Leaving a Piece of My Heart in San Francisco

My birthday just happened to fall on Day 6 of our trip. And we were spending it in San Francisco!

But first, we packed up (again!) and went out to breakfast at a great little place called First Awakenings in Pacific Grove. It was in a little outlet shopping center, and they were very busy. We got to sit out on the patio in the coolness, and it was great. We had to laugh at the birds, though, because they were showing up as people finished their food and walked away. One of them tried to eat a piece of pancake or bread that was just too big, and as he was trying to choke it down, he was accosted by about 10 others who tried to grab it when it fell to the ground. Funny!

The food was absolutely fantastic!

 

And then, there was a sock shop inside that I had to go to. I have a problem… I love socks and pajamas.

When I was younger and didn’t have two pennies to rub together, I worked at a savings and loan. A girl worked there who really had no money problems at all, and she wore the CUTEST socks. I vowed to myself that if I ever had money, I was going to buy all the cute socks I wanted. Socks. They were my status symbol.

So I went into the shop and spent $40. For myself. On socks. For my birthday. And I didn’t care.

 

 

Before leaving the Monterey area, we drove back down on Lighthouse and took pictures. Jim wanted to stand on the north end (at least, I think it was north) and get a picture of the entire street. That area is absolutely incredibly beautiful. That seems to be the theme of our trip.

 

We stopped to get gas, and Jim wanted a good picture of Challenger (it has its own persona now!), and when we were standing out there, a girl was driving by and stopped to ask if it was new. Jim said it was a rental (but if the truth be told, it is a 2016!).

 

We arrived in Berkeley, and when we got off of the interstate and onto the city street, right under the bridge was a homeless tent community. I was pretty surprised, though I don’t know why. It really is such a sad sight to see.

We were staying at The Doubletree by Hilton on the marina. We arrived earlier than check-in, and our room wasn’t ready. Either you pay to park your own car there, or you pay for valet parking. Jim was outside talking to the valet, and he told us that there was a shuttle that drove into downtown Berkeley so we could catch the train into San Francisco. We left everything in the car and took off to the BART. It was so exciting!

 

When we arrived, we had to stare at the maps, figure out what we were doing, and Jim downloaded the app. You could always tell when it was close because of the wind that came first. And then our train arrived! It didn’t seem to move that fast when we were sitting down. Lots of people jumped on, and it actually goes in a tunnel through the ocean (I think). 

 

We got off in downtown San Francisco and just stood there and looked around for a minute. And then we had our regular dilemma. Had to use the restroom. So we went to Starbucks (that also had a PIN system on their bathroom door) and got some coffee and made a plan. We were going to Pier 39. And using (what I call) the trolley, railcar, whatever you might want to call it.

 

It was such a cool area! So much fun. We had dinner at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. and looked out over the ocean and at Alcatraz. A huge speedboat, and I mean huge, that took people out on the water, was basically doing donuts out there on the choppy water, and I was glad I wasn’t on it. 

 

 

It seemed the ocean was very choppy every time I saw it. But it was still lovely.

 


After dinner, we walked down to the edge of the walkway, and there was a gigantic heart for people to take pictures by. Someone in the crowd offered to get our picture, and when they found out we were there celebrating our 25^th anniversary, everyone in the crowd yelled, “Kiss! Kiss!” So we did.

 

 

 

 

By this time, we were kind of worn out, if you want to know the truth, but we hadn’t bought anything for Noah’s girlfriend, Haley, yet. There was a puppet shop, and I love puppets! So we went inside, and I saw a cat puppet that won me over. Haley loves cats, so she was getting a fun gift of a cat puppet from San Francisco.

When we got back on the train, there wasn’t any available seats. We had to stand up. I thought it was interesting that full-grown men were sitting in the seats, young people, too, who could have stood up and let older people or women sit down. No one even offered, and I thought that was disheartening. Finally, someone got off the train and I sat down. Although the train didn’t seem to go fast when you are sitting down, standing up is a different story.

This young student “kid” lost his phone on the train, which I don’t even know how it happened, and he was panicking, cussing, looking everywhere. His friends got off, and he stayed on to look for it, but he didn’t find it.

When we got back to the station, we called the hotel to get the shuttle back. When we were waiting, a family was standing there, too, and waiting for a ride back to our hotel. The shuttle driver, Peter, was a great guy. We all talked the whole way back, and we found out the family was from Houston! All of us were from Texas!  So funny!

And Peter told us about the schools there in Berkeley and his niece and how proud he was of her violin playing. It was so sweet.

When Peter found out it was my birthday and our anniversary trip, he was excited. And when we returned to the hotel, he made sure we had cookies and asked the manager to give us some free drinks/food from the bar, which they did. It was so nice of them.

When we went to bed that night, it was hard to believe we only had one full day left on the trip. At that point, I was pretty ready to get home. I missed my boys, but I didn’t know how much I would miss some things about our vacation.

I had my husband all to myself. We weren’t on the phone with other people, and we got to laugh together and talk and have fun.

I had nothing to do work-wise, housework-wise, bill-paying-wise, I had really no cares in the world.

And it was very nice.

A Beautiful Glorious View - Day 4

So it was Day 4, and we were headed out of LA. I wasn’t really ready to leave at that point because LA has been on my bucket list. It sounded like a far-away place that I may never see, but I did get to see it. It was beautiful and busy and crowded and crazy.

But mostly beautiful.

I wasn’t ready to leave our nice hotel room, either, I would suggest that if you are ever staying in the LA area, look into staying at Courtyard Marriott LA/Burbank Airport location. It’s close to shopping, the highway, it’s quiet and well-kept. Here’s the link. And the pictures are spot-on. http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/burcy-courtyard-los-angeles-burbank-airport/

Oh, and that's the Challenger there, too. 

 

Our friend, Willow, told us about a good breakfast place in Hollywood for breakfast. On a side note, it seemed like everything we did in the LA area took us back to Hollywood or North Hollywood. Fortunately, The Waffle has on-the-street parking AND restrooms! We sat out on the patio and had these outstanding waffles and eggs. Our server was an actor on a REAL show, was very nice, and we had interesting conversation. Check out The Waffle if you are in the area. They have fantastic food! http://thewafflehollywood.com/

I have to admit it was a little sad to be leaving a place I had wanted to visit for so long, but we had to be in Pismo Beach by 3:15 for our date with Sunbuggy. That meant we didn’t have time to go to Santa Monica Pier, which was another thing on the list in my head. Oh well, we will visit there next time.

We took a little, what I think was a detour, on our drive to Pismo, and ended up driving up and down a mountain pass. With no bathrooms. After drinking coffee. I was a mess! We finally did come upon a small town, and it was a good thing.

When we arrived at our hotel in Pismo Beach, Best Western Plus Cliff Shore Lodge, our room wasn’t ready yet. We checked in, though, and went on to Sunbuggy Fun Rentals in Oceano. We left our car in 2-hour parking (yikes!), went to the bathroom on beach with NO sinks to wash our hands, ugh, got on the trailer and rode out to the location on the beach at Oceano State Park. We weren’t the only people out there that day, and it was cloudy, windy and cool again. 

 

Jim was very excited about this experience, and I was just nervous. We had to watch a video back at the shop about safety, and then the representative on the beach also told us about safety, giving us a printed map, told us where to stay away from, etc. He specifically talked about the dunes that went down at a 90-degree angle. I hoped we would not encounter one of those because it would have sent me over the edge (no pun intended!).

We had helmets, seat belts, etc., and Jim started driving down the sand area. After a couple of turns, we found ourselves about 2 feet (maybe, that’s a conservative guess) away from the ledge of a 90-degree sand cliff down. When I looked over to my right and saw it, panic overtook me, and I said, “No, no, no!” Jim saw it, too, and he said later that it had scared him a little bit. He let go on the gas a little, turned the buggy, and we got out of it.

Then the begging started. “Please take me back to the place! I don’t want to do this anymore! You can go out without me again, but please take me back!”

Jim did take me back, but he left with me. He really had a good time and wants to go again, but it will have to be without me. Not again. I’m just not cut out for thrill-rides like that. 

We went inside a candy shop before leaving the area, and we spent like $30 on candy, caramel apples, candy...

We got back to the hotel and checked in, and the view from the balcony was, well, I have no adequate words. The pictures on the website describe it well, but they still do not explain the beauty of this place, http://book.bestwestern.com/bestwestern/US/CA/Pismo-Beach-hotels/BEST-WESTERN-PLUS-Shore-Cliff-Lodge/Hotel-Overview.do?iata=00171880&propertyCode=05203&cm_mmc=BL-_-Google-_-GMB-_-05203. 

 

We had a dinner reservation at the neighboring restaurant, on the Pacific Ocean, called Ventana Grill. It was a good thing Jim thought ahead to make the reservation because they were busy! Our table overlooked the ocean, and it was beautiful. We hoped to see a sunset on the ocean while we were there, but the clouds really never went away that day. While we ate dinner, we watched the seagulls landing on the railing outside, and one of them was hilarious, walking closer and closer to the window. The food was expensive and so incredible. What a great night!

 

 

 

Afterwards, we walked back through the parking lot, got to the room, put on pajamas and played Canasta. The sliding door was open, and we could hear the seagulls and other animals out there making noises. Jim went to bed before I did, and I just sat there on the sofa next to the open door, listening to the sounds of the ocean. I had been dreaming about this moment since I saw the hotel listing on the internet several months ago. Pictures just don’t do it justice.

 

The birds finally stopped talking, and everything became quiet except for the water rushing in over the rocks and cliffs outside the hotel. 

 

 

To say this evening was glorious is a true understatement. When I think about it, it’s hard to find the words, but I can feel it in my heart.

The Observatory is Closed? Wait, What? Day 3

So we learned Griffith Observatory is CLOSED on Mondays!

 

We got up that Monday morning, got ready, and looked for the IHOP that was close to the hotel. (The above picture was right outside the IHOP.) After eating breakfast, we knew we were driving back up to the observatory to see that darn sign! But alas, it’s closed on Mondays, which we did not know. So we drove back down the mountain knowing we wouldn’t be going back up.

Disappointing? Yes.

Did it ruin the trip? No way!

For those who don’t know who Chris Hardwick is – he is the host of The Walking Dead after-show called The Talking Dead. He also hosts another program called @Midnight. I looked and looked to get some kind of tickets for a live taping of a show, and this was the only one I could find. Actually, we were put on the wait list and then given tickets the same day. Jim watched a couple of episodes, so he knew it was a potty-mouth show, but it was Chris Hardwick!

We went down to Hollywood to see the Walk of Fame. THAT was so cool! We parked in the parking garage, and I didn’t even mind spending the money. And people were everywhere! I had to break down and buy a new pair of Sketchers because all I took was sandals – yeah, I know. And we got some souvenirs, t-shirts, magnets, etc.

 

Oh, and there was public restrooms in the mall! I was shocked.

There was quite a few musicians on the streets trying to sell their CDs, but masquerading as giving them away. It was frustrating because we were down there to see things and not be accosted by people trying to sell us things we didn't care about. 

 

I ended up having a horrible hot flash out there in the mall area and thought I was going to die. It took, what seemed like forever, for me to cool down. We sat down, had some Annie’s Pretzels, and talked to a guy from New York. His family was on vacation, too.

Afterwards, we went to find parking where the show was being taped at a stage I can’t remember the name of… The signs on the street were so hard to understand that we drove around several blocks before stopping to read them. Something like “free parking for 2 hours unless it’s on Monday when the street cleaners come by…” But not all signs were the same. It was crazy!

Oh, and we couldn’t take our cell phones in with us, so we have no pictures to prove that we were there. But if you watch the episode, you can see us. From the back.

We stood out in line with a bunch of interesting people while we waited to be herded into the security line. The gal behind us was from England and was taking a year-long trip and going to many countries. She told us a story about it being so hot and her roommates didn’t want her to use the fan, but she did it anyway, and, well. So the guy behind her was from Chicago, and then there was a couple of older ladies, in their 60s, who, while standing there in line, watched as their car was towed down the street. Whoops! They parked in the wrong spot. And I'm not sure, but I think someone with the show helped them afterwards.

In the security line, Jim realized he had his knife with him. So he gave it to them, and they held it until after the show.

We sat out on benches while we waited for them to usher us in. Somehow we ended up in the second row of the studio. The guy who warms up the crowd singled several people out, including a beautiful middle-aged woman who was there with her son (and they made him dance on stage for 20 seconds), a young single lady who really played along, and me. Yes, the person who doesn’t like spotlights shining on me, no attention, etc. There was some foul language, and it was a little embarrassing, but Jim got a @Midnight t-shirt out of the whole thing AND we got to see Chris Hardwick! He is funny, but I have to admit that I do like him better on The Talking Dead.

Afterwards, we picked up Jim’s knife and headed out so Jim he could show me where he lived when he lived in in LA as a young adult. He also wanted to go to a hamburger place that he swore was just fantastic, and when we saw one of the locations, we decided to go to the one by our hotel in Burbank instead.

To say that it’s a little hole in the wall is an understatement. And guess what? They didn’t have a public restroom, either! I had to walk across the parking lot to the Carl's Jr to go to the bathroom. Insanity! (Yes, that is the Challenger in the background behind my head.)

 

We decided the food wasn’t exactly as good as he remembered, stopped by Walmart to get some playing cards, and went back to the hotel. Then we sat in the lobby and played Canasta for a while. It was a lot of fun.

I had already decided that I was glad we didn’t live in LA, but to visit there was just priceless. We were having such a great time, and really, we had only begun.