Engagement Trip to San Francisco

Since we got engaged while on vacation and decided to have a destination wedding, it seemed only fitting that we also take a trip to celebrate our engagement and have our engagement photos taken. It'd been a few years since we'd been back to the area of California I grew up, it's one of our favorite places to visit and with all of the fabulous tiki is has to offer, we knew we wanted to take our engagement trip to San Francisco.  This was our third trip to San Francisco together, so we didn't take as many photos as we'd usually take, but hope you enjoy what we did capture. Well, of course, besides all of those hundreds of engagement photos we took!


Our first stop after arriving in the Bay Area was to go straight to Trader Vic's Corporate.  We picked up a few supplies for our Portland reception and also to see some great tiki items in the works. Two of the other huge tikis that are to be used outside of Trader Vic's Portland were on location and we thoroughly enjoyed being able to check them out.  They are going to look great once they are in place at our neighborhood Trader Vic's!

It's easy to miss Trader Vic's Corporate if you don't know what to look for!

All wrapped up and ready for Portland!

After we got all of our supplies and had a nice visit, we headed over to Trader Vic's Emeryville for happy hour and dinner. We had only ever had lunch at this location so we were really looking forward to the dinner experience, checking-out the remodel, to see our friend, John, the manager of Trader Vic's and meeting my girlfriend, who I hadn't seen in about five years, Mira, there. Trader Vic's Emeryville was everything we remembered and the service top notch! Thanks to Trader Vic's Emeryville for such a great night!

Above the bar.

Best seat in the bar!

A few days later we would return to this same spot to take some of our engagement photos. 

Trader Vic's is so sweet! They set the table special for us with orchids and ti leafs! 

Enjoying dinner with Mira. 

Besides taking our engagement photos and visiting Trader Vic's, we were able to fit in a bit of other fun on our trip, as well. We went over to Santa Cruz for a day where we got in a little vintage shopping and visited Hula's Island Grill.  I am sad to report that since Hula's switched ownership, it's just not the same.  Recipes have changed, the Painkiller was a mess and the Munktiki mugs have been taken down.  We were pretty disappointed in all of it.

Loved this old drive-in we passed along the way. 

Big huge beautiful hibiscus in Santa Cruz.

Can you believe that this is a carved watermelon? 

On Sunday morning we headed over to San Francisco to try and meet up with Amanda's aunt, uncle and cousins. Wires got a bit crossed and we ended up not meeting up with them until much later. Instead we checked out Ghirardelli Square, hit Kara's Cupcakes and had breakfast at one of our favorites, Mel's Drive-In. We also finally got to meet up with everyone while there.  It was a very quick, but happy visit!

We brought lots of chocolate home for our friends and family!

Sweet mermaid fountain at Ghirardelli Square. 

Luck would have it while we were in the Bay Area, Forbidden Island tiki bar was also having their annual parking lot sale.  We picked up a great tiki bar sign from Tiki Tony and two great wall carvings from Lake Tiki. We can't wait to put both of them up in our home tiki bar! We would have liked to get even more, but we had to make sure we could get everything home in our bags.

The racks on top of Tiki Tony's car. 

Forbidden Island's annual parking lot sale.

After finishing up our second day of taking engagement photos, we headed over to the Tonga Room for dinner and dancing. We'd only ever been there before for happy hour and wanted to be able to have a different experience this time. Regardless, of what time you go, it's really all about the rain show that happens every hour.  But, the live music was a nice change and lot of fun. 

This is my sad little Tonga Room mug I got to take home. 

Can you see the rain hitting the water? 

Who knew there were still phone booths around?

Our last stop before heading back to Portland was lunch at In n Out Burger! Always a must when we are in Cali. 

All photos are personal photos and cannot be used without permission. 


Did you go on any trips to celebrate your engagement and/or take your engagement photos out of town?