Merry Christmas Eve! My family and I are getting ready to head out to my Grandmother’s, but first I wanted to share some photos from yesterday when my mom and I spent the day in San Francisco doing last minute Christmas activities! Even though I’m from the Bay Area and have been living in San Francisco for over a year, I had yet to truly experience the holidays in the city. It did not disappoint!
Union Square
Most of the decorations and activities in the city can be found around Union Square. We started at the giant Christmas tree and then watched the ice skaters whirl around the nearby rink. I was not brave enough to join in, but maybe next year haha. From here, we checked out the displays in the department store windows. The highlight of course being the adoptable puppies and kittens in the Macy’s windows put on by the SPCA. Anyone else agree that they should make this a year-round display?!
Since we were already at Macy’s, we decided we had to pop in for some last minute Christmas shopping, and did not leave empty handed…
The Palace Hotel
Our next destination was to the Palace Hotel to see their Christmas display, which was beautiful! They had lovely live music and nicely dressed Christmas trees to admire (in addition to their stunning chandeliers!) – a perfect spot for an afternoon cocktail! We didn’t have time to grab a drink, but are putting this on our list for next year.
The Fairmont
Then our final stop of the day, was to the Fairmont to see their gingerbread house. We were really excited about it as the entire thing is literally made out of gingerbread and you can walk through it. In all honesty, it did not meet our expectations as it was so crowded! I knew it was popular, but we were not expecting the mob scene that greeted us. The line to enter literally wrapped around the lobby – no thanks! We took a few photos but elected not to wait in line – we’ll have to come back next year at hopefully a less crowded time!
Are there other must-do Christmas activities in the city that I’m forgetting?
