hillsborough is a neighbouring town of chapel hill and known for its historic connections with the american revolution. first we stopped by the saturday morning farmer’s market:

right next to the market was the “Occaneechi Village”, a replica of a native american village which lived in the hillsborough area before being displaced by settlers.

took a walk through town and passed by some historic homes, mainly from the 1800′s. some had famous ex-owners, for example we passed by the home (not the one in photo) of one of the signers of the declaration of independence!

downtown.

souvenir?

auntie helen bought everyone tickets to the stanley park christmas train. we made it for its last evening, and braved the rain for a fun time.

rebecca really wanted to “help” hold the umbrella

and we’re off!

lots to see

choo choooo!

a visit to vancouver always includes a visit to aberdeen… for my haircut! all the christmas decorations were out including pretty lights. i considered having rebecca take a picture with santa claus, but that day he was a young chinese santa, which was a bit too strange. even without a meeting with santa, i think somebody was happy!

the carolina inn is a historic hotel built in 1924 which was donated to the university.

The Inn is a beautiful and well-known icon on the UNC campus in downtown Chapel Hill that architecturally represents both the colonial and antebellum South.

they had an open house for the public to view its christmas decorations, inspired by “The Twelve Days of Christmas”. the big tree in the main hall was beautifully done.

for the “Twelve Lords A Leaping” station, the art piece featured well-known UNC basketball alumni, including #23 Michael Jordan.

there was also a small gingerbread house exhibit which was fun and delicious-looking.

we paid a visit to stanford university, which was only a short drive away in palo alto.

rodin sculpture garden

beautiful facade of the stanford memorial church

back at home, rebecca spent time with her cousins…

since we would be travelling the next day, derek and jennifer cooked a delicious early thanksgiving dinner! it was a blessing to be able to spend the holiday all together.

with joe finished with his conference, we had one day to do some sightseeing as a family. first we stopped by alamo square for a view of the famous “pink ladies”, a row of victorian houses, with the city in the background.

architecture was generally very interesting, especially when virtually everything is built on a hill.

driving down a VERY steep hill. kind of came out of nowhere!

then we were off to see the golden gate bridge. poor baby, she slept through all the excitement!

next stop was fisherman’s wharf where we had lunch with a view. fried oysters.

then a short walk to pier 39 for a view of the lazy sea lions and alcatraz (if you squint, you can see it on the island in the background!). so much to do, but so little time. we’ll have to come back one day for a proper visit.

it was time to go… drove to sunnyvale and checked into our hotel. then a yakitori dinner with the family. delicious and beautiful!

day three. while joe was still busy at the conference, rebecca and i were able to spend the day with our family. first we went to the beautiful japanese tea garden in golden gate park.

jadon checking out the coy fish.

i loved the beautiful trees.

then we went to the embarcadero where we enjoyed the view…

a lovely peruvian lunch (pic of derek’s meal)…

a quick stroll through the market…

before heading home.

the day wasn’t over yet though. joe and i had a surprise mini reunion over coffee with our old friends from chicago, orlia and debra!

day two. it was a rainy day in san fran, which was the perfect opportunity to go shopping. again, after a heroic effort getting on and off the bus with baby, stroller and stuff, i made it to the shopping district on market street. i would have liked to walk around a bit more, but time was limited, so i stuck with the westfield mall.

san fran trolley bus

lunch in the foodcourt

a good shopping day is always exhausting, n’est-ce pas?

we’ve been looking forward to this trip for a long time now. joe is attending the Society of Biblical Literature conference and since his brother and family live in the area, we’ve made it a family trip to San Francisco! the flight from north carolina was painfully long, but we all survived, eventhough we arrived way past everyone’s bedtimes.

while joe was off conferencing today , rebecca and i went exploring! i decided to check out the mission district, a latino neighbourhood, also known for its many wall art murals. by the time we got there via bus (my first time busing with baby in the stroller – let’s just say not the easiest way to travel when you’re in a crowded bus) it was time for lunch. i stumbled upon a local authentic-looking mexican tortas restaurant and had a (very authentic-tasting) pulled pork torta.

after lunch i walked down 24th street, down to Balmy Alley. Its website describes the block long alley as:

the best place to see the most concentrated collection of murals in San Francisco. The murals began in the mid-80′s as artists’ outrage over human rights and political abuses in Central America. Today the alley contains murals on a myriad of styles and subjects from human rights to local gentrification and Hurricane Katrina

there where murals everywhere, not just in the alley. here are a few shots from around the mission neighbourhood:

here are a few pics from around the university of north carolina.

the school is really old…

students traditionally earn good luck when they drink from The Old Well on the first day of classes.