Leaving our favorite west coast campground was a bit difficult. Waking up and looking out the front of the van with the Pacific Ocean in front of you was pretty special. We were excited however as today we would be driving down one of the most scenic drives that California has to offer, U.S. Route 1. Today’s drive would take us from our campground in Westport to Petaluma, just north of San Francisco. This road was an immediate change of pace from what we had been seeing the last week or so. Gone were the mammoth redwoods and in its place the vast Pacific Ocean. Route 1 in northern California is small and the towns on it even smaller. It makes sense, as it’s a difficult place to get to with only Route 1 as the only way in and out. The road at this point is sandwiched mostly on the side of cliffs with the Pacific Ocean on one side and a mountain range on the other. Even though Route 1 is a difficult drive for a large vehicle as there are many inlets with tight switchbacks, it was one of the most beautiful drives that we had been on so far.
On the drive we stopped in a few of the small towns dotting the road, the biggest being Fort Bragg. Coming in we had thought that Fort Bragg was a big military town but upon arrival and after a little research we found out that Fort Bragg, NC was the military town. There has not been any military in Fort Bragg, CA since 1867. The town was best known until recently for being a lumber town. Even without the military there the town was still pretty neat. There were a lot of little shops to check out and views of the ocean. From Fort Bragg we continued south stopping next at the most picturesque town (in our opinion) on this part of Route 1, Mendocino. Mendocino is built on a small piece of land jutting out into the Pacific, which gives you ocean views from almost every street in the town. It was really neat. From Mendocino we continued our leisurely drive down route 1 eventually reaching the Napa/Sonoma area and our stop for the night in the town of Petaluma.
We woke up the next morning ready to go. While we were in wine country today, wine would have to wait. Today our favorite hockey team the Tampa Bay Lightning was playing against San Jose and we wanted to go. Lucky for us as well one of our good friends from Tampa, Melissa had moved to Monterey, which is just south of San Jose, and we would be joining her for the game (We will also be spending Thanksgiving with Melissa). We said goodbye for now to Petaluma and drove across the bay to Oakland then south to Monterey. We arrived mid afternoon in Monterey and as Melissa was not yet home but had given us a key we decided to take her dog Harper for a walk. Monterey is a beautiful town located on a hill looking over Monterey Bay and across to Santa Cruz. Shortly after we arrived back after our walk Melissa was home and we shared a celebratory drink. We had not seen Melissa since January so there was a lot to catch up on. After an hour or so Melissa’s friend Ann came over and the four of us were off to San Jose. After arriving in San Jose we stopped at a New Orleans style restaurant called the Poor House for pre game dinner and drinks. From there we walked a few blocks to the arena. The game was awesome as Tampa dominated San Jose. We had a great time (much to the chagrin of the people around us). Final score Tampa 5, San Jose 1. Go Bolts!! As it was late when the game ended we headed back to Monterey and called it a night.
The next morning we woke up and spent a leisurely morning at Melissa’s before having lunch and heading back north, this time to our campground for the next few nights just south of San Francisco. We took this day a bit easier than we normally do since we had been out late the night before which we had not done in a long time. The RV Park was located just off a cliff overlooking the ocean in Pacifica, CA. It was quite the view. We thought that we were starting to get spoiled a bit with all these amazing views of the Pacific Ocean in most of the places that we had been staying.
The next day we woke up, had breakfast, packed a bag and called an Uber. We were headed to San Francisco. As it would be hard to maneuver and find parking for Bubbles in the city we decided to leave her in the RV park for the next few days and booked a hotel to stay during our time in the city. After arriving and checking in we were off and ready to explore. As it was day 1 in San Francisco we headed down to the waterfront and the Embarcadero area. First stop was the historic Ferry Building market where we browsed before finding some delicious gluten free bread and empanada’s from a stand called Mariposa. From the Ferry Building we walked along the water checking out the scene before heading to Pier 39 and stopping at the Fog Harbor Fish House for lunch. It was a great lunch! For those crab lovers out there while in San Francisco (or anywhere in the Pacific Northwest or Northern California) try the Dungeness crab. It’s amazing and filling! After checking out the seals that gather next to the pier and grabbing a coffee we headed further down the waterfront to Fisherman’s Wharf and over to Ghirardelli Square for our chocolate fix. After spending so much time in Bubbles in Northern California and the Pacific Northwest it was fun being able to try so many new foods that we didn’t have to make ourselves. We then started to make our way back to the hotel stopping first at Coit Tower then randomly stumbling up the Norwegian Church of SF (who knew that existed!?) which had amazing views of San Francisco Bay from its balcony. After a short rest at the hotel we headed out for dinner at Mandalay (one of Julie’s and her families favorites in SF) for Burmese food. I had never heard of or eaten Burmese food before but it was amazing. It seemed to be a mix between Indian and Thai and 100% delicious!
The next morning we woke up ready for our food tour of San Francisco to continue. This morning we were meeting up with our friend Jah for breakfast. We had met Jah weeks earlier while in Portland on a bike brewery tour and she invited us to join her for a meal while we were in her hometown. We of course said yes. We met Jah at Squat & Gobble in the Marina District, which had great breakfast. After breakfast we walked over to Crissy Field, which is a great park and had amazing views of the Golden Gate Bridge. We then walked over to the Palace of Fine Arts, which was built for the 1915 Panama Pacific Exposition (think a worlds fair). This was an amazing open-air building that looked like it was straight out of ancient Rome. While there we stumbled up on a children’s tap group performing a recital. It was really neat seeing tap dancing in this scene. From there we said goodbye to Jah and will hopefully be seeing her again on our trip in southern Arizona. From there we walked to the Richmond District so that Julie could get some of her favorite cake called Princess Cake at Schubert’s Bakery (the food tour continues) and stopped at a Pho restaurant for lunch. From Richmond we walked over to the Haight Ashbury neighborhood to see where Julie’s brother and sister in law Patrick & Sarah used to live (across the street from Jerry Garcia’s house!) then headed back to the hotel for the night.
The next morning we woke up (our last in the hotel) and we were off. This morning we would be heading to the NorthStar Café, which is a Buffalo Bills bar in San Francisco. It was a nice day and a great walk over there. This was our 3rd Bills Backers bar of the trip (having also been to watch games with other fans in Seattle & Portland). While the bar was great and we met a few nice people the Bills lost. We found out from Kiki from Buffalo/LA where to watch the games when we get to LA. Overall we still had blast. After the game we continued our tour of San Francisco walking through Chinatown, Market Street and Union Square. From there we headed back to the hotel, grabbed our bags, called a cab and made our way back to Pacifica and to Bubbles. All in all we had a blast in San Francisco. We had amazing food, saw great sights and even were able to catch up with a new friend. We will be back!
Next up…World Famous Wine and California’s Capitol City.
