Family Fun in San Francisco

Amy and her boyfriend Aditya flew out from New York City, joining Danny and Mei and Steve and me for a fun-filled weekend.

On Friday, we played at Activate, a collection of game rooms with an intriguing mix of physical and mental challenges. We laughed (and sweated) a lot, and had a blast! My favorites were Laser Stealth, where we had to step over and crawl under laser beams, and Grid, where we had to run around the room, stepping on or avoiding tiles of certain colors, “the floor is lava” style.

We had a tasty dinner in Noe Valley, at a global fusion place called Ingredients.

On Saturday, we had a dim sum feast at Yank Sing and wandered through the Ferry Building Marketplace.

That evening, we toured Alcatraz, which Danny and Amy vaguely remembered seeing on a family vacation way back in 2009. The windy boat ride offered wonderful views of the city and the bridges. As we walked through the prison, I tried to imagine how it felt to live in that cold, forbidding place. The stories about daily life at and prisoner escapes were fascinating. Surely Alcatraz Island is the most unusual of the National Parks.

Afterward we had a late dinner at our condo. Danny and Mei had food delivered - something they are quite expert at - and we feasted on a wide variety of excellent Italian dishes from Delarosa.

On Sunday, Aditya and Amy took us to Al Carajo in the Mission for their iconic breakfast burritos, which totally lived up to the hype. YUM! We spent the afternoon at Danny and Mei’s place, where we played video games (Mario Kart and Mario Party) and talked about Danny and Mei’s upcoming adventure. In two weeks, they’re going to Burning Man with friends in an RV!

It was a weekend of good food, games, and laid back afternoons, with a bit of legendary San Francisco history for good measure. It’s always a huge treat to spend time with our kids!