Helaire-ious
Footballguy
Did this the end of last month w/the other half. Pics are linked below. Must have had a great time as we took over 1,000 photos combined. We were out there for a little over a week.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/192269686@N05/albums/72157719550116449
Our last hotel stay was in Petaluma. Lame scene there lol, but the food was good. The town was dead after 7-8ish PM. We would not go back.
Also hard pass on Sonoma again. What a bunch of snob wineries. We stopped at several at got told we are full by most of them. We found one, Jacuzzi, that was gracious enough to let us buy a bottle & go drink it on their outdoor patio. One of the places told us we had to pay $100+ each to come in & we get their cheese plate & I guess a bottle for that. Wow!!
We drove through the city portion of SF as fast as we could. Reminded us of Philly. NO THANKS! Almost got into a car accident there too.
We stayed at the Crowne Plaza in Ventura on night one. Great view of the ocean & the food at Lure was excellent.
Next night we stayed across the street from the beach in Cambria at Moonstone. Nice rooms, but no AC & paper thin walls. Hardwood floors so we heard every step of our neighbor upstairs. That was hell.
Then it was a night staying at the Bella Notte in Santa Cruz. Was quiet, but room is very outdated. We didn't do anything there other than walk the beach. That's where I got the sailboat w/the lighthouse photos. The local corner store only took cash. It's 2021, people!
Then we stayed at The Inn Above Tide in Sausalito right over the Golden Gate. By far our favorite hotel and town of the trip. We just planned to stay 1 night there too, but liked it so much we stayed for two. It's right on the bay. Was well worth the splurge of $500 per night. You can select a nice breakfast every day that is brought to your room. Every night at 5 they bring you a cheese & crackers plate & a bottle of wine as well. Then we even drove back down to Sausalito on our last day and got some clothing, ate at Scoma's again, got more ice cream, ate at Copita again. We ended up staying there most of the day & going to the airport from there.
We really enjoyed the town & food as well. Copita & Scoma's were delicious! Had the best ice cream of my life @ Lappert's.
We tried to hit Muir Woods for the redwoods, but always booked up + they charge to park AND admission? No thanks. We saw them at another park for free. The name escapes me. We also went to Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, but most of it was closed & the big waterfall attraction was a let down.
Carmel by the Sea was nice & the beach was excellent. Had a delicious chicken sandwich at a little Italian place there as well. We skipped driving 17 mile drive when we saw they wanted $10 to do it.
We also drove up to Collins Beach by mistake thanks to GPS. It was packed, even though not free, and it was pretty damn cold. Then we had to backtrack to get to the Elk Reserve. Collins Beach is as far north as we went.
Obviously, the best part for me was driving PCH and the scenery. Just look at all the pics I took. We rented a vert and it ended up being a 4 banger new Mustang. Was glad to get home & drive my Hellcat after that. The fast & stark temperature changes in CA are something, that's for sure! I did not bring a jacket so I had to buy a sweatshirt during our trip. Also, the liquor prices in CA vs here in PA where we only have state run stores for liquor are insane!!! For example, scored a couple bottles of Crown Royal Peach @ Target for $24 each while there. You cannot even find peach here, but it would be north of $40 per bottle here!
We spent a couple hours or so in Tiburon. Beautiful & very quiet. Nothing really to do there but walk & enjoy the scenery & relaxation.
I'm leaving out a lot, but this is what sticks out of the top of my head. I can understand why people want to live in CA now. PA scenery is boring now...
We actually looked at home prices & such to maybe add certain parts of CA to our list of places to move, but looks like even tiny places are at least $500kish. No thanks. Anything decent is 7 figures it seems. Am I wrong? We prefer Southern California to north. I wasn't even looking at homes on the coast. God knows what they cost.........
We live in Lancaster County, PA right now. Tired of winter. Problem is her finding a teaching job somewhere 1st so we can go. She is an ESL teacher. I work remotely so I can go anywhere.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/192269686@N05/albums/72157719550116449
Our last hotel stay was in Petaluma. Lame scene there lol, but the food was good. The town was dead after 7-8ish PM. We would not go back.
Also hard pass on Sonoma again. What a bunch of snob wineries. We stopped at several at got told we are full by most of them. We found one, Jacuzzi, that was gracious enough to let us buy a bottle & go drink it on their outdoor patio. One of the places told us we had to pay $100+ each to come in & we get their cheese plate & I guess a bottle for that. Wow!!
We drove through the city portion of SF as fast as we could. Reminded us of Philly. NO THANKS! Almost got into a car accident there too.
We stayed at the Crowne Plaza in Ventura on night one. Great view of the ocean & the food at Lure was excellent.
Next night we stayed across the street from the beach in Cambria at Moonstone. Nice rooms, but no AC & paper thin walls. Hardwood floors so we heard every step of our neighbor upstairs. That was hell.
Then it was a night staying at the Bella Notte in Santa Cruz. Was quiet, but room is very outdated. We didn't do anything there other than walk the beach. That's where I got the sailboat w/the lighthouse photos. The local corner store only took cash. It's 2021, people!
Then we stayed at The Inn Above Tide in Sausalito right over the Golden Gate. By far our favorite hotel and town of the trip. We just planned to stay 1 night there too, but liked it so much we stayed for two. It's right on the bay. Was well worth the splurge of $500 per night. You can select a nice breakfast every day that is brought to your room. Every night at 5 they bring you a cheese & crackers plate & a bottle of wine as well. Then we even drove back down to Sausalito on our last day and got some clothing, ate at Scoma's again, got more ice cream, ate at Copita again. We ended up staying there most of the day & going to the airport from there.
We really enjoyed the town & food as well. Copita & Scoma's were delicious! Had the best ice cream of my life @ Lappert's.
We tried to hit Muir Woods for the redwoods, but always booked up + they charge to park AND admission? No thanks. We saw them at another park for free. The name escapes me. We also went to Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, but most of it was closed & the big waterfall attraction was a let down.
Carmel by the Sea was nice & the beach was excellent. Had a delicious chicken sandwich at a little Italian place there as well. We skipped driving 17 mile drive when we saw they wanted $10 to do it.
We also drove up to Collins Beach by mistake thanks to GPS. It was packed, even though not free, and it was pretty damn cold. Then we had to backtrack to get to the Elk Reserve. Collins Beach is as far north as we went.
Obviously, the best part for me was driving PCH and the scenery. Just look at all the pics I took. We rented a vert and it ended up being a 4 banger new Mustang. Was glad to get home & drive my Hellcat after that. The fast & stark temperature changes in CA are something, that's for sure! I did not bring a jacket so I had to buy a sweatshirt during our trip. Also, the liquor prices in CA vs here in PA where we only have state run stores for liquor are insane!!! For example, scored a couple bottles of Crown Royal Peach @ Target for $24 each while there. You cannot even find peach here, but it would be north of $40 per bottle here!
We spent a couple hours or so in Tiburon. Beautiful & very quiet. Nothing really to do there but walk & enjoy the scenery & relaxation.
I'm leaving out a lot, but this is what sticks out of the top of my head. I can understand why people want to live in CA now. PA scenery is boring now...
We actually looked at home prices & such to maybe add certain parts of CA to our list of places to move, but looks like even tiny places are at least $500kish. No thanks. Anything decent is 7 figures it seems. Am I wrong? We prefer Southern California to north. I wasn't even looking at homes on the coast. God knows what they cost.........
We live in Lancaster County, PA right now. Tired of winter. Problem is her finding a teaching job somewhere 1st so we can go. She is an ESL teacher. I work remotely so I can go anywhere.
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