It was a slow start to our last day in SF. I was awake and away on my phone by 6 routing our day for potential must-sees along the way, Justin slept in (until 8?!), and had work to do in the morning. Checkout wasn’t until 11 and we wouldn’t be able to get our car until then anyway. So we each did our own thing.
By 11 we were at the door and making our way to the car rental place. A bit chaotic for a check in, but we got our car (somewhat of an upgrade since our last road trip). That said, we didn’t get to indulge in our upgrade today as it had been pouring rain all day and although we say a guy with his roof down all bundled up.... we kept our own convertible roof up.
First things’ first... we couldn’t leave SF without making it to the windy part of Lombard Street. Not sure how we missed it for 5 days, but we did. So after getting our sushi burritos (right across from the rental office), we drove over to the the crookedest Street in the world, took a quick photo in the rain and ran back into the car only to loop around and drive down it.
We drove out of the city with a pit stop at Land’s End where we debated half an hour on whether to hike to the cliffpoint or not but decided with time, weather, and lack of waterproof shoes would make for a really shitty 3 hour drive. So we stopped for hot chocolate, a few other photo ops along the way, including an old mill which I climbed into like a cat, don’t ask, and were on the Great Pacific Highway in no time making our way south.
For the most part, the ride was uneventful except for my sugar high that drove Justin crazy.... but hey... better than a boring ride. You know that crazy giddiness you get into and just say stupid things and can’t stop laughing? Yeah, me neither.
It was super rainy and foggy so not much to see but we still came across a few weird things like a house on a hill that was all graffiti’ed... and it looked like the ground underneath the house eroded so it was on a thin point and looked like it would come crashing down the cliff any moment. Really cool, even though I’m probably doing it no justice describing it.
We had fun with the rain and have a whole collection of photos of “sightseeing” where each thing is blocked by our umberellas and we thought we were the funniest people ever EVERY SINGLE TIME.
We continued out until we got to Santa Cruz all excited for the notorious Boardwalk that sold deep fried Oreos. EVERYTHING WAS CLOSED. We never figured out if it was out of season or because it was raining but we walked through this HUGE amusement park (picture wonderland but on a beach) where everything was closed but the ads for funnel cake, deep fried Oreos or cheesecake, ice creams, Thai food, et etc were staring us in the face. We got some stupid photos that made us laugh in the face of disappointment and we walked over to the Fisherman’s Wharf.
My heart broke. On the wooden beams holding up the wharf we’re about 15 seals all huddled up sleeping. But the tide was so low, that although those sleeping didn’t care, those still in the water wanted up SO bad and kept jumping but just couldn’t make it up and kept crying. It was so so so heartbreaking. There were seal noses sticking out of the water and snorting in the ocean as far as the eye could see though and it was quite a lovely walk despite the disappointment. We walked back to the car which just so happened to be across from an indoor arcade, so of course we went in and got carried away with games. It was so much fun! We were definitely the kiddiest kids there as we raced against each other, played Kung fu panda and angry birds with a life sized slingshot.
We won 300 tickets that really didn’t get us much except a shot glass and some furry bracelets that no one in their right mind would wear. Except probably me. So I guess that worked out.
Our parking was up so we got back on the highway only to be at a gridlock bumper to bumper traffic at 5:30, bad timing! We got off at the next exit and figured we’ll just grab dinner now and then continue on. It was already dark so not like we’d miss the sights along the way. Monterey wasn’t far from Santa Cruz (not even 40 min) so no worries there either. We got to Capitola downtown and our options were pretty limited so we found ourselves in a slightly fancy restaurant. Justin got a surf and turf and I had mango scallops! Despite it being a super fancy restaurant where we needed to sell our kidneys for the meal, the tablecloth was paper and there was a cup of crayons. So guess who got carried away?
Picture a live musician, a bottle of wine on the table, oysters, surf and turf, and scallops served meanwhile I’m drawing away with crayons. We both got way too emotionally involved with the picture and it got quite a bit of attention from staff and other guests alike. Words would not do it justice, so I’ll skip trying to describe it. We finished off with a lovely fondue for 2 and after a short ride back on the (now empty) highway, we are checked in at a lovely motel with a king bed, a giant bathroom, and the best service I would’ve never expected from a motel attendant. I have a pile about an inch thick of brochures for the area, so I’m going to go do some homework while Justin keeps hacking away at whatever he’s doing on his laptop :) what an amazing day though despite it raining and a bit minimal on the sightseeing, we really made the most of it and are going to bed way more than content.
Super excited for tomorrow. Big Sur is one of (if not THE) highlights of the coastal drive. We might even spend an extra night here. We’ll see! #freespirits