San Rafael Our First City in Travel Nursing

San Rafael – Travel Nursing

Welcome to San Rafael: Our First City in Travel Nursing. Our travel nursing adventure has officially begun! We are finally on our first 13-week assignment in our first city: San Rafael, California!

Getting adjusted to our surroundings takes time when moving to a new city. And San Rafael is a new place, yet it’s sort of familiar since Lynda grew up close by, plus I worked here in the Bay area for a bit in the 80s and 90s.

So far, the weather is definitely a perk to living in San Rafael. We’re so happy to see the warm, sunny skies – especially after the cold, rainy days we spent passing through Oregon.

And thanks to the great weather, it didn’t take long for us to start exploring our new city and venturing off to some great new places. But first things first – and that means getting to know San Rafael, our new home base.

4 Things to do in San Rafael

There is no shortage of things to do that keep us busy when we’re not working.

San Rafael has lots of museums, parks, shops, and restaurants, but the main attractions are Main Street or 4th Street in Downtown Rafael, the Mission San Rafael, and the Marin Famer’s Market at the Marin Civic Center.

Main Street, San Rafael There’s no doubt about it; San Rafael is about as charming as it gets. But, one of its greatest assets is the Main Street area (along 4th street), with plenty of shops and restaurants to explore. And we certainly can’t complain that it’s within walking distance of where we live.

Mission San Rafael

It’s probably not too surprising at all that the first place we wanted to see was Mission San Rafael. It’s named after Saint Rafael, the healer.

It has a beautiful façade but not a whole lot to see other than the church, which was rebuilt in 1949. And there’s a gift shop.

But maybe I’m a little jaded since I grew up in San Juan Capistrano, where we also have a mission that offers lots of things to see and do. So, my standards are based on that.

Tip: I found the vegetables to be a little overpriced. But, you can get around that if you wait to shop until about 30 minutes prior to closing. You can do some haggling then! The vendors don’t usually want to haul their produce back out and would rather just sell it. So, you’re in a good position to ask for a discount. We were able to buy 4 items for 5 bucks and came home with some great veggies on the cheap.

Another Tip: If you like Architecture, come back during the week! The Marin Civic Center was one of Frank Lloyd Wright’s last projects. When you don’t have your hands full of groceries, there is a decent private tour worth checking out. It costs $10 for adults and $7 for children, and this is the form you’ll need to fill out to reserve your spot.

4th Street, Downtown San Rafael

Next on the list is 4th Street, also known as Main Street in Downtown San Rafael. It’s the place to find everything from vintage records to bike shops (my favorite).

And definitely don’t forget that this is where many of the hip and cool vibe restaurants are. We plan to try at least once every week. The first stop was a quick bite at Wrap & Kabab Café.

Day Trips from San Rafael

As I mentioned earlier, San Rafael is a nice place to be because it has plenty of its own attractions, but it’s also near many other interesting places.

It’s very easy to head into “the city,” aka San Francisco, to see things like the Golden Gate Bridge and Fisherman’s Wharf. Plus, there are lots of little places like Tiburon, between San Rafael and San Francisco.

San Francisco

We couldn’t wait to head into our neighboring big city, San Francisco. It’s our favorite city and is extra meaningful for us. Lynda and I met on a blind date in this area, about 30 minutes south, in Los Gatos.
We have spent so many weekends in San Francisco! We simply had to head over to the Golden Gate Bridge to get some good eats and wander around. Since we are only 15 minutes away, why not?

Tip: Free Parking! Remember Lynda’s favorite word? If you don’t want to spend $20 bucks every time you stop to park, we have a tip for you! We found a parking lot off of Van Ness going North (make a left from Lombard). if you’re coming from the Sausalito side of the Golden Gate Bridge. Take it all the way to the water to find FREE parking for 4 hrs. from 8-6 pm Mon-Fri. We have used it 3 times now and had no trouble finding a parking spot each time. Plus, it’s only a 10-minute walk along the water to Fisherman’s Wharf.

North Beach

After our appetizers, we headed to North Beach to walk around, checking out the Italian restaurants. But, eventually, we realized we were not hungry as we thought.

The Calamari was pretty filling! So instead of stopping at our favorite seafood restaurant, Sotto Mare, we walked a few doors down to Golden Boy Pizza for a slice of their famous square Pizza.

They usually have long lines, but it’s worth the wait. I opted for the clam and garlic pizza which is crazy good, and Lynda had a slice of pepperoni. We were done after one piece, and it was quite a deal at $4.50 a slice.

Then to add more punishment to our stomachs, we had to have dessert! So we stopped at Alimento at 507 Columbus Ave.

Not only is it an Italian delicatessen, but it also just happens to have incredible gelato. Do what they do in Little Italy, and eat Italian, so they say!

And we stayed the course, opting for the Italian dessert favorite. Afterward, we waddled our way back to the car with smiles on our faces.

Tiburon

Lastly, we went to Tiburon, a city we almost chose to live in before deciding on San Rafael. Tiburon is a quaint little city on the water, on the same side of the Bay as Sausalito.

Tiburon was originally a railroad city, a transition point between The Bay and San Francisco, where goods were often offloaded. Today, the city is a little tourist mecca with a small, charming downtown area.

For our first stop in Tiburon, Lynda really wanted to see Blackie’s Pasture. Blackie’s Pasture is a grassy waterfront park named after a horse named Blackie, who lived in the meadows decades ago. But, it’s not much of a pasture, like it sounds.

The real highlight is the walking trails along Richardson Bay. So, we took a short walk along the bay and enjoyed our surroundings.