San Francisco's Fairmont for the holidays

Looking for a family-friendly activity on a wet and/or blistery San Francisco day? Check out the Fairmont Hotel's lobby chock full of over-the-top Christmas decor, Santa's workshop, a larger-than-life gingerbread house, train set and the occasional Snow Fairy decked out in wings and wand granting wishes for those having High Tea.

For the second year in a row, I came here with my family for lunch. A slightly calmer experience as a 3 month old than as a 15 month old, yet then again everything was. 

Small children definitely don't come to dine that often at the Laurel Court restaurant as evidenced by the leisurely arrival of the server and the high chair strap that allowed me to stand up, grab a spoon and do a three-sixty all while my mother took a sip of water. 

Dad took me to walk around the lobby to burn off steam while Mom and Grandma waited for the meal. That allowed me to work up an appetite - although my parents withheld recent requests for food for strictly that purpose. By the time the meal came, I went nose first into my bowl of peas. 

We had to ask for a bread basket which then came promptly and was stocked with baby-friendly breadsticks. Despite a snafu with the Heinz ketchup bottle top ending up in my mouth after I was allowed to play with it by my somewhat desperate mother, things started going smoothly.  My family enjoyed their entrees, and I tried to get as many peas on the floor as possible

Not much for me to eat off the menu, and there was no children's option, so Mom packed a grilled cheese and the peas. Especially parent-friendly were the Vietnamese spicy cilantro tofu sandwich, the French Onion soup for those needing to double their cheese intake for the week and the crab cakes. Dad suffered mild sticker shock when he realized they had washed their meals down with $5 Coca-Cola's, but then again it is the Fairmont.

In all honesty, with baby in tow you could still enjoy the sights, sounds and even some Fairmont fairy dust yet opt to expand baby's palette at a simpler joint in nearby Chinatown neighborhood.