Lucia's First Weekend Trip

I think we have a city girl. We took Lucia to San Francisco this weekend for Valentine’s Day—her first taste of a big city, and our first weekend trip with baby in tow. It was a rousing success, and Lucia seemed to love it. We drove down Saturday morning through thick fog, which cleared once we were in the city. It was a beautiful day, warm and sunny, and instead of going right to our hotel we decided to explore the Marina neighborhood and have lunch. Lucia napped almost the entire way down, then began screaming as we searched for a parking place. When we found one, I nursed her in the car, and then we found an outdoor table at a deli and had sandwiches. Then we walked around, enjoying the city atmosphere, passing countless other babies in strollers and generally feeling like we were back where we belonged. It was wonderful.

Next we drove down to the water and walked around a bit. I nursed Lucia again as we looked out at the boats; then we took a long walk toward the Golden Gate Bridge. There’s something about successfully nursing my baby on the go that makes me feel powerful—as though I can go anywhere, do anything. I’m not sure why. But it was so satisfying to be able to do this. Lucia’s not the most reliable nurser—it’s anyone’s guess if she’ll nurse with gusto or decide at that minute to start a mini-strike—but all the breastfeeding stars aligned this weekend, and it was perfect.



Determined to enjoy a meal at our favorite restaurant, the Nob Hill Café, we drove from the Marina to Nob Hill and killed an hour playing in the park and walking around, daydreaming about living in one of the charming apartments on Taylor Street. We put Lucia in her Baby Bjorn—facing outward for the first time—and she couldn’t have been happier. We’d planned to get dinner to go and eat it either in Huntington Park or back at the hotel—but we decided to tempt fate and eat right there, with Lucia. It was our first dinner out with her, and she couldn’t have been a better baby. She sat peacefully for a while in her stoller, then fell asleep, waking only when we finished the last bites of our meal. We almost felt like real human beings again, enjoying a Valentine’s Day dinner in a cozy, candlelit restaurant—albeit at the baby-friendly hour of 5pm.



By the time we checked into our hotel in Union Square, it was nearly bedtime. First, though, Lucia and I waited in the lobby while Andrew went to park the car. Here, Lucia really came into her own. We sat on an ottoman in the center of the bustling lobby, doing our favorite routine—“Who’s standing?! Who’s standing?!” as I bounced Lucia on her babyfeet. She smiled and squealed and failed to use her “indoor raptor voice,” attracting attention and oh, what a cute baby! smiles from everyone nearby. And she was well aware of the attention, lapping it up, clearly relieved to be seeing people besides Andrew and me for once.

Bedtime was easy and swift—a baby spa (bath) in the sink, a nice warmed bottle of breastmilk, some rocking, and then a pleasant drifting off to sleep in the darkened room. While she slept, Andrew went out and got us some junk food from a convenience store, which we ate in one of the two double beds while watching the Olympics at a low volume. Then we left the crumbs behind and slept in the other bed. This constituted a big night out for us. And we had a really good time.

Sunday, awakened by Lucia at the early hour of 6:30am, Andrew took Lucia out in the Bjorn to get pastries for us. Then we attempted naptime (limited success), and then checked out and walked to the Ferry Building for lunch at Taylor’s, emboldened by our successful dining-out experience from the night before. Alas, it was not to be, and we had to tag-team our lunch while taking an insanely fussy Lucia away from the other diners. We were sitting outside and it was really sunny, which I think made her uncomfortable. Sensitive little baby!

Eventually, it was time to head home. We were tired but happy—happy that Lucia liked the city, happy to have gotten back to SF after almost five months away, happy to have managed a weekend trip at all.