I completely forgot to post about the last 3 days of our trip to Napa/San Fran. Bear with me, there is good stuff to report…. almost-naked-people photos for one, but I have to do this now b/c I’m going on vacation again this Saturday for 9 days and need to do this before we leave!
To read Part 1, click here
and to read Part 2, click here
So here’s our map of the last few days…..
So on our last 3 days of the trip, we spent night 5/6 in San Fran and night 7 in Half Moon Bay. On day 5 we woke up in San Fran (Sunday) and it happened to be the funny and hilarious annual ‘Bay to Breakers‘ race. This is a 7 mile race thru town that consists of serious runners, walkers and a bunch of crazies that walk in costume, drinking their way to the end. It is more important to have a costume that screams “I’m gay” or “I”m crazy” than to win the race. It was a hoot. (And mind you, there were some without costume and only running shoes). After observing some of this we then headed to Fisherman’s Wharf for some lunch and more SF sites.
(click on these smaller photos to see them on steroids….but I thought I’d spare you the details here)
I’m such a freak about natural disasters, that I prayed a “Hail, Mary” everytime we drove across the GG bridge hoping for no EARTHQUAKES!!! It’s high!
The famous Alcatraz island…..
Rather than spending another day in San Fran on Monday — after all it is a glorious city but it is a city — we opted to take a long route (again) to Half Moon Bay instead of driving a convenient 30 minutes. I have always wanted to check out Carmel so we did just that. We left San Fran after breakfast and headed south which was about a 90 minute+ drive. We were able to have lunch in Carmel and walk around to check out the town. It was exactly as I expected — quaint, gorgeous, lots of nice cars, expensive and lovely homes and lots of high end galleries (more than I expected in fact). And yes, there was still some fog. ENOUGH! After lunch, we walked down to the beach and were able to see the magnificent Pebble Beach Golf Resort and part of the famous 17 mile drive off to our right. We didn’t do that drive as we were checking into the Ritz Carlton at 3pm and wanted to MAXIMIZE our time there as you can imagine! So after our lunch in Carmel, we headed back up the Pacific Coast Highway thru Santa Cruz. It was equally stunning this side of San Fran. I am still in awe of the farms that butt up against the ocean. On the east coast you can only see huge homes on the beach! But as I joked to Jack, these darn cattle have better views than most people! I’m sure when they’re grazing, they just don’t get it. I felt like smacking them to get their heads up and look OUT between chomps. Sheesh.
A view south from Carmel looking at Pebble Beach Golf Course.
I started getting pretty good at doing the self-portrait/timer thing on this trip — tho, running in the sand to pose isn’t so easy!
Just past Santa Cruz, we saw the awesome kiteboarders on Wadell Beach. Talk about beautiful. Their precision skills and the colorful kites were amazing. I couldn’t take my eyes off of it. Finally, we got to Half Moon Bay and wow — what a view this Ritz has. It’s been there about 7 years and is by far, the most luxurious hotel I have ever stayed in. Of course it is. When checking in, they asked us if this was any special occasion. We of course told them we had been traveling to celebrate our 40th’s bday and thought nothing more of it as it was probably just a typical pleasantry. Well, they clearly put it in the database as we were given a happy birthday dessert after our wonderful dinner in the hotel — candles and two quality boxes of chocolate wrapped with gold ribbon. Loved it. Then as we arrived in our room to get a bottle of wine (we were going to share some outside in front of one of the firepits under a blanket (it’s so cold there at night!)), we walked into our room where the lights had been dimmed, the tv was playing “chill” music and our bed was turned down and COVERED in yellow and red rose petals!!! I about fell off my feet if that’s even possible. I was crying and laughing at the same time in disbelief. It was again, this unexpected sensory overload that the entire trip offered every step of the way. I honestly wanted to sleep on the floor and not mess up that gorgeous bed.
Our view from our room at the Ritz. (the window only opened about 6 inches!)
The amazing birthday bed….
Lastly, we even had fun at the airport before our red-eye home. We got there early enough (or too early) where the Virgin America rep suggested we get the ‘club’ pass to kill time. We had about 3-4 hours to kill so why not! Free drinks and nibbles and a comfortable room. It was so worth the extra $$! What a posh and comfortable room! So from start to finish, this was truly one of the best trips we have taken. Tho, regardless of where we go, we always seem to have a fun time. We highly, highly recommend Napa and Half Moon if you are ever in the San Fran area. I can’t wait to go back.
