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happy holiYays!
Being so close to San Francisco, it is easy to drive right into the city to explore, but parking can often be challenging to find and/or expensive, so we decided to take the Caltrain into the city while the rest of our cast drove 6 hours to Disneyland.
We started the day off at Pier 39 to see the sea lions, eat some sourdough pizza at Boudin, and see the sights.
Just a small walk away is the Fisherman's Wharf, where we found Musee Mecanique, the penny arcade, where the Queen herself, Julie Andrews, arm wrestles and enjoys her first corndog in the film this blog receives its name from, The Princess Diaries.
The arcade was eerie and so neat at the same time, but it was a total must see. I also enjoyed seeing the Fisherman's Wharf sign because it reminds me of multiple theme parks like California Adventure and Universal Studios in Orlando where parts of the park are designed after this area.
Also nearby is also the Ghiradelli factory, pumping the beautiful smell of chocolate into the air.
My absolutely, hands-down favorite part of the day was riding the cable car trolley from the pier to Chinatown. The trolley has a break system, but when going downhill, you just free fall, and it's the most thrilling and terrifying experience ever.
Chinatown's in every city are my absolute favorite to visit because they remind me of my second home in Hong Kong, but Chinatown in SF was a quick stop, but of course we had time for a bakery stop.
Getting home that night we were just in time for Stephanie to introduce us to the first night of Hanukkah (where we even got presents!).
Celebrating Christmas with this cast has been an absolute blast. Not only is Christmas music playing constantly, we also decorated Christmas cookies and even found a Belle Christmas castle to decorate too.
I had another chance to spread some Christmas cheer with another familiar face from my past, along with Magical Fairytale Parties and Erin from our Cool Yule cast.
With 2 cast members birthdays coming up, we used the Disney birthday inspiration to surprise Stephanie and Chris with Disney themed scavenger hunt. They met up with Sorcerer Mickey (Kevin) who explained the hunt to them and led them to their next few clues where Ariel awaited them in the hot tub. They then had to walk to Safeway where they met Belle (Anna), and on to Trader Joes to meet Cobra Bubbles (Julian) from Lilo & Stitch, Groot (Cheyenne) at McDonalds, and a few other small stops along the way. The clues were very complex, but the two did a great job figuring it all out, thanks to the help from their Coachmen (Aaron).
We all had the best time putting it together and celebrating with a big pizza party after. Happy Birthday Chris and Steph!
Our final group activity was visiting the Winchester Mystery House, a San Jose favorite. Sarah Winchester lost her child, husband, and other family members all within the same year to various causes, and in her state of mourning visited a medium. The medium claimed that she should leave her home in New Haven and travel West, where she must continuously build a home for herself and the spirits of people who had fallen victim to Winchester Rifles. In 1884, Sarah purchased an unfinished farmhouse and began building her mansion. Carpenters were hired and worked on the house day and night until it became a seven-story mansion. She did not use an architect and added on to the building in a haphazard fashion, so the home contains numerous oddities such as doors and stairs that go nowhere, windows overlooking other rooms and stairs with odd-sized risers.
Sarah was 4ft 10in, so I was afraid I was going to hit my head in a few different locations inside the house, but I loved some of the architecture. We were not allowed to take any photos inside the house, so here is a few Google photos of some of these oddities.
Our next day off Mike will be here! I am so excited I can hardly contain it, but until then, Merry Christmas everyone and have a safe holiday!
We started the day off at Pier 39 to see the sea lions, eat some sourdough pizza at Boudin, and see the sights.
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| be sure to check out the super cute animal shaped bread at Boudin |
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| I could not stop watching the sea lions, they were so interesting! |
Just a small walk away is the Fisherman's Wharf, where we found Musee Mecanique, the penny arcade, where the Queen herself, Julie Andrews, arm wrestles and enjoys her first corndog in the film this blog receives its name from, The Princess Diaries.
The arcade was eerie and so neat at the same time, but it was a total must see. I also enjoyed seeing the Fisherman's Wharf sign because it reminds me of multiple theme parks like California Adventure and Universal Studios in Orlando where parts of the park are designed after this area.
Also nearby is also the Ghiradelli factory, pumping the beautiful smell of chocolate into the air.
My absolutely, hands-down favorite part of the day was riding the cable car trolley from the pier to Chinatown. The trolley has a break system, but when going downhill, you just free fall, and it's the most thrilling and terrifying experience ever.
Chinatown's in every city are my absolute favorite to visit because they remind me of my second home in Hong Kong, but Chinatown in SF was a quick stop, but of course we had time for a bakery stop.
Getting home that night we were just in time for Stephanie to introduce us to the first night of Hanukkah (where we even got presents!).
Celebrating Christmas with this cast has been an absolute blast. Not only is Christmas music playing constantly, we also decorated Christmas cookies and even found a Belle Christmas castle to decorate too.
 |
| our show in a Christmas cookie! |
I had another chance to spread some Christmas cheer with another familiar face from my past, along with Magical Fairytale Parties and Erin from our Cool Yule cast.
With 2 cast members birthdays coming up, we used the Disney birthday inspiration to surprise Stephanie and Chris with Disney themed scavenger hunt. They met up with Sorcerer Mickey (Kevin) who explained the hunt to them and led them to their next few clues where Ariel awaited them in the hot tub. They then had to walk to Safeway where they met Belle (Anna), and on to Trader Joes to meet Cobra Bubbles (Julian) from Lilo & Stitch, Groot (Cheyenne) at McDonalds, and a few other small stops along the way. The clues were very complex, but the two did a great job figuring it all out, thanks to the help from their Coachmen (Aaron).
 |
| The birthday kids completing their task of searching for the key in Ariel's grotto |
Our final group activity was visiting the Winchester Mystery House, a San Jose favorite. Sarah Winchester lost her child, husband, and other family members all within the same year to various causes, and in her state of mourning visited a medium. The medium claimed that she should leave her home in New Haven and travel West, where she must continuously build a home for herself and the spirits of people who had fallen victim to Winchester Rifles. In 1884, Sarah purchased an unfinished farmhouse and began building her mansion. Carpenters were hired and worked on the house day and night until it became a seven-story mansion. She did not use an architect and added on to the building in a haphazard fashion, so the home contains numerous oddities such as doors and stairs that go nowhere, windows overlooking other rooms and stairs with odd-sized risers.
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| door to nowhere |
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| stairs to the ceiling |
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| a door dropping into the kitchen |
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| window in the floor |
You will have a chance to experience the Winchester Mansion yourself when the movie comes out in February! Watch the trailer for the upcoming Winchester House movie here!
Our next day off Mike will be here! I am so excited I can hardly contain it, but until then, Merry Christmas everyone and have a safe holiday!
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