Just got back from a Calif trip. We flew into San Francisco on a Saturday. Stayed at the Marriott at Fisherman's Wharf, very nice with super helpful staff. We walked down to the wharf after checking in and had dinner at Dante's, excellent seafood, great service, nice view (sit upstairs or outside). Wandered thru the shops, the most unusual was the spy shop! Lots of stuff for the terminally paranoid. The owner gave us a tour with quite a commentary!

Sunday we visited Golden Gate Park. The conservatory of flowers was outstanding. We wandered thru the arboretum a bit before it started raining so we bailed and headed to the Haight for a laugh. Fun to walk around, some very funky shops. Then back to the wharf for dinner at Scoma's on pier 47. Italian food, high quality, good sauces, service a little snotty.

Monday we played downtown and Chinatown wandering thru shops and people watching. Did some geocaching and relaxed. Had dinner at The Mandarin in Ghiradelli Square, excellent food, great service.

Tuesday we rented a car and drove to Monterey. Stayed at the Monterey Hotel downtown near Fisherman's Wharf - don't recommend it. We were on the 4th floor with no elevator, and the night it rained our ceiling leaked onto the bed. Manager said pretty much, oh well... Room was worn, service extremely indifferent. Next time we'll stay at the Marriott 2 blocks away. Highly recommend the Wild Plum restaurant for breakfast, lunch or a snack. Great coffee and a large selection of teas. I also recommend the Sardine Factory. Expensive, but great food and very attentive service. Ditto Stokes.

We spent 6 hours at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, wow what a place! We're nature and wildlife fans, so it was really cool. Went on a weekday at opening time and it wasn't busy yet, but got busier later. Don't miss it, wear REALLY comfy shoes, and give yourself lots of time.

Also went birdwatching at Elkhorn Slough, great variety of birds. Fisherman's Wharf isn't much, just a few restaurants, gift shops, and lots of boardwalk. On I think it was Tuesday there was an afternoon farmer's market downtown, lots of great stuff.

Next we drove to Big Sur, stayed at the Big Sur Lodge in Pfeiffer State Park - highly recommend. They have duplex & triplex cabins . Ours had a fireplace and a nice view of the old redwoods. Lots of hiking and you get a pass to the other state parks in the area. If you want to see wildlife go to the scenic viewpoint about 10 miles south of Pfeiffer State Park, or to Point Lobos State Park. We saw Calif Condors, sea otters, whales, dolphins, hawks, cormorants in breeding plumeage, and lots of other birds. The hikes thru the redwoods is a spiritual experience!

Some general tips:
Leave PLENTY of time to drive down Highway 1. It's very curvy and you'll want to stop at lots of pull-outs to check out the scenery.

Skip Carmel, it's obscenely pretentious!!

The parks we visited were not dog-friendly at all, no dogs on trails, etc. In most places you had to leave your dog in the car, or walk on a leash just in the parking lot. We were glad we hadn't brought our dog!

If I think of anything else I'll add it. If you have questions I'll try to answer them!

Sounds like a great trip! And you visited some of our favorite places, too. We were somewhat disappointed with elkhorn slough however, as it was an usually quiet day when we were there, altho the walking / running path was excellent. Also LOVED point lobos, and i have to say, i especially loved carmel, too!

Thanks for sharing your trip with us.

We actually didn't get into the Elkhorn Slough preserve, it's closed MOndays & Tuesdays, but further down the road was a parking lot by the slough with good birdwatching, and a couple of pull-outs ditto!

My Daughter and I did something similar last summer. We stayed at the Monterey Hyatt and it was great, but we had to drive down town. The Marriott probably would have been better. I agree with you on the aquarium. On thing we thought was cool was the diving lessons for kids. It looked awesome and the kids I asked said it was. My daughter and I horseback ride, so wwe did a couple of trail rides. One at Pebble Beach Equestian center and the other at Molera state Park. The Pebble Beach ride I would recommend to anyone. The Molera ride might be a little intimidating to non-riders. The horses are monsters. The ride was great though.

What a great trip you had!

Isn't it amazing how quickly the time passes at the aquarium? Before we went I thought we'd maybe spend 2 hours max there, but like you, we ended up there upwards of 5 or 6 hours! I especially like the tidal room with all the birds. Very cool. Is the great white shark still there or did they let it go?

-Bill

The great white shark is gone, much to my disappointment. But where else can you pet a bat ray? Soooo cool!!

dskier: we wanted to do the horseback ride on the beach thing but it was raining the day we'd planned it. I recommend it tho, I talked to someone at the lodge who'd done it and said it was fantastic!