The small willow grove surprises

SHORT my stay may be in this wonderful city of San Francisco, the fleeting motion that's faster than the speed of light left me not enough time to cherish what has been afforded me on this stop.

The case of "the more, the merrier" will never appealing when it comes to traveling, this is after all a leisure trip and not a business one.

I find it best to take it slow, wander and get lost in the towns that I get to visit. This is when you discover the details that makes the area most interesting, things you never notice when in a hurried pace.

When you are with a seasoned traveler like my host Recho B., he knew where to take me and said we will be having lunch at this place and we will take our time and enjoy the day. Perfect! It's my kind of thing.

It was still a perfect "tourist day" with rides on the famous tram traversing down the San Francisco hill down to the pier we all know as the Port of San Francisco, our jump-off point to Sausalito, our destination for the day.

The quick ferry ride was quick and provided a great view of the two great bridges of the area plus another tourist destination, the Alcatraz.

But what made me really excited was the site of our destination, houses on the hill, first-class restaurants on stilts, the famous houseboats along the shoreline, small souvenir shops, inns and hotels that line the two lane street.

Sausalito is like a quaint so European waterfront community devoid of clutter and bustle of a city. It is so quiet and beautiful!

Sausalito, which means "a small willow grove" in Spanish, boasts of its place as a lifestyle more than a destination with unforgettable picture perfect and breathtaking views. And indeed they have this bragging right.

It is unbelievable how this place with such an old world feel can exist within a few minutes from the metropolitan life of downtown San Francisco.

Traverse the bay by ferry or take your car via the Golden Gate Bridge will take you to the Marin County in no time. And here your adventure starts on land or sea. Biking, hiking or boating, Sausalito offers the most scenic settings that made cinematic scenes even more memorable.

Lunch was at a famous restaurant by the bay, the Horizons Restaurant.

It was too cold to dine al fresco by the deck but we got a good sunny spot by the window that offers the same great view- Angel Island, the Bay Bridge, Alcatraz and the San Francisco skyline were the amazing backdrops of the bay.

A hearty and no hurried meal was just divine and the absence of rushing to a next must-see spot was perfect. I owned the day!

Missing our scheduled ferry was good news. It was a chance to explore more of this place. A lazy stroll along Bridgeway, Princess or Caledonia Street, window shopping and getting to enjoy a hot cup of coffee on a breezy day while Recho sipped his red wine while people watching and see an occasional car pass by us while we enjoyed the afternoon not noticing time ticking by on a side-walk cafe called Piccolo Teatro.

An entire day in Sausalito was just what a rushed tourist like me needed. But given the chance, I could spend a lifetime here. Sausalito somehow gives you a feeling that the locals enjoy a quality of life that tend to be absent in a big city. Yes, this is a nice place to spend the rest of your life in.

The blare of the ferry’s horn shook me from my reverie and signaled me that it’s time to head home. As much as I hated to go, I had no choice. In the places I have visited in San Francisco, I will honestly say that Sausalito is one place that I will go back to visit again.

This "small willow grove" is just a so picture-perfect and it's nothing but small but big and abundant in so many ways.

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