So even though it's November, we'll pretend it's still July since that's where I left off. Although - AGAIN - I'm much preferring the November temperatures to what we were enduring last summer!!
For our 8th anniversary trip, Joe and I decided to return to the Bay Area for some more fun in San Francisco and also to finish our PCH trip from 2004!!! That decision was made pretty easy by some incredible airfare deals courtesy of Virgin America. VA started service this year between DFW and Los Angeles and DFW and San Francisco and offered some super low fares to promote the new service. Our fair airline matched (of course!) and we took advantage of our discount to make it even cheaper!!! Yeah!!! Anyway...in 2004 we flew to Seattle and drove down the coast to LA. However, when we reached Fort Bragg, CA it started raining, so we bailed off the coast highway and headed for Monterrey, leaving some miles of the PCH unseen so we have had it on our list since that time to return and finish that drive. I also decided to take this opportunity to try some wine tasting in the Sonoma area and I thank my husband for being a good sport since he really doesn't like wine! Here, as usual, is my travel journal from our trip and a few of my favorite pictures:
7/16/2011 – California, here we come!!!I was having a teeny, tiny bit of remorse regarding the purchase of airplane tickets for our annual anniversary trip, but when we arrived at the airport on the morning of our flight to San Francisco, they were taking volunteers to get off the plane. I practically did somersaults through the airport, I was so excited. And while we probably could have non-reved (I would find out when I returned that one of my employees non-reved to SFO that afternoon), it was so nice not to have to worry. In fact, it was worth every penny of the $180 ticket we purchased.
Our flight there was uneventful. In fact, it was one of the smoothest plane rides I can remember. As we flew over snow-capped mountains I felt the anticipation of being in a climate where the temperature would be less than 100 degrees. For all the reasons I love San Francisco, the cool weather is at the top of the list.
Our first order of business upon arrival would be finding our way to Nob Hill and our hotel, The Mark Hopkins Intercontinental. We decided to use our free night certificate and The Mark Hopkins is a historic hotel, and you know how I love to stay at historic hotels. We easily found our way to the BART at the airport and had no problem with our ride to Powell Street. Our next “task” would be to find a taxi, but what we found is that taxis aren’t really that easy to come by in this city. Not like New York, when you stick out your hand and get a taxi almost immediately. Plus, I think Joe was of the opinion that it was only ½ a mile to the hotel and we should walk, so he didn’t look very hard for the taxi either. The problem with the walk is that it is straight uphill and we were schlepping bags. By the time we reached the top, I felt that hatred for Joe that I feel every time he makes me do something physical. But, as usual, it subsided and my next feeling was the sense of accomplishment that I made it up Nob Hill schlepping my bags. It was a true “Patsy Webster” moment for me.
We were able to check in early at The Mark Hopkins and we had a most lovely room on the 16th floor overlooking the bay. Were it not for one large building, we would have had a perfect view of Alcatraz. It was the next day before I realized that you could see the Golden Gate Bridge from our room as well (Day One it was shrouded in clouds and fog, as is apparently usual for this time of year).
The Mark Hopkins Intercontinental:
The view from our window - Day One:
The view from our window - Day Two:
Oh, yes...I CAN see the Golden Gate Bridge!!:
Alcatraz really is behind that building!:
It was still breakfast time, so we decided our first stop would be Sears Fine Foods (as recommended by Tony Bennett) for their famous pancakes. We trudged back down the hill and I can confirm that going down is a hell of a lot easier than going up!!! I had the pancakes, which were good but I’m not sure worth all the fuss, and Joe had a veggie omelet, which he really liked.
From Sears, we made our way back to the BART, which would take us to our first real tourist stop – the O.co Coliseum in Oakland for an A’s game. Finding the venue was super easy, although we weren’t sure exactly what to think when we saw the razor-wire at the end of the bridge that takes you from the train station to the coliseum. Hummm…. They must have some “fanatical” fans in Oakland? Yikes!!! Anyway, we had pretty good seats – behind home plate and the people we sat among were not hostile in any way, so we were happy. The A’s were playing the Anaheim Angels. Since both teams are in the same division as the Rangers, I decided I would actually cheer for the A’s since they really suck and are so far out of the playoff race it doesn’t really matter, while the Angels are chasing the Rangers for 1st place. My cheers were useless as the Angels won. In fact, it was a double header and they won BOTH games. We didn’t stay for both games. We did walk around the coliseum a bit to check it out and then boarded the BART for our trek back to (S)Nob Hill.
The view from our seats:
No offense, but O.co Stadium is pretty old and blah!!!:
Still...the fans want the Athletics to STAY in Oakland - new stadium or not:
We decided that in spite of the fact we had gotten up early that morning for our flight AND we had gained two hours by traveling to the West Coast that we would go to a Comedy Club on Saturday night. There weren’t any really good entertainers that night, but we opted for the Cobb Comedy Club, which I had read quite a bit about before we left. The entertainer that night was a guy from SNL, although he must be a writer because I didn’t recognize him or his name. Anyway…we had eaten some crappy ballpark food at the game, so we shared a chicken sandwich and had our two-drink minimum. Unfortunately, the two-drink minimum, the jet lag, and the time change all coupled to make us both very, very, VERY sleepy!!!! I, literally, thought I was going to fall asleep during the final act, but again, I was proud of us for not being lame and actually going out!!!
When we got back to the Mark Hopkins (via a cab that we managed to hail with a lot of effort and a little luck), we had a lovely surprise waiting for us – chocolates and fruit for our anniversary. When I made our reservation the agent asked if we were celebrating anything so I told them it was our wedding anniversary. We got a solid chocolate Mark Hopkins, a bag of Ghiradelli chocolate, and some fruit. It was really fun!!!
7/17/2011 – Touring the City and Walking the BridgeThe next day we decided to start off with a big breakfast at a place we saw on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives – Dottie’s True Blue Café. And so did quite a few other people. The line didn’t look THAT long, so I mentally calculated a 30-45 minute wait. It was actually closer to an hour (a little over, in fact) because the place is T-I-N-Y inside. It was worth it, though. I had a bread pudding appetizer and Joe had a fabulous homemade cinnamon roll. My eggs and ham were outstanding – I couldn’t help but think of my dad when they plopped a 1-inch slab of ham down in front of me. Joe had his eggs scrambled with a pile of bacon. None of this was the least bit healthy, but all of it was fabulously delicious!!!
Dottie's True Blue Cafe:
From breakfast, we walked over to Union Square to catch one of those hop-on, hop-off bus tours. We thought we would get the “lay of the land” and cruise around to get our bearings. It didn’t really work out that well for us, because we never got an opportunity to put those bearings to use, but it was still fun. It turned out to be the most fabulously beautiful day – one in a million!!! We sat on top and soaked up the sun and got ourselves a pretty painful sunburn on our faces. Sadly, I had sunscreen with us – just not WITH us (if you know what I mean) because the day had started out quite cloudy. The bus tour we decided to take was live narration, which was one of their selling points. An interesting fact on that later.
We were able to catch a few sites including the City Hall and Alamo Square. We drove through “The Tenderloin” district, which is a pretty rough area of San Francisco, and one I was glad to see from the top of the bus. We then drove through the very hip Haight-Ashbury and the Golden Gate Park, both of which we had driven through on a previous trip. It was such a beautiful day that the traffic was quite horrible. It took quite a long time to make our way out to the Golden Gate Bridge. We drove across and then on the other side we opted to get off the bus so we could walk across. It’s pretty cool, I guess, to say I walked across the Golden Gate Bridge. There were lots and lots and lots of people doing it. Of course, it offers great views of the city and Alcatraz and we stopped for a photo op of ourselves. The down-side was that the west side of the bridge was closed, so we had to dodge around the bikes as well as the other walkers (although, perhaps the bikers thought they were more dodging around us). Also, we realized that when we got back we would have to get on the bus that went back across the bridge! LOL!!! Fortunately, the traffic had eased up a bit and getting across and then back to the city wasn’t too bad.
San Francisco City Hall:
Alamo Square:
From the Golden Gate Bridge:
Self-portrait on the Golden Gate Bridge:
Looking back on our accomplishment!:
Remember I mentioned the live narration? As you drive north across the bridge, the guide was tells stories about people who have jumped from the bridge. On our first pass across the bridge, the guide told us that there was a kid that decided it would be fun to jump off the Golden Gate Bridge. He survived and drove himself to the hospital (although I’m a little fuzzy on the details after that). The guide also told us that there had been an attempted suicide off the bridge, the man had survived, and now did motivational speaking against suicide. On our second pass across the bridge, the guide told us that the man who drove himself to the hospital was the man who was attempting suicide. We’re not sure what the real stories are, but admittedly made us question the validity of everything else we heard.
From the bridge, we rode the bus back to Union Square where we saw bullet holes left from an assassination attempt on President Ford in 1975. Sara Jane Moore was standing in the crowd of onlookers across the street from the Westin St. Francis at Union Square. She pointed her .38-caliber revolver at him. Just before she fired, former marine Oliver Sipple grabbed at the gun and deflected her shot; the bullet struck about six inches above and to the right of Ford’s head, then ricocheted and hit a taxi driver, who was slightly wounded. Moore served 32 years in prison before being paroled in 2007 (from Wikipedia, not the bus guide).
Bullet Holes above the ATM Machine:
We trudged back up to Nob Hill from Union Square – yet again – to get ready for our night tour of Alcatraz. Before we headed to the hotel, we decided to check out Grace Cathedral on Nob Hill. The guidebook said it was, “unremarkable in overall architecture, but the doors and windows are worth a closer look.” And, we could see it from our room beside a lovely little park, so we checked it out. It doesn’t match the magnificence of some of the other churches we’ve seen – particularly in Montreal and in Europe, but it was worth the short stop.
Grace Cathedral:
Huntington Park on Nob Hill:
We picked up some extra clothes, then picked up our bus tour to take us to the wharf. We had decided to tour Alcatraz, mainly to get an NPS stamp. I had read on TripAdvisor that the night tour was outstanding, so we decided to try it instead of the traditional tour. We managed to get there in time to split a sandwich and some chips from the gift shop, and then we got in line for our tour. Besides being at night, the tour included a live commentary during the boat ride out to the rock and also took us on a circle tour of Alcatraz before docking. It also included the usual audio tour that you get on an Alcatraz tour. We noticed some changes to the tour since we were there before. For example, they no longer identify the cells that Al Capone (I later read that the exact location of his cell is unknown, so I’m not sure how they identified it on our previous tour!) and the Birdman of Alcatraz occupied. But, they also added some things – tours through the processing center, where inmates were processed, showered, and issued their clothes. There was also additional information on the wardens, and their offices were on the tour. The sunset was quite beautiful and the boat ride back was chilly. And after all that – we almost forgot out stamp!!!
Alcatraz Library:
The Alcatraz Lighthouse was the first lighthouse in operation on the Pacific Coast. It was lit in 1854 and continues to operate today by the U.S. Coast Guard.:
San Francisco from Alcatraz:
Sunset from Alcatraz:
Back in San Francisco, we again, had trouble finding a cab. We walked from the boarding area of Alcatraz to Fisherman’s Wharf. There was a cab stand there, with a HUGE, LONG line. Thinking there wasn’t much else we could do (besides walk), we got in line. Then a very cocky limousine driver offered to take people to their hotels for $10/each. Probably more than we would have paid for a cab, but it was worth it to get back to our hotel a lot quicker than we would have otherwise and not to have to walk back up Nob Hill again!
7/18/2011 – Heading north and our first “taste” of Wine CountryThis morning we got up and headed out of town, but not before breakfast at Lori’s Diner, which are scattered throughout San Francisco and a little irresistible for me. We arranged to pick up our rental car at the Westin St. Francis and decided that we would pick up the car and then check out of our hotel, instead of schlepping our bags through the streets again.
Getting out of town was fairly easy. I had never realized how close the wine country is to San Francisco before I started researching this trip, but it’s only about an hour away. Joe is not a huge fan of wine, so I appreciated him indulging me. I decided that I wouldn’t make him go to more than a couple wineries, just to see if we enjoyed the experience. So, I made reservations at a winery in the afternoon that received rave reviews from TripAdvisor travelers, from some friends of ours, and was close to Sonoma. Before that stop, we decided to visit Benziger, which was a little north of town. They didn’t take reservations, but I knew that that their tram tours left on the half hour, starting at 11:00 with the exception of noon.
The Benziger Winery is a fantastically beautiful property. They operate a tram tour that takes you around the property and shows visitors their way of growing grapes in an environmentally friendly way. Their practice is referred to as Biodynamic and even includes planting certain areas to attract away bugs that might otherwise be interested in the grapes. After the vineyard tour, they drop you at the tasting room for a few samples. We didn’t buy any wine there, but we did enjoy their beautiful property.
The first thing we noticed about California wines is that they are predominantly red. I enjoy red, so I was fine with that. We did try a Chardonnay at both of the wineries we visited, but everything after that was red. I didn’t dislike the wines at Benziger, but none of the wines we tasted were made from the grapes that were being grown at the vineyard that we toured, so I didn’t see the point in buying that wine – especially given that Joe isn’t that big of a fan.
Our second winery was Gundlach-Bundschu. It is a family owned winery and we were on the tour with just 2 other people, who as it happened were also airline employees (pilot for Delta, F/A previously for Delta but now with a private company) and they were also members of the wineries “Red” club. The tour at G-B was not as good as Benziger – by a long shot (they only do their “Vineyard Excursion” on Fridays – Sundays and we were there on Monday). They walk you around a small part of their property and stop 3 times for a wine tasting. But, their tasting at the end far exceeded the Benziger tasting. At G-B, they have their tastings in the cave. We sampled 3 more wines there and since we were a small group and with the wine club members, the wine was flowing!!! I got pretty tipsy, just “tasting” wine. And let me be clear – so did Joe, the non-wine drinker!!! Drunk enough, in fact, to buy 4 bottles of wine! LOL!!! Drunk-ish or not, we had a good time at our little wine excursion.
After our tastings, we went to check in to the first of 3 B & B’s that we would stay at during this trip. This one was called “An Inn to Remember” and I found it, of course, through TripAdvisor. It was a really nice place. They had bicycles you could borrow, which I think would be tons of fun if we were staying there for a couple of days. Unfortunately, since we were only there overnight, we didn’t get a chance. Our room was very comfortable, and they have snacks in the evening, which were absolutely delicious! We had asparagus wrapped in phillo (or something phillo-like) and lemonade.
At some point after our snacks, we walked to the square in Sonoma and had dinner at another Triple D – the Sunflower Caffe. This was definitely one of our least favorite Triple D’s. Joe had an asparagus sandwich and I had the skirt steak. Our food was fine, but we weren’t sure what part of this place was a diner, a drive-in, or a dive. In fact, since we know that the host is from Santa Rosa, CA, we wondered if maybe he just had this place on the show as a favor to a friend. Like I said, our food was fine (good, even), but the atmosphere and the menu were both a little uppity to be considered a diner, drive-in or dive.
After dinner, we walked around the square. It’s a cute place with lots of shops. We even stopped at the Ben & Jerry’s store for some dessert. Also around the square are the Sonoma City Hall and the Bear Flag Monument. The monument marks the place where the Bear Flag was first raised on June 14, 1846 after the Bear Flag Revolt.
Monument to the Bear Flag Revolt:
7/19/2011 – Heading further north to MendocinoToday we headed north to Mendocino, but not before a wonderful breakfast at our B & B. We started with a bowl of fresh fruit and then had a tasty (fruity) French Toast with little sausages. Delicious!!!
Heading north, our first stop was the Old Faithful Geyser of California. Joe saw it on the map and thought it might be fun. It’s a bit of a tourist trap, but was still kind of fun! We were probably there about 40 minutes before the geyser blew, but it wasn’t a bad show. Not nearly the power or volume of the “real” Old Faithful in Yellowstone, but still an amusing stop.
Our next stop would be lunch at our 3rd Triple D of the trip – Jimtown Store. There actually is a town named Jimtown, even though their official address is Healdsburg. We both had BBQ sandwiches – mine was brisket and Joe’s was pork. Or vice versa, I’m not sure because we actually cut them both in half and shared them. Aren’t we genius? We liked this place a LOT. The food was good and the atmosphere was really fun. We sat on the back patio because the weather was perfect and there were even grapes growing on an arbor that covered the patio. It was quite charming, although I guess it wasn’t much of diner, drive-in, or dive either, now that I think about it.
We wouldn’t make another official stop until we arrived in Mendocino. It was a beautiful drive, winding through hills and forests and we quite enjoyed the journey. We met Highway 1 just south of Mendocino, so our first order of business was – as usual – to find our home for the night. Our 2nd B & B was the Brewery Gulch Inn, found as you might guess, on TripAdvisor. Mendocino is a bit expensive, but we LOVED this little community and we LOVED this B & B. It sits across the street from the ocean, but we had a lovely view of it from our room. I chose one of the less expensive rooms since we don’t spend a lot of time in our room, but it was still quite comfortable and included a fireplace operated by a light switch.
We decided to have a look around the lovely little town of Mendocino before dinner. First, we drove by the Blair House, which was used in the TV show, Murder, She Wrote. I used to watch that show when I was a kid! It was supposed to take place in a fictional town called Cabot Cove, Maine, but the outdoor scenes were really Mendocino. The Blair House is now a B & B, but was one of the lowest rated, so we just opted for the drive-by.
Our next stop would be the Point Cabrillo Light Station. The parking lot is said to be a half mile from the parking lot, down a paved road. It wasn’t a difficult walk, but I must say it seemed further than a half mile. The light station was built following the 1906 earthquake, which had practically destroyed San Francisco. It was built to guide boats along the coastal waters, carrying lumber to rebuild San Francisco. We learned here that the light station was run by, basically, 3 men – the Head Lightkeeper, the First Assistant (the Wickie), and the Second Assistant (the Timer). The homes of the 3 men still exist in the park. In fact, the First Assistant home has been restored to its 1909 appearance. Joe and I walked through the house and I must say, it looked pretty comfortable, although I’m sure it was a hard life being out there in difficult conditions and far away from civilization. The Head Lightkeepers House has also been restored and is now a vacation rental property. The Second Assistant Lightkeepers House is waiting for funding to complete its restoration. However, they will apparently have to rely on private donations because we heard that the park is slated for closure in 2012 due to the dire economic situation of the state of California.
The Lighthouse itself is now the gift shop. We took a perusal through, of course, and also checked out some of the pictures along the walls, as well as the history boards. The property is quite pretty. With a little more time, it would have made for some enjoyable hiking.
We headed back to the B & B for its evening reception. Touted as a light dining menu, it was what you might call “heavy hors d’oeuvres” (made with fresh food from the local farmers market) and local wines and beers. It was very, very tasty. We had a recommendation for a fish and chip place from the cooks at the B & B in Sonoma, so even though we weren’t starving, we decided to check it out, and it was actually very good. I can’t remember the name, but Joe had those fish ‘n chips and I had a hamburger.
I might add that this was actually our 8th anniversary! We decided to end our day watching the sunset at Glass Beach up the road in Fort Bragg. Fort Bragg was where we had spent the night in 2004 when we drove the PCH from Seattle. It was also where we bailed off the PCH because of a downpour and headed toward Monterrey. So, in order to say we drove the WHOLE PCH, we had to drive to Fort Bragg anyway.
In 1949, the area that is now Glass Beach was a public dump. In 1967, the North Coast Water Quality Board closed the dump. Years of pounding wave action has rounded tons of polished glass onto the beach. And just for Joe, there were lots of rocks to walk around on and even a few sea lions. I have heard of other glass beaches, but this one was the first I had visited. It was quite interesting!!
HAPPY 8TH ANNIVERSARY!!!!
One thing we noticed while in Mendocino was the unusually high numbers of water towers – most of them wooden. I decided to try to find out the significance. Apparently this is not a Mendocino phenom, but rather something common in all of Northern California. According to water-towers.com, “Water Towers are a common scene in rural America and especially in Northern California. This is an area that has always been an agricultural community and people stored their water in towers (most people have their own wells). Often the tower would also have a windmill. Through the years, most have disappeared but with new generations, people are finding they are attractive and functional buildings.” So, there’s a little trivia for you.
7/20/2011 – Finishing the PCHBrewery Gulch is the only B & B we’ve ever stayed in where we could order our breakfast off a menu. There are several choices. I opted for the Classic Breakfast, which was eggs, with BGI millionaire’s bacon, breakfast potatoes, toast, and fresh fruit. It was really good!!! Joe had a Hawaiian Parfait, which I helped him eat (and was also delicious!) and the omelet of the day. It was all wonderful!!
After our scrumptious breakfast, we regrettably headed south. Part of our goal was to pick up that section of the PCH we had missed before. We moseyed along throughout the day, taking our time and stopping at quite a few scenic pullouts. The California coastline is quite dramatic and beautiful, and we had a mostly beautiful day to enjoy it.
Goodbye, beautiful Mendocino:
The only real stop we made was at the Point Arena Lighthouse. This lighthouse was built in 1870, but was destroyed in the 1906 earthquake and rebuilt in 1907. The original lens is on display in the visitor center and is a Fresnel lens that was built in Paris in 1906-1907. When in the lighthouse, the lens rotated once every 18 seconds. The lens was decommissioned in 1977 and replaced with an airport-type beacon which still operates today. We decided to take the guided tour to the top of the lighthouse. We had a nice tour to the top with a very enthusiastic guide. One of the most interesting things we learned, though, was not about the lighthouse, but about the incredible amount of erosion that has taken place in the 100+ years since the lighthouse was rebuilt. The guide showed us old pictures of the coast. When we looked down on it ourselves, we could see that several feet of the coastline has eroded. It was really interesting!
We're getting pretty good at this self-portrait thing:
Later in the afternoon, we arrived at our next destination, Point Reyes National Seashore. There is really quite a bit to do at this national park site and, as usual, I did not allow enough time to do it justice. We spent the better part of 24-hours in the area and still didn’t get to do everything that was on my list! But, I digress…
We arrived just before the Bear Valley Visitor Center closed for the day. We did a quick run-through, and asked the rangers what we should do if we were going to be there for 1 day. They recommended the Tule Elk Reserve, since the deer were there and had not yet shed their antlers. Before heading there, we did a quick loop trail called, Earthquake Trail. This trail explores the San Andreas Fault Zone. There are interpretive signs explaining what causes earthquakes, but the highlight of the walk is the fence. In 1906, a 7.9 magnitude earthquake struck along the San Andreas Fault. When the earthquake struck, it actually moved Point Reyes northwest up to twenty feet. A fence on the trail was split by the rupture, marking the movement. They also mark the fault line, so it’s a fun photo op to straddle it.
This fence shows the movement caused by the 1906 earthquake:
The blue posts mark the San Andreas Fault Line:
Next we headed toward the Tule Elk Reserve, but decided to stop first for a sandwich in the town of Inverness. With our bellies satisfied, we headed up the trail behind the Pierce Ranch in search of elk. I was skeptical whether or not we would see any, but we passed a couple on the trail that told us how far we would need to go to see them. Don’t tell anyone, but we did get off the trail a couple of times to get a better view – the elk were up in a valley just hidden a bit by a ridge. But, we didn’t get too close, don’t worry!!!
With the wildlife viewing accomplished, we decided to walk around the Pierce Ranch, since we were there anyway. Dairy ranches date back into the 1850s when early settlers realized the cool, moist climate was near-ideal conditions for raising dairy cattle. Pierce Ranch was one of the most successful of these ranches, established in 1858. Today, the buildings are restored and you can take a self-guided tour. As we were leaving the area, we saw a couple more Tule Elk right by the road.
The day was coming to an end, so we decided to head down to the beach area to watch the sunset. We stopped at Point Reyes Beach North, an absolutely beautiful beach!! The surf is somewhat unsafe due to the “sneaker waves” that can drag people out to sea. Unfortunately, my camera’s battery died before the sun actually set, but we got a couple of nice pictures anyway.
Our 3rd and final B & B would be the Inn at Roundstone Farm B & B. The room wasn’t incredibly fancy, but it was comfortable and clean and the property is absolutely beautiful.
7/21/2011 – Having trouble leaving Point Reyes Our intention had been to get up, have our breakfast, and leave immediately because we had a LOT left to do at Point Reyes National Seashore. But Frank, our host at Rounstone Farm was so entertaining and engaging, it made it really hard to leave! We enjoyed listening to his stories of life, his family, and the Olema area. I’m not even sure what time we managed to head out, but it was worth it. Good times!
Our goal this morning was to head to the Point Reyes Lighthouse, but, first, we took a detour up Mount Vision Road for some views of the area. We expected to get to a lookout point or something to that effect, but we never did. We drove until the road ended, but to get my photos, we pretty much just had to stop in the middle of the road. Fortunately, there wasn’t much traffic.
Continuing down to the lighthouse, the day seemed to be absolutely beautiful, but as we got closer and closer to the lighthouse, we began to realize that we would be shrouded in fog by the time we got there. We were not deterred. Disappointed, maybe, but not deterred. We took the 300 steps down to the lighthouse, trying (although, unsuccessfully) to see the ocean and the coastline. The lighthouse seemed small, but it is perched on the edge of Point Reyes. A foghorn was sounding regularly – uh, due to the fog – and it was LOUD!!! I tried to video it, but my phone adjusted the sound to compensate for how loud it really was. On the way back up, we noticed a huge rock down in the water and while I thought it was interesting, it took me a few minutes to notice that it was actually covered in birds! A nearby sign identified them as “Common Murres” – a bird I had never heard of.
On the other end of the point, is a 1.6-mile hike on Chimney Rock. We actually thought Chimney Rock would be a rock formation at the end of the hike, but in retrospect, I think we were ON Chimney Rock. It was a fairly easy hike and we even met a couple of “friends” along the way – a little ferret looking creature and a deer!
Our next stop would be at Drakes Beach for lunch. The Kenneth C. Patrick Visitor Center was closed, but the café was open. It was still a little gray and foggy while we were there, but it looked like a nice beach.
Moving on down Highway 1, we made stops at Stinson Beach, Muir Beach Overlook, and Muir Beach before crossing the Golden Gate Bridge back into San Francisco. Our return to San Francisco was not quite as glamorous as our first stint on Nob Hill. On this end of the trip, we stayed at the Holiday Inn Express on Fisherman’s Wharf. We got a great deal on this hotel through Resx at work, so that was a plus. It was comfortable, but crowded. There’s not much point in the free breakfast when you can’t get to the food and the area isn’t big enough to hold a fraction of the guests. Plus our view suffered.
I heard of Stinson Beach when I used to read Danielle Steele books!
"Gopher Holes" were used after the bombing of Pearl Harbor to defend the west coast against enemy ship. These are at Muir Beach Overlook.
Muir Beach:
Our "new view" from our window at the Holiday Inn at Fisherman's Wharf. HAHA!!!
We hurried back to San Francisco because we had tickets tonight to the longest running musical in American history – Beach Blanket Babylon. The show is at Club Fugazi in the North Beach area of San Francisco and is a spoof of pop and political culture and it is hysterical!!!! It’s kind of a series of little skits, but they are all tied together and the performers wear these huge hats/wigs and completely gaudy costumes. I had read a lot about it and thought it would be fun, but must admit after the beginning, I was a little worried. I shouldn’t have been, though, as it was really, really funny and Joe and I, both, had a great time!!!
7/22/2011 – A couple more National Park sites and visiting our favorite Major League Ballpark (behind Wrigley, of course)
For a mere $40/day, you can actually have a rental car and park at your hotel in downtown San Francisco. That’s JUST for the parking and does not include the rental cost. But…when we tried to return the car early, it was going to change the price of the car – plus, we didn’t finish the sites on Highway 1 as planned, so we sucked it up and paid the price. We further rationalized it because we had gotten the hotel at a dirt cheap price for SFO. But, again, I digress…
One of the features at the Holiday Inn Express is the free breakfast. It’s a light buffet, usually with cold cereals, breads, juice, fruit, and yogurt. Plus, they have some hot items – usually scrambled eggs and bacon or sausage, biscuits and gravy, and sometimes a pancake maker. We usually take advantage of these free breakfasts and we did again today. However, this was the most chaotic breakfast at any HIE I have ever stayed in. I presume that it is because it’s the biggest HIE I’ve ever stayed in. We finally managed to make a couple of plates of food, but then had to take it back to our room to eat because there was nowhere to sit in the completely inadequate breakfast area. At any rate, we managed to get a little food in us and set off to backtrack to Muir Woods.
Before making it out there, however, we stopped at Fort Point National Historic Site. According to the NPS, “The only Civil War-era casemated fort on the West Coast, Fort Point never saw combat. Its excellent design and superb masonry construction saved it from demolition during the building of the Golden Gate Bridge.” It’s a large and impressive fort – made even more impressive by its location under the Golden Gate Bridge. We watched the video about the building of the bridge and how the fort was saved by the visionaries of the bridge.
Fort Point National Historic Site and the Golden Gate Bridge:
Lighthouse at Fort Point National Historic Site operated from 1864 until 1934, when the foundation for the Golden Gate Bridge blocked its light:
From Fort Point, we headed to Muir Woods, just on the other side of the Golden Gate. A few years ago we had tried to visit Muir Woods and couldn’t find a parking place, so we decided to pass and return on a later trip. I was hoping the parking lot wouldn’t be too crowded, but boy was I wrong!!! They’ve now built an overflow lot, but that was also full so we ended up parking along the road. That place is so CRAZY!!!! But, it is also BEAUTIFUL!!! The redwoods are so incredible. These are coastal redwoods as opposed to the giant sequoias that are found inland at Sequoia & Yosemite National Parks. They are the tallest trees in the world and they are just majestic. We fully enjoyed our visit to Muir Woods, even if we had to park way down the road!!
At this spot, a United Nations meeting was held in memory of President Franklin D. Roosevelt:
This tree tried to fall, but its friends saved it:
Back in the city, we made a pitstop at Ghiradelli for a Sundae and a hot chocolate before heading to AT&T Park for our second baseball game of the trip. AT&T is a truly beautiful ballpark – our favorite so far (except for Wrigley, of course!). The setting is just beautiful and even though the Giants beat my Rangers in the World Series last year, I still loved it. The Giants were playing the Milwaukee Brewers. We had really great seats, complete with a waiter. We had some snacks, including a brat!! And at the end of the game, we did our usual walk-around of the park to check it out from all angles. My friend, Brian, had warned us of how cold it could be. I had a sweatshirt AND a jacket on and was fairly comfortable, but he was right – it was a chilly night!
Statue of Willie Mays at AT&T Park:
The view from our seats!!
Almost more notable than our adventures at AT&T Park were our adventures getting to and from the park. Fearing that we wouldn’t be able to find parking, we decided to leave our car at the hotel and take the bus to the park. It wasn’t so bad going, but coming back to the hotel was an adventure to be sure. The bus was completely packed – with FREAKS!!! Some homeless looking man decided instead of pulling the cord and waiting for the next stop, he would just scream, “STOP!!! STOP!!! STOP!!!!” when he wanted to disembark. Then there was the Hispanic dude dropping the “F bomb” every other word. The traffic was incredible and I swear, I didn’t think we would ever make it back to the hotel. I think it will be a long time before I forget that night…
7/23/2011 – Our last day in the Bay AreaAnd that, unfortunately, brings us to the end our California adventure. For our last day in the bay area, we decided to start off with a visit to the Cable Car Museum. Many years ago when I was in San Francisco I had walked past it and always wished I had stopped in. But, before that, we decided to skip the free – crazy – HIE breakfast and eat at the Boudin Sourdough Factory. We had actually stopped here for soup on Thursday night before Beach Blanket Babylon and noticed they were open for breakfast. So, we tried it out and it was fine. The soup was much better, but at least our breakfast was hot and we didn’t have to eat it on our laps in our room. We would have liked to have taken a tour of their museum, but it was closed for a private event.
Bread Animals at Boudin:
So, instead, we made our way to the Cable Car Museum, appropriately, by Cable Car. We had ridden the cable cars on previous trips to San Francisco, but it is always fun. The museum was actually VERY interesting. It shows old cable cars – sure. But, it also shows how the actual cable lines run and all come together at this location. Incredible!!!
Turning our cable car so it can head to the Cable Car Museum:
Cable Car Museum
After the museum, we checked out of the hotel and headed for Triple D #4, Joe’s Cable Car. We were quite intrigued by the hamburger joint that we had read about at our local hamburger place, Kincaid’s, and was ALSO on Triple D. It was a bit out of the way, but not a problem with a car. And, it seemed to represent a REAL dive – LOL!!! However, I’m not sure where to start. I guess I’ll start with saying that the food was REALLY good!!! Loved the burgers, we shared onion rings, and we both had milkshakes, which were outstanding. So, you ask…what is the problem? The problem was the price. Guess how much we paid for 2 burgers, 1 order of onion rings, and 2 milkshakes? $64!!!!! Now, admittedly, that was with the tip, but really??? $64 for burgers??? I’m kind of forced to give this place two thumbs down based on price alone. I understand that the beef is the good stuff, but I can’t go $64 for hamburgers. I just don’t have it in me!
Does this LOOK like $64 worth of food????
After our incredibly expensive experience at Joe’s Cable Car, we were just killing time before we were due back at the airport for our flight so we decided to visit the Mission Dolores. It was quite a quick run-through, but we were able to see the chapel and the basilica. Plus, we learned a little bit about the mission and visited their cemetery before dashing off to the airport.
Father Junipero Serra
Overall, we had a pretty darn good vacation. We saw lots of San Francisco and experienced some new things as well. We had fabulous weather, except for the tiny bit of fog. We had laughs and lots of good food. We still left some things undone, but I would say it was a great success!!!
