grand view park + mosaic steps
last saturday we woke up feeling like brunch…
but we knew we hadn’t earned it quite yet :)
so, we worked our appetites up by biking
to grand view park to see a new {incredible}
view of the whole city, and to see the artsy
16th street mosaic steps right on the other side
of the park. we picked a beautiful day for this
outing, we could see 360 degrees around the city!
i face-timed everyone i knew to show them this view, ha.
when we have a free weekend i have 2 goals:
to see something new & eat somewhere new.
check & check ✓✓
(luckily, in this city those things are always possible!)
it’s easy to fall into comfort zones…AKA ours would be:
waking up late, having a smoothie, eating at our
favorite brunch spot {farm:table}, running our favorite
familiar route along the embarcadero, & ending at
the ferry building for lunch and farmers market samples.
that is a great saturday to us! but, part of the reason
i love living in this big city is that we get to know it
so well and there is ALWAYS more to see. the ins and
outs, the unique finds, the unknown areas, the places
that are off-the-beaten-path that we’ve never made it to.
that is why i force us to get up and act like tourists
in our own city. as much as i love familiar favorite
things, i love nothing more that seeing something new.
it’s what keeps me going and makes me feel most
happy and alive. this is also why i love travel so much:
it’s endless exploration and experiencing of new things.
there’s no better feeling in the world in my book!
sure, the bike ride may have been a little bit longer
and steeper than expected, and we may have gotten
a little bit lost in golden gate park when we rode
through a big soccer game (oops).. and we may have
gone up some extra hills trying to find those famous
mosaic steps…but that’s the fun of it all! getting lost in
your own city — going and exploring — seeing new
things and connecting more to the place you live.
okay, off my soapbox. you know how i feel :)
hello, city in the distance! we live right
among those tall buildings, so you can
see how far we biked. you cannot see
the hills because we are standing on TOP
of them! :) there’s nothing like a good
view to make you appreciate where you live.
and, these famous mosaic steps. they are designed
to represent the sea —> to the sky from top to
bottom. they are so detailed + amazing.
if you go, be aware that these steps are one street
over from the stairs up to the park…go down and
over to 16th street and you’ll find them! (we
just had to walk up and down a few hills before
we realized where they were … sorry husband!)
after we had seen it all, it was back down
those hills we had worked so hard to come up,
with a few stops along the way at favorite spots.
{hi, painted ladies!!}
^^ i mean, that view!
I just loved this post= sooo important to explore your own city I agree :) I try to do something new every week here in Salt Lake and try to go somewhere new every wednesday to eat, and a new hike every weekend. Never ending here as well! Lovely post!
Those stairs are so beautiful- thanks for sharing Em!
Katie @ http://www.runningaragnar.com
you do the best job of this and i love watching you discover salt lake piece by piece…and find new places for me to explore when i go back! :)
Wow what a cool place!
We have two free weekends coming up, and I have been so tempted to use them to just sit around and do nothing. But you have inspired me to do something in the city! We live 5 minutes from D.C., and there is so much that we say we want to see and do. We just need to go out and do it!
:) this makes me so happy! also jealous because we ADORE DC from both living there. love that you live so close. PLEASE go to eastern market on capitol hill and have bluebucks for breakfast for me! if you need any other ideas here are all of our favorites! :) http://welltraveledwife.com/2013/03/guide-to-washington-dc.html
xoxoxo
I loved reading about this particular adventure! I want to get out and explore where we live too. You don’t happen to have a guide to Salt Lake City on this here blog do you?
we sure do! i need to update it, it’s basic just with our very favorites but i will have to add some hidden gems soon :) here you are though!
http://welltraveledwife.com/2012/12/c-guide-to-slc.html
I love that you guys “earned” your brunch!
I totally agree, one of the perks of living in a huge city is that there’s always something new to do. Beautiful mosaic steps and great pictures! :)
agreed! love your blog name, endless postcards :)
and thanks, these were all from my phone since we were biking but luckily the iphone does pretty well in a pinch!
I’m from San Francisco (well, Marin, technically) and I love doing all the secret stair walks!
– Ava
beck daily
I think living like a tourist in your own city is the best. You’ll never get bored if you’re constantly finding new things/places to try! Those steps are absolutely gorgeous, by the way.
That view + those steps! Totally worth getting a tad lost.
20somethingfashion.blogspot.com
San Francisco has to be one of the best cities in the world. Those steps are so beautiful and that view too! And I definitely can relate to having a favorite weekend routine that is hard to break (because it’s so good!), but getting out and seeing something new is much more rewarding! Glad I found your blog :)
so lucky you guys live there. it looks so pretty