California Trip Report
Aug 19th, 2003, 04:39 PM
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California Trip Report
California Trip Report
This 2-week August had us flying from Detroit into San Francisco; we
drove the coast south and flew back home out of Los Angeles.
San Francisco has a terrific hotel in the Cow Hollow Suites. Our room
had a wonderful huge bed in its separate bedroom, a living room that
was beautifully appointed, and a nice sized kitchen. The fireplace was
wonderful in the evenings as well. Our suite faced Chestnut Street,
which was a better direction than onto Lombard Street, IMHO. Chestnut
Street has some terrific restaurants, shops, coffee shops, etc. It was
a very trendy area and even had a Pottery Barn and a Lucky Brand Store.
From this location we were able one day to walk to the Golden Gate
Bridge and enjoy the great park. From there we easily hopped on a bus
over to Fisherman?s Wharf. We walked through all of the piers,
enjoying each one for it?s own uniqueness. The sea lions are not to be
missed! Enjoyed the shops at Ghriradelli Square, and loved what they
did with The Cannery. From the wharf we walked through North Beach and
checked out the Italian district, then through Chinatown. That place
is a trip! (My partner hated all of the commotion ? just too much for
him, I guess). When the guy came out of a storefront carrying a large
gutted whole pig and threw it into an open truck (like a dead body!),
it did seem to be getting odd to me too. But interesting! And who
could pass up the street special $10 Ray Ban sunglasses?
From Chinatown we walked through Russian Hill and up the crooked part
of Lombard Street (?The Crookedest Street?). From there, we walked all
the way back down Lombard and back to our hotel. It is true what they
say about walking in San Francisco. You sure do a lot of it! I guess
you just get caught up in it and enjoy the whole experience.
We also checked out many other areas of the city. The Castro section was
certainly an interesting one. As was downtown Union Square, etc. I
had posed a question here at Fodors before our trip, asking about the
Boulevard Restaurant. I am sorry that I did not get there to try that
one out. There are just so many choices! We ate at great places, but
they were typical cafes, etc.
We toured the Marin County Civic Building, designed by architecture
Frank Lloyd Wright. It was their Wednesday morning full tour ? the
only day of the week they complete it. I must say it was a very
interesting building and worthy of the stop for you architecture
aficionados. It took about an hour to go through and is in typical
Frank Lloyd Wright splendor.
When we left the city, we drove south on Hwy 101 until just west of San
Jose. We took the windy roads through the Diablo Mountains and ended
up in Santa Cruz. The mountain drive was truly spectacular along
highways 17 & 9. We spent an afternoon in Santa Cruz and walked the
pier, through the carnival and beach casino house, and also checked out
the downtown a bit. We finished our late day at Carmel, when we
checked into the Normandy Inn, just in time for a late afternoon
Sherry. Again, another very lovely room with a terrific bed, great
view with windows on three sides of the room, and another great
fireplace. I must take a moment here to thank Patrick for his terrific
advise in recommending both the Cow Hollow Suites in San Francisco, and
also the Normandy Inn in Carmel. Both accommodations were absolutely
terrific ? thanks Patrick! You have great taste!
The city of Carmel enchanted me most on the entire trip. It was great
to be staying right downtown, very close to a knockout beach, great
shops, restaurants and galleries. The homes are quaint and the people
are very friendly. When we walked down to the beach, we immediately
spotted the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed cottage on the water, so of
course we took a stroll to see that too. 17-Mile Drive, lunch at
Pebble Beach (just do it!), the deer on the golf course, etc., etc.,
etc?. all so wonderful.
When we left Carmel, we drove down the coast and saw the scenery that I
have only seen before in movies and TV commercials. I am getting
chills down my neck and spine right now while I am typing and recalling
the magnificent views. I had never seen anything like this in my life!
For those of you who are wondering about road conditions ? I was
driving on the ?ocean side? of the road and was never scared in the
least. In fact, I would recommend this side to drive on ? driving
south rather than north ? as the ocean side is where all of the pull
offs are for you to get out of your car to stop and take it all in.
The pull offs are abundant and worthy of several stops! The
convertible made the views all the more visible and accessible. We had
lunch in Cambria, and found that to be a ?cute? town.
Our final resting point was a timeshare swap on the beach on the
Channel Island Shores in Oxnard ? just outside of Ventura. This was a
great stop to be able to see the area along the coast. Santa Barbara,
Santa Monica, Malibu, etc. were all very accessible, and the beach was
great! We also went to the Santa Ynez valley. (I wrote a bit about
that in another post ? if interested, just link on my name.)
One of the most interesting side trips was our Sunday morning drive to
the Crystal Cathedral down in Garden Grove. Being a music major,
school/church musician, the place has always interested me. My partner
is also the big architecture buff, so it was pretty inspirational for
him as well. We enjoyed a very fine service with one of the five
largest pipe organs in the world, a great choir, a terrific summer
guest speaker, Jennifer Rothschild of West Palm Beach; all taking place
in this beautiful, all-glass, Phillip Johnson-designed building. He
also designed other buildings on the church campus, as well as Richard
Meier. Great architecture, music, message, and fellowship with the
people all made for a terrific Sunday morning.
We did so much on our tip in California, yet have so much to look
forward to go back for too. I would have loved to have seen Napa, San
Diego, the Mojave Desert, Northern California, Palm Springs, etc.,
etc., etc. I do think that I got a pretty good flavor for the state
though, at least a good start for my first visit. Much thanks to you
good folks at Fodors who keep pumping out the information ? We could
never have had such a great trip without your suggestions and ideas.
Happy Trails,
Paul
________________________
This 2-week August had us flying from Detroit into San Francisco; we
drove the coast south and flew back home out of Los Angeles.
San Francisco has a terrific hotel in the Cow Hollow Suites. Our room
had a wonderful huge bed in its separate bedroom, a living room that
was beautifully appointed, and a nice sized kitchen. The fireplace was
wonderful in the evenings as well. Our suite faced Chestnut Street,
which was a better direction than onto Lombard Street, IMHO. Chestnut
Street has some terrific restaurants, shops, coffee shops, etc. It was
a very trendy area and even had a Pottery Barn and a Lucky Brand Store.
From this location we were able one day to walk to the Golden Gate
Bridge and enjoy the great park. From there we easily hopped on a bus
over to Fisherman?s Wharf. We walked through all of the piers,
enjoying each one for it?s own uniqueness. The sea lions are not to be
missed! Enjoyed the shops at Ghriradelli Square, and loved what they
did with The Cannery. From the wharf we walked through North Beach and
checked out the Italian district, then through Chinatown. That place
is a trip! (My partner hated all of the commotion ? just too much for
him, I guess). When the guy came out of a storefront carrying a large
gutted whole pig and threw it into an open truck (like a dead body!),
it did seem to be getting odd to me too. But interesting! And who
could pass up the street special $10 Ray Ban sunglasses?
From Chinatown we walked through Russian Hill and up the crooked part
of Lombard Street (?The Crookedest Street?). From there, we walked all
the way back down Lombard and back to our hotel. It is true what they
say about walking in San Francisco. You sure do a lot of it! I guess
you just get caught up in it and enjoy the whole experience.
We also checked out many other areas of the city. The Castro section was
certainly an interesting one. As was downtown Union Square, etc. I
had posed a question here at Fodors before our trip, asking about the
Boulevard Restaurant. I am sorry that I did not get there to try that
one out. There are just so many choices! We ate at great places, but
they were typical cafes, etc.
We toured the Marin County Civic Building, designed by architecture
Frank Lloyd Wright. It was their Wednesday morning full tour ? the
only day of the week they complete it. I must say it was a very
interesting building and worthy of the stop for you architecture
aficionados. It took about an hour to go through and is in typical
Frank Lloyd Wright splendor.
When we left the city, we drove south on Hwy 101 until just west of San
Jose. We took the windy roads through the Diablo Mountains and ended
up in Santa Cruz. The mountain drive was truly spectacular along
highways 17 & 9. We spent an afternoon in Santa Cruz and walked the
pier, through the carnival and beach casino house, and also checked out
the downtown a bit. We finished our late day at Carmel, when we
checked into the Normandy Inn, just in time for a late afternoon
Sherry. Again, another very lovely room with a terrific bed, great
view with windows on three sides of the room, and another great
fireplace. I must take a moment here to thank Patrick for his terrific
advise in recommending both the Cow Hollow Suites in San Francisco, and
also the Normandy Inn in Carmel. Both accommodations were absolutely
terrific ? thanks Patrick! You have great taste!
The city of Carmel enchanted me most on the entire trip. It was great
to be staying right downtown, very close to a knockout beach, great
shops, restaurants and galleries. The homes are quaint and the people
are very friendly. When we walked down to the beach, we immediately
spotted the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed cottage on the water, so of
course we took a stroll to see that too. 17-Mile Drive, lunch at
Pebble Beach (just do it!), the deer on the golf course, etc., etc.,
etc?. all so wonderful.
When we left Carmel, we drove down the coast and saw the scenery that I
have only seen before in movies and TV commercials. I am getting
chills down my neck and spine right now while I am typing and recalling
the magnificent views. I had never seen anything like this in my life!
For those of you who are wondering about road conditions ? I was
driving on the ?ocean side? of the road and was never scared in the
least. In fact, I would recommend this side to drive on ? driving
south rather than north ? as the ocean side is where all of the pull
offs are for you to get out of your car to stop and take it all in.
The pull offs are abundant and worthy of several stops! The
convertible made the views all the more visible and accessible. We had
lunch in Cambria, and found that to be a ?cute? town.
Our final resting point was a timeshare swap on the beach on the
Channel Island Shores in Oxnard ? just outside of Ventura. This was a
great stop to be able to see the area along the coast. Santa Barbara,
Santa Monica, Malibu, etc. were all very accessible, and the beach was
great! We also went to the Santa Ynez valley. (I wrote a bit about
that in another post ? if interested, just link on my name.)
One of the most interesting side trips was our Sunday morning drive to
the Crystal Cathedral down in Garden Grove. Being a music major,
school/church musician, the place has always interested me. My partner
is also the big architecture buff, so it was pretty inspirational for
him as well. We enjoyed a very fine service with one of the five
largest pipe organs in the world, a great choir, a terrific summer
guest speaker, Jennifer Rothschild of West Palm Beach; all taking place
in this beautiful, all-glass, Phillip Johnson-designed building. He
also designed other buildings on the church campus, as well as Richard
Meier. Great architecture, music, message, and fellowship with the
people all made for a terrific Sunday morning.
We did so much on our tip in California, yet have so much to look
forward to go back for too. I would have loved to have seen Napa, San
Diego, the Mojave Desert, Northern California, Palm Springs, etc.,
etc., etc. I do think that I got a pretty good flavor for the state
though, at least a good start for my first visit. Much thanks to you
good folks at Fodors who keep pumping out the information ? We could
never have had such a great trip without your suggestions and ideas.
Happy Trails,
Paul
________________________
Aug 19th, 2003, 05:07 PM
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Thanks for the mountain correction Betsy. Of course you are right. Now, if I could only figure out why all of my " and - marks were all changed into ? marks. I even previewed my message and changed all of that once when I pasted my report from my Windows doucment and previewed my message. Oh well..... thanks for the compliment on the itinerary, Betsy. You sure live in a terrific area of our country.
Aug 21st, 2003, 01:16 PM
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Thanks for the great report, Paul! We kind of 'fell' over the Crystal Cathedral one summer; we'd toured Nixon's Library and Home in Yorba Linda, got lost (this was before ONSTAR
) and found ourselves in Garden Grove. We were so glad we stopped as both the sanctuary and pipe organ were very impressive.
Mar 22nd, 2004, 07:05 AM
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Paul, you replied to one of my postings re: Ventura and the coast. I clicked on your name to find this posting with such great information. I see that the Cow Hollow Suites also have a motel. It is only my husband and I traveling. Do you have any input on what the motel is like?
Mar 24th, 2004, 01:25 AM
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Hi Allison,
I am sorry that I did not see any of the rooms inside of the motel, Cow Hollow. I can tell you that the motel part is what I would consider the "main building." The suites where we stayed were actually in a totally different building, yet connected by an underground garage. I will tell you that I thought the location was fantastic. The motel faces Lombard Street, which is busier than the backside of the building facing Chestnut. The entire facility looked very well run and clean. I don't think you'd go wrong in the motel part. Please do check out Chestnut Street - runs parallel to Lombard just behind the hotel. Great places for quick, delicious meals. Also lots of coffee shops, boutiques, etc. in the area. -Makes for a nice area to stay in. Did I mention that the bed we had in the suite was probably the most comfortable bed I had ever slept in during a hotel stay? I couldn't frickin' believe how nice it was.
Have a terrific time! Did you check out my report on the Santa Ynez Mountains? Definitely worth a day stop. You can drive the by Regan Ranch and catch a great winery - just neat areas in the mountains.
I KNOW that you're going to have a terrific time!
Paul
I am sorry that I did not see any of the rooms inside of the motel, Cow Hollow. I can tell you that the motel part is what I would consider the "main building." The suites where we stayed were actually in a totally different building, yet connected by an underground garage. I will tell you that I thought the location was fantastic. The motel faces Lombard Street, which is busier than the backside of the building facing Chestnut. The entire facility looked very well run and clean. I don't think you'd go wrong in the motel part. Please do check out Chestnut Street - runs parallel to Lombard just behind the hotel. Great places for quick, delicious meals. Also lots of coffee shops, boutiques, etc. in the area. -Makes for a nice area to stay in. Did I mention that the bed we had in the suite was probably the most comfortable bed I had ever slept in during a hotel stay? I couldn't frickin' believe how nice it was.
Have a terrific time! Did you check out my report on the Santa Ynez Mountains? Definitely worth a day stop. You can drive the by Regan Ranch and catch a great winery - just neat areas in the mountains.
I KNOW that you're going to have a terrific time!
Paul
May 6th, 2004, 09:50 PM
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Paul, we leave for Ca. next week, so I'm busy copying all the great info from this site. I can't find the info on Santa Ynez mountains that you mentioned that you posted. I have searched, but I must be missing it somewhere. Could you "bring it to the top" for me? Thanks!
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