My California Experience

For years I have been wanting to go to California and experience the West Coast. The opportunity finally presented itself last week when I attended a college journalism convention in San Francisco! A fully paid for trip through my school...I couldn't miss it.

If you are thinking about planning a trip to San Francisco or California in general, I highly recommend it. Keep reading to get some tips and my favorite parts of the trip!

Philz Coffee

I watch a lot of YouTube so I had heard of Philz Coffee from a youtuber, Emma Chamberlain. She is constantly drinking coffee, Philz specifically, so I trusted her recommendation. When I got there I was a little overwhelmed because I had no idea what to order so I figured I would ask the barista what her favorite drink is. She told me she mixes two coffees together and calls it "Oatmeal Cookie" because it tastes exactly like an oatmeal cookie. It was creamy and sweet...I was hooked. I ended up going to Philz every morning we were there because of how much I loved it!

Oracle Park

On our first day there a group of us decided to tour Oracle Park, which is the baseball stadium where the San Francisco Giants play. They are currently redoing all the grass on the field and doing a lot of renovations to the stadium so there was a lot of action going on while we were there. We got to see the visiting teams locker room, the batting cages, we got to sit in the dugout, we walked on the field, and we got to sit in the press box. This was a really cool behind the scenes experience and I'm glad we did it!

In n Out

There is so much hype surrounding In n Out burgers, so I had to finally try it out for myself. The burger was comparable to a Shake Shack burger, but was much bigger. I got fried onions on my burger which I think was a nice touch. The fries were eh. After eating there I got recommendations from our Uber driver to order the fries extra crispy, which I think would've made them better. Overall, the burger was pretty good. Not sure if it was as amazing and life changing as people say, but definitely worth a try!

Fisherman's Wharf

Fisherman's Wharf seemed like the tourist hub of San Francisco. There were a bunch of restaurants and souvenir shops. This is also where the sea lions are, which was my favorite part about it. It was pretty crowded and honestly kind of like a huge boardwalk. It was still cool to experience, but it wasn't what I expected. If you want to see sea lions and get souvenir's then definitely take the trip to Fisherman's Wharf.

Golden Gate Bridge

This was honestly my favorite part of the trip. We Ubered to the Golden Gate Bridge Welcome Center. As we drove up, the view was breathtaking. I couldn't believe I was finally seeing the bridge in person. It was much bigger than I thought. It was a little chilly and VERY windy, but we still got some nice pictures. There was a souvenir shop near the Welcome Center that we went in to warm up as we waited for our Uber back to the hotel. If you are thinking about taking a trip to see the Golden Gate Bridge, I highly recommend it. It should be on top of your list of things to see.

If I were to go back I would love to tour Alcatraz and see the Full House house. I absolutely loved San Francisco and hope to go back soon!