California Road Trip of a Lifetime Day 7 - LA, Hollywood, Rodeo Drive, Venice Beach, Huntington Beach, Laguna, San Diego

Today we got up early and had the best free continental breakfast yet! It had “eggs with cheese and peppers” and waffles. Delicious! We headed out the door early and headed to Hollywod blvd. On our way we stopped at Rodeo Drive and took a stroll among the rich and famous. We then took Sunset Blvd to Hollywood Blvd and did the whole touristy thing, that we said we were not going to do, and walked the walk of stars, saw the Kodak & Chinese Theaters, and then saw the famous Hollywood sign. I must tell you, if you have never seen this before, it's nothing spectacular. It's really just a block in the big city of LA and full of tourists. It is nothing like I would have thought.

We then headed to Venice Beach to see the “freak show.” I was a little disappointed, there weren't many freaks out. But the pier is lined with tons of little shops and people selling anything they could think of, including one guy selling a kick in his rear for $1, and some pretty crazy people out there doing the strangest of things. There is also the famous “Muscle Beach” along the pier where big bulky gross looking boys lift weights and wear speedos. Not my thing, but may be yours....

After the freak show we headed down PCH 1 and ate lunch at Charlie's Pizza in Redondo Beach. It was great pizza! The rest of the day was spent driving in stop-and-go traffic down PCH. Hind sight 20/20 we probably should have gotten on the 405 Hwy...But we didn't, we drove through Huntington Beach, which was packed with tons and tons of surfer dudes and girls walking around in biknis. Come to find out it was the US Open of Surfing that weekend, no wonder it was so crowded!  It did look like a cool beach town with a lot of neat shops though.

We drove through Laguna Beach and hit the end of PCH for us. Laguna is beautiful and the coast is lined with million bizillion dollar homes and beautiful beaches. Then we hopped on HWY 5 and headed south to San Diego! After hours and hours of driving, we finally made it around 7 pm.  We booked a hotel close to the airport and the harbor.  Once we got into town we settled into our hotel and then ventured out to find a place to eat.  We drove down to the harbor and ended up eating at The Fish Market.  There were tons of options for fresh fish and since Andrew and haven't really ever ate anything except for catfish and talapia, we were a little overwhelmed with all the options.  We settled on crab cakes.  They were pretty good.  The restaurant seemed like a pretty cool one and I am sure the fresh fish is delicious.  I think we were both just exhausted and too overwhelmed to really figure out what to order.  After dinner we drove down to Gaslamp Quarter.  Its an area in downtown that is lined full of shops, restaurants, bars, etc.  It was packed full of people!  There wasn't a parking space in town, so we just drove through it and then headed on back to the hotel.  Too much time in the car today with LA traffic made for an early bedtime for us. 

Tomorrow...we are going to the zoo!  Stay tuned...

California Road Trip of a Lifetime Day 4 - 17 Mile Drive

After we enjoyed our not so much “delicious deluxe continental breakfast,” we hopped on the free trolley and headed towards Cannary Row to rent some road bikes for the day. 

 
We went to Bay Bikes and rented a couple of hybrids. From there we hopped on the bike trail and rode through Monterey along the coast. We passed some talkative harbor seals chilling along the rocks, the famous Lover's Point and then headed through Pacific Grove where we entered the gates for the 17 Mile Drive. This drive is famous for its natural beauty and notorious other landmarks along the drive. It is also home to Pebble Beach and a several other beautiful golf courses. As we biked along the street we stopped too many times to count and took more pictures than I can remember. The scenery was just breathtaking.  It was incredibly beautiful!

Seal rock is a giant rock out in the middle of the Pacific that was home to a ton of seals, sea lions, otters, and birds. It was crazy to see the vast amount of animals inhabiting on that single rock.   There had to be thousands of them! 

The Lone Cyprus is a cyprus tree, imagine that, that sits out on a cliff all by its lonesome. This was also the 10 mile mark along our almost 50 mile round-trip journey. It was also the point where the dude at Bay Bikes recommended that we stop and turn around....but we didn't...we kept on keeping on.

Once we got to Pebble Beach, we stopped at the market and ate a delicious turkey sandwich. At this point in our journey we were starving. The little community of Pebble Beach is like a tiny world within the gates. It had a bank, a market, lots of shops, and ginormous beautiful homes. The waves of the Pacific Ocean crashing along the cliffs backed up to the greenest, most beautiful golf course I have ever seen, it made for a breathtaking view. I just wonder what those people do that live in there....I know one thing for sure...they are not doctors.

Once we got to the other end of 17 Mile Drive we headed out the gates and rode into the little town of Carmel. We first stopped at the beach. Oh my...the beauty continues...the sand is white, Pebble Beach is in the background, the water is all different shades of blue, and there are little squirrels sand rats running around everywhere. This had to have been Andrew's favorite part of the whole trip. The greedly little things flocked to him. He even bought almonds at the Pebble Beach Market so he could feed the squirrels rats. Now you see why I call him a kid in a candy store all the time? I think he missed his calling..he shoulda been an animal something or another...

As soon as I could get Andrew pried away from the squirrels rats, and as soon as he could get me out from hiding in the ginormous tree trunks...

We headed up the hill to the town. Carmel is one of the cutest places I have ever been. Its so dainty and flowery. There were cuuuute little shops in victorian style homes and lots of restaurants lining Ocean Ave. People were out walking their dogs all around. The town is very pet friendly and if you look closely on the signs of hotels, you will see a pic of a dog on it showing that it welcomes ones furry friend to stay too. And the best part about the town...highheels are banned by a city ordinance! Now that's my kind of town for sure!!!

We locked our bikes up and started wandering Ocean Ave. We somehow managed to stumble upon a 3 story outdoor shopping mall. It was so cool! We ate lunch...again...at a little cafe there, we were starving people! 

Afterwards, we continued to enjoy the little town, one..because it was so cool, and two..because we were dreading the 25 miles or so we had to bike back to Monterey.  And Andrew refused to rent a tandem bike! 

After we finally mustered up enough courage to head that way, we were back on our way. And it wasn't bad at all...that was after I made it up the steepest and most curvy hill I have ever biked up.  I was so proud of myself for not getting off my bike and walking up, I was so tempted to do so.  

Even though we had just rode through 17 Mile Drive, I was still just as overcome with its beauty. We continued to stop some more along the way back. At one of our last stops within the gates, we met a very nice lady. She lived there and was showing her grandson the deer and seals along the shoreline. She offered to take pics of us and then next thing we knew she told us we should come back and watch the sunset at Spanish Bay later that evening. She was so kind as to take our names and give them to the gatekeeper so we wouldn't have to pay the $9.50 it costs to enter into the drive by car. Thank you nice lady, wherever you are! 

It seemed like the rest of the ride went by way too quickly.  Biking the 50 miles turned out to be a blast and the best way, I think, to see some of God's amazing beauty!  Once we returned our bikes we were going to hop back on the free trolley and head back to the hotel...that is until I saw Ghiradelli's. After all the riding, Andrew said I know I deserved one of those delicious sundaes...and boy was it delicious!  Heaven in a cup, that's what that was! 

We finally made it back to the hotel and man were we pooped! But you only live once, right?  And we can sleep when we are dead, or so they say? So we managed to get the energy to shower and change clothes and head back out to Spanish Bay just before sunset. We sat by a fire pit within the resort and looked out at the Pacific just in awe. As the sun was setting we snapped a pic at just the right time and enjoyed the moment together.  I am so glad we got to experience this together!  The sun setting was memorizing.  And all I could keep thinking was "How was I so lucky to be here in the most beautiful place I have ever seen with the one I love so much?!?!"  God is awesome, no doubt! 

Speaking of awesome, to show you how awesome my husband is and how much he loves me, after the sunset, for dinner we called in a pizza, picked it up, hurried back to our hotel, just in time to watch the bachelorette finale. Now that is true love right there, dontcha think?!? Especially since he hates that show with a passion. I heart him...and this day..best one yet!

Stay tuned for Day 5...We are driving the Big Sur!

California Road Trip of a Lifetime Day 3 - Santa Cruz, Moss Landing, Monterey,

We woke up in Santa Cruz at 7 am....WHY?!?!  Beats me, but at least we got an early start!  Our day started with a 4 mile run down the famous Santa Cruz boardwalk and then down to the pier to see the beautiful sea lions one last time.

The weather was perfect!  It was cool, around 55 degrees, with a nice breeze and a few scattered raindrops...ideal for running.  We then enjoyed some yummy waffles at the hotel and got ready for the day.

Around 10 a.m. we hit the road down Hwy 1 towards Monterey.  This particular part of Hwy 1 headed a little inland and went through the so-called "Salad Bowl of the World."  Yep, you guessed it!  This is where the majority of salad is grown.  There was lush greenery everywhere we looked.  About half-way in between Santa Cruz and Monterey we came across Moss Landing Elkhourn Slough.  This is an area of the bay that is home to a lot of wildlife.  Sea lions, seals, otters, and tons of birds were among the mix of wildlife we saw today.  It was incredible!  After taking a few a ton of pics, we were on our way towards Monterey!

I had booked the Monterey Downtown Travelodge before we had left for our trip...and let me just tell you, its not so pretty from the outside, but it is in a great location, the rooms are nice, and the front desk staff is very friendly, AND their is a free deluxe breakfast!  We arrived around noon and luckily got to check into our hotel early.

After we settled in, we bought tickets to the world famous Monterey Bay Aquarium, at our hotel, which I highly recommend instead of buying tickets at the aquarium, unless you want to stand in a long line.  Then we headed down to Cannery Row.  The front desk guy at the hotel was so kind to tell us about the free trolley that takes you all over the city.  We caught the trolley a block from our hotel and within 15 minutes we were at Cannery Row.  It was great and a well kept secret!  Who doesn't love free transportation?!?!  So if you are ever in the area, stay at a place close to the trolley and you'll never need a car!

We ate lunch at Sly McFly's down on Cannery Row prior to going to the aquarium.  We were starving.  This restaurant is said to be the oldest and most famous on Cannery Row.  And I must say it was pretty good!

Monterey Bay Aquarium is world famous and said to be the best aquarium in the world.  It was pretty incredible!  There were some amazing exhibits of jelly fish, tropical fish, the open ocean exhibit, a three-story reef exhibit, penguins, sea horses, etc.  I could go on and on.  It is definitely a must see if you are in the area!  We must of spent a few hours there and Andrew was like a little kid in a candy store, as he is most times he gets around animals of any kind.

After a fun time at the aquarium, we browsed the famous Cannery Row shops and bought some souvenirs.  After some shopping, catching an awesome view of the beach of Monterey, a cookie, or two, and some sightseeing, we decided that our feet needed a little rest and headed back to the hotel on the free trolley to get a little rest before dinner.

Around 7 p.m. we finally got ready for dinner.  We urban spooned it and found a nice authentic Mexican restaurant a couple of blocks from our hotel.  Lopez Restaurante had food that was so good and margaritas that were even better.  The hostess and waitress were very friendly, as were the customers that we met who gave us an excellent recommendation on what to order.  We ended up getting the combo fajitas and it was fantastic!  Once again, I highly recommend Lopez's!

We have had some really great food so far, and its only day 3!  I can't wait to see what Day 4 holds!  As of right now, its a 50 mile bike ride, please start praying for me now!

Stay tuned...