Road Notes: Chinatown, Jade & a Three-Person Bowl of Soup 🥢🦊

Our next San Francisco adventure took us somewhere we’d been looking forward to exploring:

Chinatown. 🏮

And wow—there was so much to take in.

The neighborhood had an energy and character all its own, with restaurants, markets, shops and vendors lining the streets. It was really neat getting to experience a small glimpse of the food, traditions and history that have helped make San Francisco’s Chinatown what it is today.

And speaking of food…

There were restaurants everywhere, so many that deciding where to eat became an adventure all by itself. After looking around, we finally settled on Far East Seafood Restaurant.

The restaurant was beautiful and had a surprisingly fancy feel to it, and since I’ve been trying to introduce Bug to all kinds of different foods while we’re traveling, I decided we’d share some minced chicken and corn egg soup.

It sounded like a good plan.

The bowl was apparently meant to feed about three people.

No problem. Bug was going to help Mama.

Except Bug had other ideas. 😂

I gave him some to try and…

Yeah.

That didn’t go particularly well.

So there I sat with what was essentially a family-sized bowl of soup and apparently only one willing participant.

Me.

And you know what?

I ate the whole damn thing. 🤣

Thankfully, it was delicious! The flavor reminded me a lot of chicken and dumplings—just without the dumplings—and apparently that was enough motivation for me to accidentally eat soup for three.

Afterward, we spent some time walking around Chinatown and browsing the different shops and vendors.

There was SO much to look at.

I spotted several beautiful pieces of jade that definitely caught my eye, but many of the little shops were pretty tight inside.

Trying to maneuver Bug’s stroller through them would’ve been…

Well…

Like a bull in a china shop. 😂

So the jade stayed safely on the shelves, the merchandise survived our visit, and we continued wandering.

One of my favorite parts of traveling has been getting the chance to experience communities outside of what we’re familiar with—trying different foods, learning a little history, seeing different traditions and simply taking in places we might never have experienced if we’d stayed home.

Sometimes the adventure is a huge landmark or a national park.

Other times it’s walking through a historic neighborhood, trying something new for lunch and realizing you’ve somehow eaten enough soup for an entire table. 😂

Either way, it’s another experience added to the story.

Another neighborhood explored.

Another new food offered to Bug—even if he wasn’t quite ready to add this one to his favorites.

And another little piece of San Francisco added to Foxfire & Freeways. 🦊🧡

Now we’ll see where the road takes us next.

Preferably somewhere that serves soup in individual portions. 🤣

Until the next mile, keep the fire lit and the road calling. 🔥🛣️