We arrived in the late afternoon. The city driving was a bit hairy thanks to vague directions from the navigation system. We settled into our hotel quickly, then took a cable car down to the wharf and looked around for somewhere to eat. It was Sunday, hardly anything was open, and it was SO cold! Not the best introduction to the city, but we'll reserve judgement for now...
We drove around for a while looking for the Google and Facebook headquarters on our way into SF. Google was pretty much what we'd expected, full of 'quirky', pretentious activities for staff on their breaks, but Facebook was kind of awful... A bit like an Albany housing development on steroids - totally devoid of any character. I'd choose Google over Facebook any day! We do! We found it. The city itself didn't look anything special - but we came for the Winchester Mystery House, and were NOT disappointed. The Victorian era house was designed and built by Sarah Winchester (of the gun-making family) to live in after her family had died. There's a lot of history behind it, and the real truth isn't known, but to cut a long story short there is a whole lot of crazy stuff in the house they now put down to either the fact that Mrs Winchester wasn't an architect (doors to nowhere, random alcoves and internal courtyards, and fake cupboards) or that she was incredibly superstitious (everything in 13s! And her own personal seance room). Spent a while walking and driving round Salinas trying to find food and a public toilet (which they don't seem to have here!). We've had some pretty impressive scones so far - most unexpected! Here they make them in big flat triangles, and sprinkle sugar on the top so they're a bit crunchy when you bite them. Stopped in Paso Robles this morning - very cute little place - and tried a raspberry scone and an apricot one, yum! But there were plenty of others: cranberry and orange, chocolate, brown butter and cinnamon... Day 2: Leaving San Simeon for San Francisco. Drove through thick dark fog up a big hill, only to pop out at the top above the fog and find it beautifully sunny! Spent some time looking around the hilltop home of media magnate William Hearst. Built over 25 years in the 20s-30s, and preserved in perfect detail right down to the flapper-style outfits laid out on the guest beds, ready to wear! 4 separate houses, 115 rooms, 35 guest bedrooms. Some good ideas for our house and garden... Day 1 and we have a pretty impressive animal count so far: squirrels, sea lions, zebras (too far away for photos) and a snake and a raccoon (both road kill). We visited the wonderfully kitsch Madonna Inn for lunch. Alas, no room to stay in the themed rooms, which were all booked. We tried 'hot' sandwiches (a Reuben - corned beef, sauerkraut, cheese and horseradish... Yum!). Finished off with a piece of cherry pie - shades of Twin Peaks! After an early start in an effort to get out of LA quickly, we stopped in Spanish Mission-style Santa Barbara for breakfast (and got offered a free kitten by a friendly homeless man in a wheelchair). The bar man asked 'Where are you from?', and Sadie answers 'Marton'. Surprisingly, he hadn't heard of it! |
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Two weeks exploring sunny California... Family roadtrip!! ArchivesCategories |