Golden Gate Bridge.

Inspired by the phrase, “treat yo self,” coined by NBC’s Parks and Recreation’s characters, Donna and Tom, I went on spring break!  I was in serious need of some R&R.  My boyfriend and I decided we wanted to take a trip to somewhere neither of us had been.

We opted for San Francisco.  Neither of us knew much about it, but we had heard good things.  Using frequent flyer miles, we booked our trip.  I had heard that San Francisco was very expensive, so we decided to use Airbnb to save on accommodations.  If you haven’t used Airbnb before, I would highly recommend using it.

It is similar to couch surfing but a step up, if you will.  Headquarted in San Francisco, California, it is a trusted online community marketplace for people to list, discover, and book accommodations worldwide.  Apartments can be rented from one night to a month.  Studio apartments to castles.  Airbnb has places in over 19,000 cities and 192 countries.

Rainy San Francisco Day.

Our trip started off rainy, but we were committed to making the best of it.  We spent the day with our umbrellas and ended up in the deYoung Museum-Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco.  Lucky for us, it happened to be the opening day of the Jean Paul Gaultier exhibit.  I was completely blown away by the intricacy of his one-of-a-kind designs.

Many of his mannequins had videos projected onto their faces.  There was also an audio component that really brought these mannequins to life.  It was quite bizarre and made you question whether the mannequins were really communicating with you.

Jean Paul Gaultier exhibit. Yes, these are mannequins.

Luckily, the rain subsided and, during the next few days, we stomped around different neighborhoods, checked out the Mrs. Doubtfire House, took pictures at The Painted Ladies from Full House, and enjoyed good food.  I couldn’t get over the terrain; so many beautiful parks!

Starting at top left going clockwise: Buena Vista Park, The Painted Ladies, Mrs. Doubtfire House (image taken by Jonathan Clark) and The Castro neighborhood.

At the last minute, we decided to rent a car and drive around, which was the best thing we could have done.  We ended up going over three bridges: San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, and Golden Gate Bridge.  This allowed us to cover a lot of ground in such a short amount of time.

The Pacific Ocean.

We were able to check out Berkley, Sausalito, Golden Gate National Park, The Pacific Ocean, and much more.  For $60 (insurance and gas included), I’d say it was well worth our while.

We stayed for five days, which gave us enough time to “get” what San Francisco is about.  Next time, we will have to hit up some of the wineries and go biking.  After five days, I was ready to be home, because I knew that life was going to be crazy chaotic with only one month left before graduation!