A summer’s day in Pt. Lobos, CA. Notice the jackets and long pants, we stopped for hot chocolate after the fog floated in late that afternoon.
My pen-pal Kelly and her husband Justin visited from Australia in the spring, and as their hostess, I thought it would be nice to put together an itinerary, highlighting the best of the Bay Area (it was the least I could do, since she and her family have done the same for me!). Since their guide book covered San Francisco pretty well, I decided to put together a must-see list outside of the City:
On the day they arrived, in order to try to keep them awake, I suggested something low key and close to home, Stanford University. In addition to being one of the best universities on the West Coast, it also offers much to the local community. We started by visiting Hoover Tower and taking a ride to the top, for a panoramic view of the surrounding area. I am not a big fan of heights, so I stuck to the center area, but Kelly and Justin were excited to take pictures of the scene below. Then we walked over to the Cantor Museum, where we explored the outdoor Rodin Sculpture garden, before going inside to view the exhibits. My favorite is always the giant banana in the courtyard, and the permanent installation upstairs.
Our next adventure involved visiting a few of the 100+ Santa Cruz Mountain Wineries. Napa’s quieter, South Bay cousin, is home to some of my favorite wineries, just a 30 minute drive from our house. For Kelly and Justin, I suggested a visit to Ridge Vineyards, followed by a stop at Byington for a picnic lunch, and then finishing at Bonny Doon. Since we had time, we also visited the new Presentation Center, down the road from Byington, for a view of their new “Green” Welcoming Center.
Since I am such a foodie, I suggested our next day trip venture to the East Bay. We started in Oakland on College Avenue, with a stop at La Farine for some morning buns (who cared that it was already 11am!). For lunch, we stopped in at Oliveto at the Rockridge Market Hall, and spent time after lunch exploring the specialty food purveyors downstairs of the restaurant. Our next stop was Berkeley, for a quick tour of Scharffenberger Chocolate. I had made reservations ahead of time for the tour, and it was well worth it. Before heading home, we stocked up!
No trip to Northern California is complete without a visit to the Monterey Peninsula (IMHO), so for our final excursion we drove down to Point Lobos State Park, where, after entering the Reserve, we headed for the Sea Lion Point Trail, one of my favorite walks out to the ocean. On the way back, we stopped in Carmel for lunch at Casanova, and then headed up the coast to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. After a couple hours in the Aquarium, exploring the Kelp Forest, and my favorite, the Jellyfish exhibit, we headed home. By this time, I think I had exhausted my guests and they were ready for a vacation from their vacation!
Tell me, where do you like to take your visitors?
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