April 2011 San Francisco vacation - Part 2

Previous San Francisco vacation posts

Part 1

Day 1: Sunday, April 10, 2011 (Part 2)

After McD's we just started walking with no real destination...it seems like you could walk blindly anywhere in downtown SF and get somewhere interesting...sure enough, we did. :)

We ended up at the Yerba Buena Gardens area.  There was a big grassy area with people just laying out, relaxing, and enjoying the sun.  The grassy area was surrounded by this backdrop of the gorgeous city, a church, buildings, and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial.

Here's Caydan (with a really cheesy smile) in front of the MLK Jr. waterfall area

And more of the MLK Jr Memorial

And this is the MLK Jr Memorial from the top of the waterfall with the city in the background....beautiful :) :)

Apparently I should have gone to the waterfall at nighttime with a tripod to take pictures of it, because the pics I saw online are all in the evening with the lighting behind and under the water - GORGEOUS pictures (here and here).

After the Yerba Buena Gardens, we ended up back on Market Street.  I have a thing for shopping malls, so when I saw the Westfield sign I made a beeline for it.  I'm a HUGE window shopper...I could walk around stores forever just looking around and in the windows...I never buy anything, I just like to see everything.  :)

This mall was beautiful!  It reminded me of one I've seen before, but I can't remember where it was....I'm thinking it was probably in NYC though....the mall is...I think 10 stories counting the underground level??  With the top 4 stories all being a Nordstrom's.  You just take the escalator up and all of a sudden you're inside Nordie's...complete with a cafe with a great view, personal stylist area, and all the other regular amenities that I know nothing about because I never shop there, lol.

I couldn't quite get the full height effect with the lens I had with me...I traveled light to SF with just my 50mm prime lens...not great for landscapes and stuff like this, but it weighs about half the weight of my larger lens!

And since many may know that I'm a HUGE Disney fan, I had to take a picture of this awesome It's A Small World display that was in the elevator bay going up to Nordstrom's

And a shot of the ceiliing in the Westfield center...absolutely beautiful mall!

More on my adventures tomorrow... :)