, saw an artist’s open house, visited Cowgirl Creamery, went to the Ferry Building, played bridge at Starbucks and then had dinner at Fang, one of my favorite restaurants in San Francisco. Then it was time to drop Sam’s parents off at the airport. It was an awesome time hanging out with them!