California Here We Come!

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Dear Blog Readers,



So begins our babymoon! Normally we'd try and get away in November (such as Barbados last year!) but brought it forward and decided to jet off to sunny California! Bookings were late but we had a rough idea of where we wanted to head out so let's take you on the journey with us! Firstly, the flight to LA was lovely, getting to experience BA's Club Suite was delightful - a fully flat bed and decent grub soothed the jet lag woes! Once at LA's airport, we found ourselves to the Avis rental car place, which had a queue nearly as long as the security/immigration, and our expected Ford Focus turned out to be a Dodge Charger! Quickly getting used to the automatic gearing and sheer size of the car, we found our way to Venice Beach initially to see the sunset.



Venice Beach holds more nostalgia for me and my brothers having grown up on the Tony Hawks Pro Skater games, so we immediately headed to the infamous skate park there. This was after wandering the weed-filled lingering air of the market stalls and shops lining the beach, as well as a huge street basketball tournament going on next to Muscle Beach - Laura in a less-pregnant state could have shown off her pull-up skills here! The skatepark was expectedly busy with some really great skaters on display - I suppose you have to be with a constant crowd on show! We got back to the car and headed inland to find our hotel for the next couple of days - The Adler A Hollywood Hotel in West Hollywood - ending up taking 50 minutes in the LA traffic. Rather than head out for dinner, the diner attached to the hotel was actually perfectly fine! Great burgers, salads, service, and a glass bottle of Coke so no complaints!



The following day we decided to explore the West Hollywood area. The jet lag woke us up early so we were spritely on our way and walked to The Breakfast Club, well, for breakfast. They don't do portion sizes by halves here! I was tucking into some hash browns and eggs whilst Laura had some fruit, yogurt and granola concoction. We headed past the iconic Capitol Records building and wandered down Hollywood Boulevard, complete with the stars on the pavement. It was fairly quiet and started getting busier as we started walking back towards the hotel. Overall, I'd say it was fairly bleak - there are so many homeless and just generally very unwell people lining the streets here, not to mention the number of tents under the main motorway and the general odour of piss fermenting the air...it's all quite a sad state of affairs really.



For the afternoon, we decided to get in the car and head out to Santa Monica. It has a lovely beach and pier - complete with fairground rides and a Bubba Gump Shrimp restaurant. At one point a Goodyear Blimp was doing the rounds whilst we lazed on the beach and dipped in the sea once we'd warmed up enough! On the way back, we'd been recommended to go to stock up on car snacks from Trader Joe's - the selection was fairly weak and Laura's go-to ended up being the slush puppies from 7Eleven! As the evening was drawing in, we walked down the street. We managed to catch the shuttle bus for free up to the Griffiths Observatory - highly recommend getting the bus as the traffic and parking just ended up getting worse and worse as we climbed the hills to an almost standstill so save yourself the headache!



The Observatory is spectacular, especially at sunset, with great views of not only the LA city but also the infamous Hollywood sign. The museum inside is great too, plenty of things to learn and see, including a decent-sized chunk of Moon rock! We were also fortunate on the day we were there that the LA Astronomical Society was meeting there so the grounds were filled with fellow nerds and their telescopes for us to peer through and check out close-ups of the Moon. We came back down the hills on a rammed shuttle bus and headed to Tu Madre for the Mexican food before heading home for the night.



Another early start meant hitting the road before the morning rush-hour traffic built up as we headed along Route 1 along the coastline and after an hour or so we were in Santa Barbara (Babs) for breakfast. These towns really do piers well, and we were treated to another cracking breakfast at Moby Dick right at the end. We then cut a little bit inland to a place called Solvang - randomly twinning with Copenhagen, so adorned with windmills, horse & cart, and other Danish references, including some great pastries. We pushed on and found our motel for the night in the town of Pismo - a fantastic recommendation from our friend's housemate who lived there. The vibe was great, and they had a surfing competition going on when we turned up so we were able to enjoy watching that from yet another pier! We then headed down the beach and took in a breathtaking sunset and sat on the sand dunes before heading back to Hoagies - a lovely little restaurant that serves the Pismo Wrap - wow!!



What better way to start day four than to go to Old West Cinnamon Rolls - still warm from the oven and frosting dripping from them, it was a sugar-filled start to the day but we had plenty to pack in. Morro Bay was also recommended to go to, so we stopped on the way, and it was dominated by a huge rock on the coast with surfers catching waves on one side, and a nice spot for a dip in the sea shared with lots of otters on the other. Staying on Route 1 and driving along the magnificent coastal route, stopping off at Piedras Blancas was great as we were able to see loads of Elephant Seals that end up parking themselves on the beaches here. The smell and noise will make your stop fairly short but well worth it, and we were soon pushing onto Salmon Creek Waterfall. It was only about 10 10-minute hike off the road, and we met a guy there whose hometown was Solvang! We told him how weird it was and he told us it had strong Dutch links...so I'm not sure where the Danish connection came from...



Anyway, the chance encounter was a fruitful one as he recommended pushing on for another 25-minute drive to Willow Creek which has a lovely little pool to have a dip in and felt like you were in an infinity pool out to sea. We used this point to turn back around, as there had been landslides further north which cut off Route 1, resulting in us needing to cut inland and find the much less picturesque Route 10. However, the journey did mean we had our first Karl's Jnr burger and doffed our cap to Soledo where it's all happening. We finally found our way to Monterey and had a walk to Fisherman's Wharf which had loads of seals barking from the rafters underneath. We walked along the coastal path and saw the cool canning company factory and also the aquarium (eye-wateringly expensive, so bailed on that!) and went for dinner at Hula's instead which tasted great!



We headed south the following day, initially to Carmel, which was a lovely little town for breakfast, and tackled the hills to get down to the white sand beaches with huge waves! Route 1 from this direction took us as far as McWay Falls before we had to come back up north, but it's such an amazing drive. The scenery is spectacular, including Bixby Bridge and the geology of the falls was great even when seen from a distance. Heading back north-west and around the bay, we managed to find a Chick-fil-A, and stole a load of exciting dips, before getting to Santa Cruz and our hotel for the night at The Mission Inn. Such an easy place to while away an evening - the wharf is over half a mile long so going up and down that for starters! We were treated to even more seal action on the rafters as they barked and fought for spaces. It was also Fresher's Week, so a load of students turned up and had the Boardwalk fairground to themselves for the evening - what a perk of the uni! We headed into town instead for dinner at Betty's followed by dessert at Penny's. They did a cracking toasted fluff topping to their ice-creams!



We weren't even a week into the trip but were managing to pack plenty in! The caffeine hit was dealt by the Verve Coffee Roasters which was a short walk away from Seabright Beach and the Walton Lighthouse - which looks like an ancient one from the early 20th Century but was actually renovated less than 10 years ago. We stayed on Route 1 and headed north, past West Cliff Drive, and saw the birds/herons donning the clifftops. We found our way to Half Moon Bay where I was able to sample my first-ever clam chowder - tasted great! As we approached San Francisco, highly recommend stopping off at Barber Beach for a spectacular view of the Golden Gate Bridge. I think we were lucky as we had a window of clarity before the infamous bay fog came in and took away the magnificent view!



The initial San Francisco stay was going to be short but sweet, and we went across the Golden Gate Bridge to stay in an Airbnb in Strawberry Hill. What an amazing place to be - I think we should retire here. The views looking back at the city from here are amazing, with Alcatraz at the forefront of Richardson Bay as the sun was setting. Flats here looked to be going for a measly $3m so got some time to start saving up. We had a wander around and found an In-And-Out Burger (we went Animal Style on the burger and fries, mandatory!) which had the best service we've had so far on the trip with no ability to tip!? The tipping culture here is mad by the way, and also the way you actually pay for food, whereby you get the receipt, sign the check, and write the tip on the receipt where the waiter will then put that on your card after you've left?!



Having got north of San Fran, we forewent the traffic and were able to head onto the motorway fairly quickly, first stopping in Semona for some breakfast. It's a nice little town, all centered on a square with a town hall in the middle, almost like a film set. Then we had a lovely 3-hour drive to Mendocino - we were debating whether it was worth coming this far north on the trip, but thankful that we trusted our traveler instinct! Route 128 takes you through some great redwood forests and then you're suddenly on the coast again! We grabbed some lunch at the lovely Goodlife Cafe before driving about 20 minutes back inland to the Lark Camp which had a couple of fantastic trails in the redwoods. We had the whole forest to ourselves it felt like, and we were following the trail to the 'Big Tree'. This felt somewhat farcical given that every tree in the forest was the biggest I'd ever seen, but after about 45 minutes of walking, we eventually got to a first-generation redwood which was ginormous and scarred with blackened marks from lightning strikes! We hiked back and found Boffle's Swimming Hole but was a bit too crisp to get fully into the water (Mel will be ashamed of us).



Our hotel in Mendocino was called Hill House and actually featured on Murder She Wrote! The town is very picturesque and fairly regularly used for TV shows and movies. We were treated to yet another fantastic sunset so we had a lovely looped walk along the coastal path and watched the birds swooping down onto the huge rocks (Goat Island) out to sea. The Moon was huge and lit the way back into town - although by this point we were sick of the song Dancing In The Moonlight which seemed to be on near-repeat in the US, and barely heard Hotel California, California Dreaming, California Here We Come, etc.!! We found the Flow restaurant for dinner which was delicious - recommend the crab cakes and caprese chicken! Laura stocked up on Taffy from the supermarket on the way home too as we needed some car snacks for the final drive down south the following day.



A lazy morning and a breakfast of pastries and coffee from the cafe fuelled us up for a final drive down Route 1 to enjoy the coastal views. We stopped off at Point Arena and had a lovely lunch at Pier Place (ironically with relatively little pier to speak of compared to what we'd already experienced on the trip!). We also had our first spot of rain for the holiday but it soon passed and we were parked up in Bodega Bay and got chatting to a shop owner there who had spent a year living in Guildford! Approaching San Francisco from the north, we circumnavigated around by crossing the Richmond Bridge and found a Safeway to get some snacks in. Laura's dragon-emblazoned dungarees got no less than 5 compliments during our shopping trip! We then crossed the Oakland Bay Bridge which was heaving with traffic, and we honestly have no idea how the toll system works here. We probably got ripped off at Avis at the start by paying for the automatic toll function rather than paying individually and ending up with a fine! We chose our final hotel (Stanford Court) in San Fran on the basis that it had free parking...well the free parking ended up looking at being $70 per day!? Having only been told the evening before, I frantically found a nearby parking garage for half the price, and we headed to Tony's Sushi for some dinner around the corner.



We bought the $5/day Muni travel card to be able to flexibly move around San Fran for the day (as the car was now parked up for the last two days - I wouldn't have fancied driving/parking in the city anyway!!). We found a nice cafe nearby for breakfast and took it back to the hotel before heading out and catching the bus out to Height-Ashbury which I think might be Laura's Mecca. Complete with tie-dye shops, amazing quirky houses, and vintage clothes/shoes shops - she was in heaven. We found the Grateful Dead house (Dad would have loved it) and then headed to Alamo Square to see the Painted Ladies which is a set of 6 houses with fantastic views behind them and used on the intro to a famous TV show here.



We also headed through the Filmore District, and immediately thought of Dom when he was on tour with The Family Ruin through the US and Canada and spotted one of the venues he played at! For lunch, we went to Panda Express, a Chinese takeaway, and would recommend getting the half-and-half with orange chicken and Beijing beef. The drink sizes here are insane - the one Laura got was as big as her head. Fuelled up, we headed north and found Mrs Doubtfire's house and also nearby Lombard Street which ridiculously includes 8 hairpin turns for cars/buses to try and get down the steepness of the hill. As we walked towards the bay/coastline, we stopped at the Ghiradelli Chocolate Experience to stock up on some treats before having a wander along the various piers/wharves (Hyde St Pier, Fisherman's, Pier 39 - all great!).



Our final stop was at Pier 32, about an hour before sunset, as we'd booked ourselves on the Night Alcatraz Tour. It's only about $5/$10 more expensive than the Day Tour, but it takes you on an extended journey around the north of the island, with great views of the Golden Gate Bridge as the sun is setting, and some great stories of escapees trying to get off the island. Once you actually board the island, you get an audio tour as well as the opportunity to explore the prison yourself, and some additional talks put on for specific events. The hospital wing is also opened up which is interesting too. The views and creepiness of the prison at night at worth the extra in my opinion - especially if you've haggled a bit off your extortionate parking bill whilst in the city.



Proud of how much we'd packed into our babymoon, it was sad to be waking up on our final day in the US, and the early starts continued as I was able to enjoy a sunrise view from the hotel of the city. We found a cafe called 'Toast' and got some French Toast which was delicious and walked it off on the way back, passing the beautiful Grace Cathedral and some other fancy hotels on the way back to ours. We got the bus as close to Coit Tower as we could and then clambered up the hills to get to the top. The views were great, as were the murals on the walls lining the staircase on the way back down. My shin splints were starting to kick in as I headed down the Greenwich Steps and eventually found the Fishermans Tower which was under a load of scaffolding, but the market inside was still bustling and worth a visit. We headed back to Union Square and saw the spot where the trams are turned around, still by hand on an old-school turning circle, at the foot of the line. When we got our car back from the parking, we were informed that there was actually a handbrake function on the car(!!) where we'd previously just used the Park function....which wouldn't have worked on the steep hills of San Fran apparently! As we awaited our return flight home, we constantly monitored our phones for updates, before finally getting confirmed First Class for the journey back - what a fantastic end to an unbelievable trip!



Tink & Laura

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