Hello from a SoCal guy!

I am planning a little vacation with the Mrs and 17 year old son over spring break up the coast, planning stops in San Luis Obispo, Monterey and San Francisco. Can anyone recommend any fun activities, good restaurants, good hotels, etc. that I might not otherwise find on travelocity?

We will be up that way on the second week of April in our cool blue MCSC, and hopefully the weatherman will cooperate for the run up the coast!

Thanks in advance!

 

If you guys are into steak houses, there is a place in pismo/shell beach area called Mclintocks. They have the best food and portions are huge.

 

Monterey Cafe for breakfast in Monterey. Fentons in Oakland for a ice cream. Both are killer .

 

Have you ever been to Hearst Castle?

Be sure to visit the cable car museum in SF.

 

Nepenthe in Big Sur for burgers. The most breathtaking dining view on the coast
(ask for an outside table)It can be a bit pricey for dinner but what a view! Enjoy your trip!

 

Don't miss Point Lobos State Reserve near Carmel. Spectacular scenery. The Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey. The best aquarium on the planet. Santa Cruz downtown and/or the Boardwalk/Wharf- heck the whole town is quite the treat!

 

Depending on the size of your wallet, here are San Francisco places you might want to dine at:

Harris' Restaurant - best steak in the city. be sure to order the Filet Mignon Rossini - A filet mignon with grilled Sonoma foie gras and black truffle, cabernet sauce.

Scoma's - Great seafood, best clam chowder I've ever had.

Cha Cha Cha - Haight St. location. Awesome tapas dishes. Also well-known for their sangria.

Crustaceans - Vietnamese seafood. Will have the best dungeoness crab dish. Jumbo prawns are awesome too w/ their signature garlic noodles.

Thang Long - sister restaurant to Crustaceans. Main specialty - dungeoness crab dishes. period.

Cafe Sport - family style Italian food, be sure to order their pesto dishes, steamed clams, and ask if their tiramisu or cannoli is available for dessert.

Citizen Cake - BEST DESSERTS TO SPOIL YOURSELF WITH.

 

Thanks for the tips!

The Mrs and I graduated from Cal Poly a few hundred years ago, so we are quite familiar with McClintocks! We have seen the Hearst Castle tour, but the boy has not, so we will probably do that again.

I will make sure to program these suggestions into the gps unit before we leave! Any suggestions on a good reasonably priced hotel in San Francisco?

Thanks again!

 

Stop at the Madonna Inn in Paso Robles (off 101, but a short ride to Highway 1 at San Luis Obispo) and check out the Men' bathroom - even the women will want to see it for themselves.

Call ahead to the State Park and get a private docent tour of the Big Sur Lighthouse. The club just did this and had a great time.

 

Franks in SLO is good for burgers and dogs. Also, check out the Madonna inn. Matania de Oro (sp?) near SLO is a good place to see the ocean, nice park. The Aquarium in Monterey is good.

 

Thanks! Keep those ideas coming (especially regarding SF and Monterey - it's been 25 years since we've been visiting there).

 

Here are some for the Central Coast:

Pebble Beach and the 16 mile scenic drive through the property; Lover's Cove, Pacific Grove - good restaurant across the street with fantastic view of great scuba diving spot near a well-known resting place for Monarch butterflies during their migration south; Esalan Institute, Big Sur (may peace be with you (and a massage)); Doris Day B and B, Pacific Grove - they cater to pets in a B and B stuffed with antiques; Carmel - wonderful artists enclave and Carmel Beach - a huge dog leash free sand beach; Carmel Valley - Earthbound Farms, a big organic farm producer with an excellent restaurant and nearby Carmel Valley wineries; Castroville, the artichoke capital of the world; Princeton By the Sea - Abalone USA, tour the abalone farm and shrimp farms; Santa Cruz - Santa Cruz Boardwalk, amusement park with one of the few antique wooden boardwalk roller coasters that still runs; Big Basin Park - Redwoods and steam engine ride in the Santa Cruz mountains.

 

Thanks Trico,

Unfortunately (?) we need to keep Sparky the golden retriever home - not enough room for 3 people, luggage and a dog for a weeks vacation....

Any more SF ideas? We are staying near Union Square. Is motoring down Lombard Street any fun, or do they make you drive too slow?

Thanks again!

 

It is a SLOW RIDE on Lombard (Residential and tourist laden). How about Fort Point, a civil war era fort at the base of the Golden Gate Bridge? AT&T Park where the best California NL team has its home (DODGERS SUCK!!!!); Twin Peaks - the highest point(s) in SF with a 360 degree view from the Farallon Islands to, on a very clear day, Mt. Shasta to the North, Santa Cruz Mountains to the South and the Sierras to the west; The Discovery Museum in the Palace of Arts - a hands-on science museum; Bakers' Beach, a beach from which you can see shipwrecks and the Golden Gate Bridge from outside of the Bay; for ice cream go spin the wheel at Polly Ann's in the outer Sunset section of the city; in Golden Gate Park - the Asian Art Museum, Academy of Sciences, Japanese Tea Garden, Victorian Greenhouse, windmills at Ocean Beach with a great meal at the Beach Chalet, and concerts in the bandshell; Sutro Baths - ruins from the amazing Victorian era indoor pools, bathhouses and gardens of a Silver Baron which is located next to ocean and the historic Cliff House Restaurant on Ocean Beach in the outer Richmond; Chinatown - a walk away from Union Square; North Beach for great italian food; and the Animation and Comics Museum in the Cannery near Fisherman's Wharf and Ghiradelli Square.

For great motoring cross the Golden Gate Bridge and head out to the Marin Headlands to the Department of Defense Cold War missile site or the Marine Mammal Resource Center; cruise to Sausalito, Mount Tamalpais; Bolinas and/or Point Reyes. In addition, there is always the wine country - Napa and Sonoma Counties.

 

Trico,

You should be a travel agent or tour director. I think you have gotten all the good roads and sights listed. Good Job.

 

Trico,
You forgot the whole Sonoma-Napa-Mendocino wine country, Avenue of the Giants, Mount Tam, Hwy 1 from San Francisco north, Marin Headlands, Nike Missle site, USS-Hornet (Alameda),Trinity Road & Oakville Grade Road (from Sonoma Valley into Napa Valley), etc. etc. etc.

...whoops... you do have those listed... sorry...

 

Zeid - No apology needed. But I did forget the East Bay - the town of Locke in the delta - a typical gold rush chinese encampment that still exists; the Redwood Valley Railway in Sunol with antique train service through Niles Canyon to Niles - where Charlie Chaplin filmed his greatest pix; Tilden Park, named after the first Nobel Laureate at UC Berkeley with a minature steam train open for rides and the UC Lawrence Hall of Science; the Oakland Zoo in Knowlton Park; the Oakland/Fremont A's at Network Associates Coliseum if you can stomach the designated hitter rule; Eugene O'Neill's home in Alamo; John Muir's home in Martinez; Black Diamond Mine, a preserved coal mine with tours near Brentwood; Redwood Park near Scenic Dr. and Grizzly Peak in Oakland with old growth redwoods; the USS Hornet in Alameda/Oakland - a tourable WWII era submarine; and the USS Jeremiah O'Brien in Alameda/Oakland - a tourable WWII era liberty ship.

I guess I also failed to mention Alcatraz.

 

Mucky Duck in Monterey, drive the coast in Pacific Grove (a pretty drive and doesn't cost like 17 Mile Drive). I think the others have covered SF. I can give you details on Santa Cruz if you're stopping by.

 

USS-Hornet is actually an aircraft carrier... Jack London's Wolf House in Glenn Ellen (Sonoma County), Mount Hamilton Observatory, Mount Diablo (both East Bay), Muir Woods in Marin County, Armstrong Grove (Guerneville),... I don't think he will have nearly enough time...

 

My bad. I meant the USS Pompano. You are correct about the Hornet.

Thats why I moved from SoCal to NorCal so I would have enough time

 

There is so much to do up in the northlands... and no deserts to have to deal with...

 

One of the best bakery / deli's you can stop at is Gayle's in Capitola -
Gayle's Bakery & Rosticceria
504 Bay Ave, Capitola, CA
(831) 462-1200



T

 

Wow - thanks kids! Sounds like a lot of good ideas and suggestions (except of course for the comment about my favorite sports team...)

I did have a great time almost 30 years ago wearing a blue LA hat in candlestick - one of my team's players actually waved to me! They even won that day for once....

Thanks again for all the great tips!

 

How about some pics after your trip.
Would like to see what a great time you had.

 

Will do on the photos. Thanks again for all the tips!