The hotel is a boutique style place, steps from Union Square, our room was very clean and tidy with a large walk in closet, and lovely bathroom. As it was still early afternoon we decided to take a cable car to Fishermans Wharf, have a bite to eat, and a look around, to try and stay awake until a more reasonable time to get to bed and sleep off the journey. My initial thoughts of the Wharf weren't too good, probably because I was so tired, and the place was very busy, but after a pretty good burger and beer it was back to the hotel to sleep the sleep of the righteous.
After a great nights sleep, and superb breakfast in the hotel, the girls decided to get a bit of shopping in, so they hit the Westfield Mall on Market Street, the place is massive with all the top stores in the U.S located inside, Bloomingdales, Abercrombie and Fitch, Nordstroms etc, plus about another hundred or so to melt your credit cards into submission. After an hour or so we managed to drag them out of there, we then strolled down Market to The Embarcadero where most of the City Piers are located. The sun was splitting the trees, and people of all ages, shapes and sizes were out strolling, or jogging along The Embarcadero enjoying the great weather. When we got to the Wharf we had a better look around, Pier 39, the very noisy, but not so smelly sea lions, the view of Alcatraz, the Balclutha three masted ship, USS Pampanito, and SS Jeremiah Jones, but more of those two much later on. All of us were still feeling the effects of the journey, so we took the first of lots of trips on the famous cable cars from the Hyde St terminus back to our hotel. After freshning up we had dinner at Lori's, a nearby fifties/sixties themed restaurant, where the meatloaf, potatoes 'n gravy was very tasty indeed, then a nightcap back in the hotel.
Next day we took a bus to the Palace of Fine Arts which was used as one of the locations in the film "The Rock" where Sean Connery's character meets his estranged daughter, before the FBI nab him again. After that we strolled along Chrissy Field site of an old WWII US Army Air Force airbase before entering The Presidio of San Francisco which is an old US Army base, which funnily enough has another Sean Connery connection. Sean played the Provost Marshall of the base in the film "The Presidio" so it was interesting to see where the film was shot. The main base has a huge drill square which will bring back memories good or bad to all ex-servicemen reading this. The most thought provoking area was the National Military Cemetery which is beautifully maintained by the staff. It is the final resting place for many U.S servicemen from great Generals to Private soldiers, no rank distinction at all in this place. We walked back along Marina Boulevard with great views of the Golden Gate Bridge, through Fort Mason, then the cable car from Hyde St back to the hotel, a long days walking, but very enjoyable. After a quick shower and change it was off to AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants baseball team to watch them play the Philadelphia Pirates. The stadium is three sided with tiered stands, the fourth more open side where people can also sit is called Levi's Landing named after a left handed batter who used to hit home runs over the boundary wall into the waters of the bay. It is one of the nicest sports arenas I've been in, very family orientated, with fans willing to explain the rules of the game to the bewildered. The place has loads of food outlets, hot dogs, pizza, etc, and one with a very famous local product called Gilroy's Garlic Fries, thankfully I saw the amount of garlic they put on your fries which put me off a bit as I would have been a bit fragrant to anyone within a 10 yard smelling radius of me. During breaks in between innings the TV cameras are turned onto the crowd, the first time is for the "Kiss Cam" If you appear on the big screen you have to kiss your wife/husband/partner/stranger sitting beside you, to great cheers from the crowd. The next is the "Stretch Cam" where everyone gets up, stretches, and sings along to the famous baseball theme "Take me out to the ball park" The game didn't go too well for the Giants, they were well beaten by the Pirates. As I said earlier very family orientated, no trouble what so ever, even with alcohol being served, football fans and the authorities in this country should sit up and take note. After a quick nightcap it was off for another good nights sleep.
Our last day in SF, we headed to the cable car museum, fairly small, but very interesting. It gives the history of the cable cars, and you get to see the massive engines, and cable spools which pull the cars on the two surviving routes. Later on that day we went to "The Cheesecake Factory" on top of Macy's in Union Square for dinner. The girls had cocktails, one called "The Ultimate Vacation" which had four different types of booze in it, and with the size of measures poured, my wife sipped on it for the whole dinner. The portion sizes were the normal feed the 5000 stuff, far too much as usual.
My wife and I and our friends then went our separate ways, they had hired a car to tour the wine country, while we were heading for the City of the Angel's, LA, or La La Land, depending on your point of view. After a short flight on Virgin America to LAX we picked up our Jeep Laredo, and drove to our next hotel, The Holiday Inn Suites in Anaheim.
The drive to the hotel was to say interesting at the very least. To drive the Interstates in LA on a regular basis you have to be either certifiable, or have several sets of eyes swivelling in various directions, all at the one time, and bear in mind this was a Sunday!! After eventually finding our hotel, dinner and a stiff drink were the order of the day.
After breakfast we walked a block from the hotel to Disneyland, and soon we were inside and heading for the rides we wanted to do. My wife has never been to Disney, and isn't a great fan of roller coasters either, so I broke her in gently with a go on the Big Thunder Mountain ride. The whole ride I watched her, as she smiled, laughed, and screamed all the way to the finish, after that there was no stopping her, Splash Mountain, Indiana Jones, Matterhorn, until she had her first, and very probably last experience of Space Mountain. I did warn her the ride was in the dark, very fast, and quite scary, no problem say's she, "I am roller-coaster woman" and jumps into the car. Well after the ride, a subdued, pale and a bit shocked looking other half had to be given a reassuring arm over her shoulder and a wee cuddle walking out the exit, back to earth with a bump!! Once she had regained her composure we went on some other less exciting rides, before we went for a humungeous ice cream, then it was time to leave the park. We went to a local Italian place called Murri's for dinner where pizza was the order of the day, before a nightcap, then bedtime.
The next day after breakfast we went on an all day bus tour of LA, starting off in the downtown area, with City Hall, Federal Court House, Union Station, plus other well known sites seen regularly in films and TV. Hollywood was the next stop, and we were looking forward to seeing the Walk of Fame, Mann's Chinese Theatre, The Hollywood Sign, the Kodak Theatre of Oscar Night fame. When we got there the place was heaving with other tourists, plus the accompanying shysters, conmen, and other ne'r do wells who just love tourists and their money. I managed to get a couple of good pictures of stars of the walk of fame, including William Shatner, and Bugs Bunny, and some handprints of Fred Astaire, and Michael Caine outside the Chinese Theatre, The famous Hollywood Sign is visible from Sunset Boulevard, though a good set of binoculars wouldn't be amiss as it's a long way away, and the Kodak Theatre is in the middle a shopping centre. I must admit we were disappointed with Hollywood, with so much money in the film and TV business, you'd think that they would use some to improve the area.
After Hollywood was Beverly Hills, because we were in a bus we could only view the peripheral parts as it's a $3,000 fine if the driver takes his vehicle into the residential area. We saw the Beverly Hill Police HQ made famous in Beverly Hills Cop, which makes the place I work look very much the poor relation!! Rodeo Drive with its fabulous shops for the rich and famous was next, before stopping at the Farmers Market for lunch at, surprise, surprise, "The Cheesecake Factory" I ordered the lunch time size chicken salad, but I have to admit its the first time a salad has made me full, I must have sent back at least half of it, my wife didn't fare too well either, her orange chicken also had at least half of it left as well.
After lunch we visited Santa Monica, and Venice Beach, stopping off at Muscle Beach, with not a sign of a muscle, apart from my scrawny ones, much to the disgust of my wife. After that it was time to head back to the hotel for a late dinner.
We checked out of our hotel, and drove on Interstate 5 north out of LA and into the Mojave Desert. Once we got out of the suburbs we drove on arrow straight roads for miles through some beautiful but desolate landscape before we got to the Mojave Air and Space port in the town of Mojave. The airport is home to airlines stored aircraft they don't use, the dry heat of the desert keeps them in good condition until they are used again or sold, it is also home to company's who research and manufacture composite materials for the aerospace industry. We had lunch in the airport cafereria, where we overheard some of the research scientists blethering with test pilots about use of these new materials in aircraft. We left the airport and continued on through small towns in the desert, Lone Pine, Independence, until we reached our overnight stop in the town of Bishop. We stayed in an old B&B called Chalfant House which was a very old west style house, our room had natural stone walls, wooden floors, and a brass bedstead. We had dinner at Bill's BBQ on the main street which was excellent, before going to Rusty's Saloon for a drink.
The next day we set off for Mono Lake in Lee Vining before crossing the Tioga Pass into Yosemite National Park. Mono Lake is a beautiful spot to stop for a while, it's only a couple of hundred yards away from the busy road, but it's very quiet and peaceful, there are also vertical columns called Tufas which stick out of the water giving the place an almost lunar look. After passing through the Tioga Pass entrance and paying our $20 entrance fee we entered Yosemite National Park, and drove through some of the most spectacular scenery we have ever seen, so much so I found it hard to keep my eyes on the road. We had to stop fairly often to take photo's, and on one of the stops, at Tuolomune Meadows, I found my breathing was laboured, forgetting we were nearly 10,000 feet above sea level. After driving through the park we eventually arrived at our next stop, the Hotel Charlotte in Groveland. The hotel looks like an old wild west saloon, and it has got to be one of the quirkiest places we have stayed, if I told you the hotel dog, "Goose" is running to be the honorary town mayor, you'll catch my drift!! The owners Victor and Lynne are great hosts, and the food in the hotel, cooked by Victor is superb, as is their selection of Californian wines. Their house red is a merlot from the Sonoma area which was great, and at $8 a bottle, great value. Our room again had a brass bedstead, with a nice bathroom, the only downside was the three clocks in the hallway which ticked away all night, my ears seemed to tune into their tick with ease, but after the first night I didn't notice them too much. On the way to the hotel we noticed all the stars and stripes flags were at half mast, it wasn't until later that it dawned on us it was the anniversary of 9/11.
The next day we drove back to Yosemite, the entrance fee covers you for a week, and downhill for what seemed miles until we reached the valley floor. The floor is covered by very large trees, possibly pine, and after we drove for a bit we turned another corner, and there rising from the valley floor was "El Capitan" one of the most jaw dropping mountains I have seen. It rises almost vertically for seven and a half thousand feet or so, I only hope the photo's we've taken do it justice. From there we walked along to Yosemite Falls, unfortunately during the summer months it dries up to a trickle of water, but beautiful none the less. We got back to the car and drove to the Ahwahnee Hotel, which looks every bit a first class hotel, but the first class view in the area belongs to Half Dome another beautiful mountain, but apparently half of it is missing, hence the name. After a great day wandering the valley floor we headed back to the hotel for a wee sleep, must be the thin air that's making us tired I said, you're just getting older said the wife!! Again we had a lovely dinner, then blethered with some of the locals in the hotel lounge, to round off another superb day.
We headed to Sonora the next day and visited Columbia National Park, a gold rush village, before we walked about Sonora town itself. The town is also a gold rush place from 1849, with shops and cafes down both sides of the street. There is also a military museum on the main street with displays dating back from the American Civil War to the present conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. The staff are all veterans from various conflicts, and the elderly man I spoke with served in the U.S Navy throughout WWII. The museum is free to enter, so I asked why a charge wasn't made to enter, the veteran replied the museum was there to honour all those who have served their country, not to make money.
Back at the hotel another great dinner was had, inch thick New York steaks with pepper sauce, and another carafe of house wine. The steaks were so tender, my fork was able to cut through the meat alone, best piece of beef I've had in a long time.
After another great breakfast it was time to hit the road again, this time we were off to South Lake Tahoe. We headed along California route 49 through some nice farmland scenery, before finding ourselves driving through large pine forests and climbing steadily into the mountains and about three and a half hours later we decended into SLT. We found our hotel, the Best Western Station House fairly easily, booked in, then went for a stroll to get our bearings. The place looks, and feels like an alpine resort, but all the American voices, fast food, and the casinos on the Nevada side it reminded us this was California/Nevada, not Europe. After a bite to eat we returned to the hotel to sort ourselves out. Again the long drive, and altitude put paid to a night on the tiles, so after a nice dinner it was off to sleep.
We drove to Reno, Nevada the next day to buy our sons some American Football tops they has asked for, the trip again had us decend through some magnificant scenery, back to the desert floor, to Reno through the Nevada State Capitol at Carson City.
We tend to forget just how big the United States is, as by the time we bought the boys presents, had a look about Reno, and drove back to SLT it was time for dinner. We went to Womacks BBQ, advertised as SLT's finest, well, it was very nice and tasty, though not a patch on the BBQ we had in Bishop. After dinner we had a nightcap in a local pub, before another blissful night of sleep.
After another complimentary breakfast in the hotel restaurant we wanted to go for a stroll along the lake front, unfortunately most of the lake front is divided off into plots, either hotel, or privately owned. We walked along the main road to where the Tahoe Queen paddle steamer is berthed, and took some photographs of it, the stunning lake, and its surroundings. My wife did a bit of shopping, then later we had dinner in Applebee's which is quite close to our hotel. We did intend to go to Harrah's hotel in Stateline Nevada for dinner, but my dodgy knee was playing up with so much driving, so we went to the closest place, Applebee's, and the cajun steak was very tasty indeed, much to my surprise.
Another long drive loomed the next day, SLT back to San Francisco to meet up with our friends. The road back was dogged by road works on California route 50 which seemed to take forever, so much so we took nearly four hours to get to San Francisco, but the drive over the Golden Gate Bridge made up for it, although the $6 toll, one way broke my Scots heart!! We dropped off our faithful, but gas guzzling Jeep, at Dollar, and met up with our friends at our last hotel, the Holiday Inn at Fishermans Wharf.
The first thing we did was a pre-booked trip to Alcatraz, the ferry took us over to the island, and after embarking we started our audio trip of the infamous US Federal Penitentiary. The tour took us through the main part of the prison where some of the United States most violent, and ruthless inmates were housed. Each individual cell had a bed, sink, toilet, shelf, and table and chair, all open to the passing warders gaze. The main prison was smaller than I expected, but hearing the voices of both staff and inmates on the sudio recording made the tour much more enjoyable. After a couple of hours we headed back to the mainland.
The next couple of days were spent seeing bits we didn't do the first four days, Ghiradelli Square, the Cannery, and various stops along the cable car routes that took our fancy.
I mentioned earlier the USS Pampanito, and SS Jeremiah Jones, well the girls were off doing the shopping bit again, so my mate and I headed off to the above mentioned ships for a tour. The Pampanito was a US fleet submarine which served in the Pacific theatre in WWII, she had several very successful operational tours, but is remembered mostly for unfortunately sinking a couple of Japanese transport ships carrying Allied POW's from Burma to Japan. This action killed several hundred allied servicemen, but the captain and crew of the boat, who were totally unaware of the situation, were completely blameless. The boat is open to tour, and unless you suffer from claustrophobia, is well worth the $8 entry fee. You will get to see how WWII submariners lived and fought, and if you are lucky enough, as we were, you'll get to speak to a veteran who sailed and spoke of his experiences in similar vessels. You also get to sign the vistors book as well, a previous entrant had written "Thank God I was in the Army" I must admit, after touring such a cramped weapon of war, never a truer sentiment spoken.
Next came the SS Jeremiah Jones, one of the many Liberty Ships, built in US shipyards during the early days of the US involvement in WWII. Each ship took about 60 days to complete, from the laying of the keel to the finishing works. The ship is one of only two Liberty Ships from that era still in full working order, a testiment to the mainly female work force, who built her and her sister ships all those years ago. Again we met some veterans on board, so we chewed the fat for a while, and before we realised it, a couple of hours had passed, so we had to leave and meet up with the girls.
After some last minute gift shopping we headed off for dinner, we decided on an Italian place in the wharf area. The food was pretty good, for a touristy restaurant, but I must admit it was probably the worst meal of the entire trip. After a couple of farewell drinks to San Francisco in Knuckles bar in the nearby Hyatt hotel it was back to our place to get some sleep before heading home.
Remember the Chancellor Hotel at the beginning of this saga, well the breakfast was so good we ate there every morning for our last three days in San Francisco even though we were staying elsewhere. Yesmie and Mao, our waiters were so friendly, they welcomed us back to the Chancellor, and even remembered my wife's proforma breakfast, Corn Flakes, Fruit Smoothie, and a Coffee, first class service indeed.
Well that's about it, a report of 17 days in sunny California, Oh! sorry, I forgot to mention the temperatures, an average of about 90F in SF and LA to 102F in the desert.
All in all our trip to California was a great sucess, we saw lots of places familiar to us all on TV and Cinema, Hollywood, Yosemite, Los Angeles, and met folk in small town America, which we liked the best. We saw places we stumbled upon by accident that were achingly beautiful, and we saw how unfair society can be, from the obvious wealth of Beverly Hills, to the AIDS sufferers in San Francisco.
The trip out to California and back from our wee place was very long indeed, especially for my poor long suffering wife Michelle, who doesn't like flying at all, but who gamely goes along with whatever travel and holiday plans I come up with every year, however long or short. Thank you once again my dear xxx
Did you like the holiday Inn? We are staying at the Cortona inn and suites. We were going to book the Anaheim as it had great reviews, but i liked how the Management always read and wrote back on Trip advisor, so decided to go with them.
