I’ve dreamed of visiting San Francisco for years. In my head, it’s this powerhouse spot on the west coast. A dream, a place of connection, great culture and food. Johnny has been countless times for work but hasn’t really gotten to explore the city too much. Even though I only spent half a day in San Francisco, I’m absolutely smitten and cannot wait to go back! Our main destination for this weekend trip was Sacramento for our friend Taylor’s wedding. I’ve gotten lots of questions about what we did this trip, so I’m bringing to you my quick weekend San Francisco and Sacramento Travel Guide! I hope to one day bring you a more in-depth guide, but since we only had a fast weekend, here we go!

If you enjoy videos, Johnny and I are really taking our YouTube channel seriously! We’d love it if you checked out the video version of our San Francisco and Sacramento travel guide. Please give us a thumbs up and leave a comment if you enjoy!

SAN FRANCISCO

What to Eat/Drink

Sunday at the Museum

Easily, my favorite meal of this trip, but I might not have much to go on since we only ate at two restaurants, ha! Sunday at the Museum is the brainchild of Chef Deuki Hong and Boba Guys founders Andrew Chau and Bin Chen. The menu boasts snacks, sandwiches, shareable plates, appetizers and drinks. We got the Miso Avocado Toast, Rice plate with shrimp, kimchi fries and a matcha latte with oat milk. The avocado toast was by far my favorite! I normally do not buy avocado toast, but after seeing Maia and Alex Shibutani feature it on their Instagram, I had to have it and it was divine!

Boba Guys

I have been dreaming of having Boba Guys for years. That is not an exaggeration! My wish finally came true with my first trip the Bay Area. A San Francisco and Sacramento Travel Guide wouldn’t be complete without a trip here. There are seven locations in San Francisco and Boba Guys is also served at Sunday at the Museum. If you are new to bubble tea, I recommend the matcha latte, Thai tea or coffee milk tea. The first is my favorite. Johnny and I actually got two of these! So delicious. I’m already missing it.

Escape at NY Pizza

We literally ate here so fast and were so hungry, we took zero photos. So unlike us and I deeply apologize. Johnny was first introduced to this pizza joint by friends on one of his previous trips. We both got a slice of the ‘You Say Potato,’ which has sliced and roasted potatoes with roasted garlic cloves and pesto sauce. Sounds kinda weird, but tastes absolutely delicious!

What to Do/See/Visit

Golden Gate Bridge

Of course, I can’t write a San Francisco & Sacramento Travel Guide without including the Golden Gate Bridge. I did a lot of investigating on Instagram to try and find the best possible angles. We recommend parking at the Golden Gate Bridge Welcome Center and taking a few photos off the photo area they have there. Then, I recommend walking under the bridge to the other side where you’ll see a parking lot. Keep going and you’ll most likely see some folks on higher ground. You’ll have to follow the path, then climb up a ladder, but that’ll take you to where we took these scenic shots. You want to be in the area of Battery Marcus Miller. Please be careful, it’s extremely windy and there are no rails or safety measures, so if you aren’t paying attention and wander too close to the edge, you could fall.

Pacific Heights

An affluent neighborhood in San Francisco, Pacific Heights is sure to impress and take your breath away. The regal mansions are simply stunning and have whimsical landscaping. I’m pretty sure I am in love with every single house there. Park your car and take a nice walk. It’s sure to give your glutes and calves a nice burn but also make your eyes happy with all the pretty views. This prim and proper neighborhood has that old-world feel with lots of exquisite architectural details. The streets are quiet and there is some renovation going on, but that’s to be expected with houses of this age.

Palace of Fine Arts Theatre

On our way to the Golden Gate Bridge, we swung by the Palace of Fine Arts. In the Marina District, it’s easily recognizable by its impressive structure. Unfortunately, we didn’t have a lot of time, so we snapped a few photos, walked around for a bit, then headed on our way. I wish we had more time to soak up the beauty and to see more of the details up close. Online reviews say this spot is unbelievable at night.

UC Berkeley

This was our last stop in the Bay Area as we started our drive into Sacramento. When researching universities, Berkeley was one of my top choices because of the journalism program. A younger version of me dreamed of going to Yale so I could skate at their ice rink affectionately known as ‘The Whale’ but since skating wasn’t such a huge part of my life anymore, my priorities had to change. My figure skating coach had mentioned Berkeley and while the journalism program drew me in, it didn’t end up being the place for me. Long story short, I got accepted into another university in California but decided the University of Texas was the right choice for me. I’m so proud to be a Texas Longhorn! However, it was very nice to swing by Berkeley, so I’m adding it to my San Francisco and Sacramento travel guide. It is a gorgeous campus, too!

SACRAMENTO

What to Eat/Drink

Bacon & Butter

Shoutout to all of my amazing readers for your recommendations! Bacon & Butter was one of the most named, so we knew we had to eat here! We arrived around 9:30 a.m. and were quoted for a 30-minute wait. However, we waited about an hour. It was 100 percent worth the wait! We were joined by my friend Catherine, who was the evening anchor at NBC Nebraska. I got the bacon, biscuits and gravy. Johnny got the wet biscuit sandwich and Catherine ordered the grilled cheese benedict. All of us were more than happy with our food!

Sharetea

I was clearly craving boba on this trip and with Boba Guys hours away, we all went to Sharetea. I got the taro and it was quite good. Not as good as the taro from Gong Cha in Seoul, but still good. If you’re in Sacramento, I would recommend this for your boba needs.

What to Do/See/Visit

Capitol Building

We were in town the same weekend as the Amgen Tour, so getting to the capitol was incredibly tricky! However, it was so worth it because it’s such a gorgeous building. Unfortunately, since we were there on the weekend, we didn’t get to go inside.

Old Downtown Sacramento

You can see more of this in my VLOG up above, but this was our favorite spot in Sacramento! So much charm, good company and lots of cute little shops. Plus, down by the water, there are sea lions! We enjoyed walking along the historic streets, peeking into shops (there’s a candy store Johnny really wanted to go into) and taking in the view of the river! If you get hungry, Rio City Cafe was packed and the food smelled divine as we walked by.

Folsom Lake

This was literally the least amount of time we have ever spent at a body of water in our lives. However, we really wanted to see this, so we crammed it into our itinerary Saturday afternoon before the wedding. It’s part of the state park, so you pay to get in and park your car. A lot of people were there enjoying the beautiful weather in swimsuits and getting in the water. If you have more time, we definitely recommend this as part of our San Francisco and Sacramento travel guide! Bring some snacks and enjoy the outdoors.

Recommendations

I got a ton of recommendations from y’all and obviously couldn’t make them all. Many of my readers were asking for the fully compiled list, so here it is! We hope to hit many of these next time and add them to ourSan Francisco and Sacramento travel guide!

San Francisco:

• Tin Vietnamese Cuisine
• Sweep Maple
• Little Sheep
• Hong Kong Lounge
• Uji Time
• The Bird
• Sidekick Cafe & Milk Bar
• Mr. Holmes Bakehouse

Sacramento:

• Ella
• Mulvaney’s
• The Waterboy
• Echo & Rig Steakhouse

I hope you enjoyed our San Francisco and Sacramento Travel Guide! I hope to go back soon and spend more time in San Francisco. If you have any San Fran recommendations, I would love to hear them for next time!