Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve is here and in Christmas tradition, Nicky has been baking cheesecake ready for tomorrow as well as cooking and glazing the ham.

And, if it's Christmas Eve, then it's time to finally wrap up some presents, and what better time to do it than whilst listening to some carols from King's. Even better to listen on a special radio.

Day 14 - finishing off

We've actually been home for a week now, but I thought I should wrap things up with a report of our final day in SF!

We packed up at the Zephyr, left our bags at the front desk, and headed out into the City, albeit our first stop was only a few hundred yards down the road - brunch at Denny's. Jake partook of another cake batter milkshake - some story about getting his calories in prior to the long flight later on!

After brunch we wandered along Fisherman's Wharf contemplating final souvenir shopping, Nicky got her red San Francisco hoodie, and we had a little walk into the 'San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park' to go along the piers and take some photographs.

By this point we definitely deserved an ice cream and a drink at Ghiradelli's. I had a chocolate malt, and mighty fine it was too, and maybe one or two spoons of the shared sundae. Then it was back to the hotel, pick up the bags, and into our booked town car for the 40 minute ride to the airport. The driver took us straight across the middle of the City, including the 45 degree hills, which caused the occasional moment of concern from the back of the car.

SF airport turned out to be easy to traverse. No queue at check in an fairly quick through security. We'd decided against a trip to SF MoMA on holiday, but their shop at the airport was very good (I bought a maths book!!) and after a meal, we were on board on time and away.

I watched a film called Norman, Nicky watched A Dog's Purpose (and managed not to cry too much) and we all got a reasonable amount of sleep on the way home.

Day 13 - around SF

Today we have:

• been to the Fortune Cookie Museum - albeit only for a couple of minutes, but we do at least now know how they are made
• had lunch in Chinatown (not as good as the Chinese restaurant at Universal in LA)
• been shopping in town, including a trip to the Hayes Street area, which had some nice stores
• had a ride back to the hotel on the 'F' line trolley
• enjoyed a sourdough bowl of chowder at Boudin's bakery
• done some souvenir shopping on Pier 39
• played some table tennis and pool in the hotel games room.

Day 12 - Disney museum and Fog City

Another late start - we're really getting the hang of this holiday thing. Out the front door of our hotel, turn left, and into ihop for brunch. After food, Jake headed off to do some shopping, whilst Nicky and I headed towards Union Street, and then the park, and eventually the Walt Disney Family Museum.

The Museum was excellent, and definitely deserves a separate post all of its own (or possibly several) another time! For now the pictures below should give an idea.

After meeting up with Jake back at the hotel, we went out for dinner at the Fog City Diner.

Day 11 - Berkeley and SF

We didn't get off to a particularly early start today, and when we did we had another look around the Zephyr, and enjoyed the courtyard here. Nicky and I even had a game of giant Connect 4. I came a close second.


Then it was off (over the very long Bay Bridge) to Berkeley for a look around. The summarised version is: better than Caltech, not as good as Stanford!

Once back in the city, we dropped the hire car off at the Hyatt (after a rather lengthy detour to fill it up) and then found a light late lunch at a nearby Chinese restaurant. Then it was time for an explore around on foot - Nicky and I went to Union Square and Chinatown, whilst Jake went rather further afield, and ended up joining in a game of basketball.

Day 10 - Stanford to SF

Check out at Ho Jo Santa Cruz this morning, and up the Freeway to Stanford. Once parked (sounds easier than it actually was), Jake set off for a good look around whilst Nicky and I stopped in for a quick coffee before embarking on our own tour.

It is a lovely place!

Definitely in the running. It passed on all fronts - ambiance, facilities, and just general impression. It passed my bookshop test, and certain members of the family will I am sure be pleased to know that we had lunch at the on-site Panda Express!

Once we'd had a pretty thorough look around, we headed up the rest of the way to San Francisco and checked in at the Zephyr hotel, which seems pretty good. We've had a wander along the wharf area this evening. Dinner at the In-n-Our burger joint, and we all agreed it was much overrated, followed by hot chocolate and a shared ice cream from Ghirardelli.

Day 9 - Aquarium and Boardwalk

We couldn't leave Monterey without one very important stop, and so after checking out from our hotel, we walked along to the other end of Cannery Row, and went in to the wonderful aquarium.

Our first stop, of course, was to see the sea otters, followed by the sea otter film in the auditorium, all about the amazing work that the aquarium does to support the local population (which if we heard correctly has increased from about 50 to 3,200 since the aquarium opened).

Lots and lots of photos taken as always, although a combination of low lighting in some areas and moving sea creatures makes for some blurry pictures. I think we managed some decent ones between us, but will have to check and upload later!

Once we'd had our fill of the aquarium, it was farewell to Monterey, via a late lunch at Denny's, and an hour or so in the car to drive up to Santa Cruz and the Ho Jo.

This afternoon / evening we've been along to the boardwalk to play all the silly games, win prizes, eat corn dogs, and have ice cream on our way home.

Day 8 - Whale Watching

If ever there was a day for letting the pictures do the talking, then today is the day:

Day 7 - to Monterey

A moving day today, starting with checking out in Santa Barbara and walking the 50 yards or so up the road to iHop for a slap up breakfast before starting the long leg of our north-bound journey. Apparently the coast road (Highway 1) is closed somewhere around Big Sur, so we stuck to the 101 for this leg of the journey. It was probably a wise move anyway given how far we were travelling. Not sure exactly how far we came today, but we joined the 101 around exit 100, and left it around exit 330, and our total mileage must have been close to 200. Lots of impressive Californian scenery on the way, as well as many miles of agriculture, including lots of vines!

Before coming to Monterey we stopped off in Carmel for a look around. Looks like an affluent and expensive area. Came up to Monterey via a drive along 17-mile drive past the golf courses and nice houses.

The Clement at Monterey is as lovely as last time. We are in a large room in the corner of the main building this time (still with zen garden!). This evening we've been next door to Bubba Gump's for dinner, and even managed to do well at the waitress's film trivia quiz.

(Our room is the second one up on the left of the main building in the first photo below.)

Day 6 - Viva la Fiesta

It turns out that we came to Santa Barbara at the right time. August 2-6 is the 'Old Spanish Days Fiesta', which includes lots of entertainment and parades. This morning it was the children's parade, and we had lots of fun watching it. It seemed like a really community-spirited event, with groups in the parade from lots of local schools, clubs and other community groups.

For the rest of the day we have been enjoying taking in the sights and sounds of Santa Barbara - mostly based around State Street or down by the sea front an pier. We had lunch at Joe's, which was considerably busier and louder than last time we were there, and dinner at a restaurant on the pier just after sunset, watching the amphibious party boat go out, and thankfully come back in again.

State Street is a long road, so depending on whether you believe the fitbit or the phone, either 22k or 35k steps today.

Day 5 - WB

Day 5 in outline - to be completed more fully later - bit tired here!

• Warner Bros Studio Tour - excellent - lots of highlights - lots of photos - will have to download from camera and upload for posting to share here
• Late lunch at the Smokehouse Restaurant next door. As was mentioned by our tour guide as a favourite of George Clooney!
• Quick trip to a shoe store for Jake for a look at expensive trainers
• A stroll along Santa Monica pier and the beach
• Drive from LA to Santa Barbara to check in at La Quinta.

Day 4 - LA moving

Started the day today by packing up at The Grand Californian. Well actually I dodged the packing by having a telephone board meeting, which nicely meant that I subcontracted the suitcase bit! Once meetings and cases had been sorted out, we left our luggage with bell services and headed into the California Adventure, and for the third time in four days went to Flo's V8 cafe in Radiator Springs for their french toast breakfast. Whilst in Cars Land we were lucky enough to see Lightning McQueen himself (!), and so many photos were taken.


The wait for Radiator Springs racers was just too long, so we went over to Paradise Pier. Unfortunately Toy Story was out of commission, and so Jake and I went on California Screamin'. Now, clearly something of a role reversal has taken place since our last visit to the West Coast in 2010. Back then, Jake was too timid to come on the roller coaster, and I distinctly remember enjoying it. This time around, Jake whooped it up all the way around, and the word I would use for my experience would be more 'endure' than 'enjoy'.


Once ridden and reunited with Nicky we decided that it was just too hot for more park activity and so headed to Downtown for some shopping and relaxation, which included:

• new sunglasses for Nicky and Jake - they both look very cool now;
• a cool drink (I am developing a particular fondness for the caramel frappucino) at Starbucks;
• an Earl of Sandwich sandwich;
• some souvenir shopping at World of Disney, including much FaceTime consultation with Izzy over some big yellow slippers.

By now it was time to say farewell to Disney and to head across to the other side of LA and to hotel number two of this holiday, 'The Garland' which seems very nice. We are only here for one night, and it turns out that they have have a free shuttle bus to Universal.

We are not going to the studios park on this holiday, but we took the opportunity to take the shuttle this afternoon and go to City Walk, and have a look at the shopping and dining opportunities there. Jake got himself a couple of basketball tops, and we went to a very nice Chinese restaurant for dinner.