“Honeymoon? What about the wedding?” you say? Yes, the wedding happened. And it was wonderful. Magical. Perfect. Amazing. And I’m still trying to process all of it. So that will be a bit later. 

Sunday night, after doing a hasty load of laundry, packing up everything we thought we would need for two weeks, and jumping in the car with SIL Amy, we headed to my friend Sarah’s hotel by the airport. It was super nice! We were sad to only spend about five hours in it, what with our 6am flight and all. 

  

  
In addition to identifying the bag to me, it lets potential thieves know there is nothing worth stealing inside. 

The flight was good. There was more than McDonald’s open that early, a change from most early-morning flights I’ve taken, so we dined on tasty breakfast burritos…that didn’t end up making me sick, despite my anxiety that 5am chorizo was maybe a bad choice. 

  
We managed to wake up long enough to snap this photo. 

Then we landed,  got a Peet’s Coffee, grabbed our luggage, located our rental-car shuttle, and made our way to the hotel which housed Sixt. I was a little nervous because I was unfamiliar with the company, but they were great. They had the car we reserved (the European gentlemen after us weren’t so lucky and were dissatisfied with the replacement she offered because “I drive a Volvo every day”), the staff was extremely friendly, and it was less expensive than the “traditional” rental-car companies where we couldn’t reserve a specific car. So after a quick tutorial (“how do we open the trunk?”), we were on our way. 

  
We look pretty good for seven hours of sleep in two days. 

No one else had the top down because it was kind of chilly, but you can’t rent a VW Beetle convertible and not put the top down as soon as you get in. 

We made our way to the house in Sausalito, our home until Thursday, which meant we drove across the Golden Gate Bridge. 

  
It was so cool, I forgot to be terrified. 

Then through the Robin Williams tunnel. 

   
Featuring rainbows!

We settled into the house, which is owned by the in-laws of my friend Raven. Who I’ve never technically met. Who I know from blogging. About a wedding to someone else that never happened. Could the only reason for dating someone else be that Chris and I had this lovely home to stay in on our honeymoon? Maybe. Worth it. The house was gorgeous, and I’m so grateful for the opportunity to stay there. Such an amazing experience. 

We left our car and walked to the town, a mistake we would never make again. “It’s .3 miles. How far could it be?” Pretty far down the winding hills, and even further up. My Fitbit clocked us at 7.72 miles that day, and keep in mind that we were on a plane for five-plus of those hours. I finally stopped wearing it because we are supposed to be relaxing!

We went to a little restaurant for fish tacos and beer, one of the best choices we made that day. 

  
Yasss. 

We walked around Sausalito and shopped a bit, then decided to head back home. There were multiple snapchats of our climb, recording the bad decision. When we finally got back to the house, we literally laid on the floor for at least 10 minutes to try to not be dead. 

We jumped back in the car and headed to Rodeo Beach to watch the sunset, our first beach sunset as a married couple. It didn’t disappoint. 

  
Zoinks. 

Then we did boring stuff like buy shampoo, but I was amused to find Trader Joe’s sells liquor. 

  
Do-do, do-do-do-do. Do-do-do-do-do-do-do…

We found a local brewery for dinner, Marin Brewing Company. Delicious beers, delicious food, and a waitress who pronounced everything “bomb.”

   
It actually was pretty bomb.

Then, back to the house for our first full night’s sleep in what seemed like months. 

The next morning, we ate on the little deck overlooking the ocean, then hopped in the car and headed to Muir Woods. I can’t remember seeing a more beautiful place. We also got National Parks passports because we are giant dorks. Nothing wrong with that!

It was so calm and quiet and beautiful and peaceful here. The majority of the other visitors were also pretty laid back and surprisingly not obnoxious, which helped. 

   

 
  

  

 
  
  
  
Redwoods selfie!

We had a 3:20 tour at Alcatraz, so we headed back to Sausalito to park the car and catch the ferry, the first of five ferry rides in 24 hours. I am not a big fan of boats/the water/falling to my death/drowning, so I was a bit apprehensive. But it was okay. 

  
Quick stop at Muir Beach, and then…

  

Alcatraz ferry selfie!

Alcatraz was very cool but kind of surreal. “Here is this crazy place that housed all of these horrible criminals but now appreciate its beauty and birds but try not to think about all of the violence and bad stuff and please buy a commemorative metal cup.”

  
  
I preferred the beautiful view of the city. 

   

   
This guy hitched a ride back. 

We got back to the harbor and touristed pretty hard.   
  

   
 
Can’t take me anywhere. 

Then we booked it back to the ferry building to catch the last boat to Sausalito. We were disappointed that Humphry Slocombe was closed, so we consoled ourselves with the view from the water (and ice cream from Lappert’s). 

  
We walked ten miles that day, so sleep was very welcome that night as well. 

That’s all for now. More to come!