I don't think we're in Kansas any more - a power trip through Disneyland and California

[shoreline99 137]

21 minutes ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

You did a great job with you final thoughts.  I think I agree with all of them.  Except the food one. The thing I liked about Disneyland is that there is more variety because the food service locations are not constrained by the Disney Dining Plan like we have at WDW.  The snack places like Bengal BBQ and the corn dog stands are real treats at Disneyland.  Also the bakeries in the parks actually bake stuff.  At WDW, everything is made in some off-site warehouse.

I'm looking forward to your bonus photos!

TCD

I'd agree with you on that for the quick service or takeaway places - we all really liked Bengal BBQ.

I guess we were thinking more along the lines of the sit-down restaurants. We've gotten used to making the rounds at several of the resorts and at EPCOT. There really aren't many options at DL compared to WDW - again reflective that it's more of a destination resort than DL is. DL is definitely geared towards the daily park visitor in that regard.

I think we've gotten turned off by a lot of the same of crappy park food at WDW, with few exceptions. Pecos Bills / Tortuga Tavern is good in the MK (The noodle bowls at the Tomorrowland Noodle Station are missed); Yak and Yeti and the new Harambe Market are good at AK; EPCOT of course has a variety of walk-up choices. DHS is a little sparse in their offerings but we can usually find something at Fairfax Fare. To your point about the dining plan I think Disney has made it easier for the masses to get the same crappy burgers, nuggets and fries anywhere in the parks.

[shoreline99 137]

Let's get going on the bonus non-Disneyland content!

After we picked up my daughter, we started our trip up the coast in our shiny new rental suburban. Pretty spiffy ride.

First stop was LA, where we stopped to look at USC. Nice campus but it's not in a great area.

Next stop was the Santa Monica Pier, where we walked the pier and us east coasters stuck our feet in the Pacific:

The end of Route 66:

Rides on the pier:

Toes in the sand:

After a great lunch at a local taco place, we picked up the Pacific Coast Highway and headed up north. We stopped in Santa Barbara for the night and toured UCSB the next day. Who wouldn't want to go to school here:

Santa Barbara is a beautiful city, wedged between the sea and the mountains. It's a really nice area. After the tour we headed inland towards San Luis Obispo, with a stop for lunch at the Firestone-Walker Taproom and Barrelworks in Buellton - worth a stop if you're in the area. Good food and the opportunity to try a bunch of their hard to find barrel aged beers.

We spent the night in SLO, and I got to check out the downtown the next morning. This is another historic town with a lot of Spanish architecture around the old Mission and a cool old theater:

From SLO we headed up the PCH again, past Morro Bay:

San Simeon, William Randolph Hearst's 'Castle':

Sorry about the blurry photo. We toured the vistor's center but opted not to wait for the the tour as we still had a long drive ahead of us.

Instead, we opted to hang out with the elephant seals on a beach in San Simeon:

So glad we did that instead. These guys were really awesome to watch and see in person.

We stopped a few times along the PCH to see the views:

In some places it's a several hundred foot drop to the water below:

We drove about 150 miles up the PCH; it was an amazing ride up through Big Sur and along the coast. I would highly recommend it for those that aren't afraid of heights though.

The Bixby Bridge, scene of many movies and car commercials:

We stopped in Monterey for the night, and had dinner on the water down in the famous Cannery Row district:

I'm going to stop here; tomorrow we hit the Monterey Bay Aquarium and see some tall trees.

 

 

[keith_h 420]

We always liked the Monterey Bay Aquarium. We would try to get over there with the girls a few times a year when we lived in Northern California. 

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

Great pictures!  Really enjoying your TR.

[Friend of a Fiend ... Pam 8]

Oops. Double post.

[Friend of a Fiend ... Pam 8]

On May 17, 2016 at 10:37 PM, GaDawgFan.....Kelly said:

Hope Pam is reading along as she's about to go.

Great start!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I'm definitely going to try Brennan's when we are there.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[shoreline99 137]

3 hours ago, Friend of a Fiend ... Pam said:

I'm definitely going to try Brennan's when we are there.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes! We really enjoyed it. Try the Gumbo Ya-Ya. My only gripe is that they don't serve real New Orleans coffee there (chicory coffee), but the fresh beignets more than made up for that.

[shoreline99 137]

The next morning we got up early and headed back down to Cannery Row and the Monterey Bay Aquarium. This is really a magnificent place to visit and I highly recommend it to anyone with or without kids.

The Aquarium itself is located within one of the old original sardine cannery buildings that has been restored and added to.

Whale skeleton:

Gratuitous grumpy fish photo:

Lionfish:

Ray:

Giant tuna. This thing was huge; that woman is probably 5'-6" tall.

the Bay:

Bird poop Island. Yes, that's really it's name.

Penguins:

Otters:

This was cool, it's a mosaic similar to a famous Japanese painting, created using recycled plastic from the ocean.

It was a great way to spend the morning. From there, we headed to the '17-mile drive' - a famous toll road that takes you along the ocean and through the Pebble Beach, Spyglass Hill and Cypress Point golf courses. Similar to the PCH, the road starts low along the shore where you can stick your toes in the water (seasonally permitting - many of the beaches were fenced off as it was seal 'pupping' season and they are protected areas during certain times of the year).

The lone cypress, reported to be one of the most photographed trees in North America:

We continued our drive up towards San Francisco, and made the decision to check out Big Basin Redwoods State Park on our way. Muir Woods, north of San Fran, is the more popular stop to see the Redwoods, but this is a more remote and less traveled spot to walk among the trees. Big Basin is also the oldest state park in California (1902). It's a pretty long ride in on some dicey roads, but eventually you get to the entrance:

Section of a tree felled in the 1930's showing date markers on the rings:

Close up: This tree dated back almost 800 years. Think about that.

Burnt out tree (still living) from a lightning strike

There are several options for trails to hike, but it was getting late by the time we got there and the park doesn't want people lost on the trails after dark. There is a mile long trail that takes you around a stand of trees so we opted for that hike. There are a bunch of longer trails that even take you out to the coast, which we would have loved to have time for. A reason to go back, I guess! There is also a campground there that seemed pretty busy.

Many of the trees are hollow, having been struck by lightning over the years. Still living. The wood is so dense that the insides can smoulder for a long time.

One tree is hollow all the way up to the crown - the chimney tree:

Father of the Forest:

Mother of the Forest: the top 30' were lost in a storm several years ago.

 

It was really pretty amazing to walk among the redwoods and see the old growth of the forest. The trails, campground and amphitheater there were constructed in the 30's as part of the WPA movement.

The drive back out was breathtaking in it's own way - I'd describe it as 20 miles of driving on a one lane ski trail (that was actually a two lane road) that wound around the mountains (blind hairpin turns, multiple switchbacks), all the while with a drop off of several hundred feet to one side with no guard rail. In a suburban.

Awesome. It was beautiful though, as you're looking at the treetops - until you realize the trees are a hundred or more feet tall and there's a sheer cliff between you and them. So worth the trip in to see the park though. Can't recommend it enough.

From there we were off to San Francisco for several days to see family and tour the city, including Alcatraz and some dirty hippies. More to come!

 

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Thanks for continuing your trip report.  I have always wanted to drive up the California coast exactly as you did here.  I'm sure one of these days I will.

I'm looking forward to the San Fran photos (but not the dirty hippies).

TCD

[shoreline99 137]

9 minutes ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

Thanks for continuing your trip report.  I have always wanted to drive up the California coast exactly as you did here.  I'm sure one of these days I will.

I'm looking forward to the San Fran photos (but not the dirty hippies).

TCD

One tip for you - drive up not down the coast. You'll be on the inside lane of the PCH against the land side, not the drop off side with the low 1930's stone and wood guardrails that look completely ineffective.

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

We did a drive up the PCH when we were in Anaheim, even had a convertible, but I guess we didn't go far enough North. Most of our drive was rather boring, not actually on the coast, and since we had to get back to Anaheim that night, turned around and went back, and didn't see much after dark. After looking at Google maps more thoroughly after our trip, we probably should have gone South.

[shoreline99 137]

10 hours ago, mouseketab.....Carol said:

We did a drive up the PCH when we were in Anaheim, even had a convertible, but I guess we didn't go far enough North. Most of our drive was rather boring, not actually on the coast, and since we had to get back to Anaheim that night, turned around and went back, and didn't see much after dark. After looking at Google maps more thoroughly after our trip, we probably should have gone South.

It's pretty boring until you get further up. Even the ride through Santa Monica up to Malibu is pretty lame, except for looking at some of the cool beach houses along the roadway. Once you get past Pepperdine U you can see more of the coast. The section we drove from Morro Bay up through Monterey was pretty spectacular.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

How many days did you take to drive from the Anaheim area to San Francisco?  It seems like two, but I'm not sure. 

Good to know that there are redwood trees to see south of San Francisco- I thought you had to go a ways north of San Francisco to see the redwoods.

TCD

[shoreline99 137]

We left Anaheim on Monday morning and got to Monterey on Wednesday night, so three days. We toured schools while we were out there, which ate up half a day each, so compare that to a tour of San Simeon and it's a wash. We overnighted in Santa Barbara and SLO and broke the trip into thirds, with the longer ride on the last day. The only spot on the trip north that we didn't get to was the Getty Museum in LA; we opted to spend a little more time in Santa Monica instead.

It's 300 miles, roughly, from LA to Monterey so you could certainly do it in two days if you stopped around Morro Bay. As I mentioned above, the best part of the ride is from there to Monterey.

Just an FYI If you want to do the full tour at San Simeon I would figure 3 hours for that at least, and you have to book it in advance. I'd have liked to have seen Hearst Castle but I wasn't heartbroken to just check out the visitor center.

Big Basin is a pretty amazing park and from what I've read it's less popular a spot to stop because of its remoteness. It's quite a drive in and out of the park, but it is on the way. We didn't go to Muir Woods, so I can't compare. I've been out to Yosemite and camped there years ago - I'd love to go back there one day and do some hiking. No time on this trip, but we packed in a lot along the way.

I know it seems like we blasted along, but we really didn't feel like we rushed.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Thanks for the details- California is so big, it's hard to gauge how long to budget for a drive all the way through.

I'd be interested in visiting California and skipping Disneyland, but I know that would never fly with my gang.

TCD

[shoreline99 137]

After leaving Big Basin we still had a two hour drive up to San Francisco, which put us there around dinner time on Thursday. We drove by the Giants' ballpark and followed the Embarcadero around to Fisherman's Wharf where we checked in to our hotel. We'd be staying there for the next few days and it was nice to be out of the car and have so much within walking distance.

It's amazing how many different types of public transportation are in SF. Buses, light rail, trolleys, cable cars, streetcars. You can really manage to get around within the city just using mass transit.

Walking through the Wharf area, I scouted out a spot for lunch the next day:

We grabbed dinner at a seafood place on the wharf and decided to walk around the area a bit. The kids looked at a map and saw something close by that they wanted to check out:

The world's most crooked street. Personally, i thought that was on Capitol Hill, but I digress. The kids walked up and ran down the hill. In the street. Crazy kids. (there was no traffic). We drove by later in the trip during the day and there were police directing traffic at the top and bottom, it was so crowded.

After that we walked back to the hotel and crashed out. Big day tomorrow.

When we told the kids we were going to San Francisco and asked them what they wanted to do, two things were at the top of their list. One was visit Alcatraz.

If you are planning to go see The Rock, you need to book in advance. There is only one ferry service to the island, and it fills up sometimes weeks ahead of time.

After a nice breakfast at the hotel, we walked down to Pier 33 where the ferry dock is.

There is a large model of Alcatraz in the courtyard where you go through security:

They manage to fit a lot of people on those ferries, including a bunch of school groups. Soon enough we were off. San Francisco in the morning:

Our first view of the Golden Gate:

Lots of ships out on the bay:

The Rock:

You can still see the original graffiti on the barracks from the Indian Tribe occupation of the island in the 70's. There were several good exhibits about that time in history in the museum on the island.

Some views of the prison buildings walking up to the cell block, the remains of the old officer's club can be seen on the left :

More graffiti:

Heading up to the cell block:

The tour of the cell block is self-guided, and you are provided with an audio player and headphones that directs you along; there are interviews with former guards and inmates. It's absolutely worth the trip out there to see the prison and hear the stories.

The old Warden's house, which was burned out during the Indian occupation of the island:

Alcatraz island Lighthouse:

It's a mile and a quarter to shore from here, and it seems much closer. It's easy to see how a prisoner could think escape was possible. It was said that on a clear night with the breeze blowing you could hear music and conversation from one of the yacht clubs along the shore.

Hey! Alcatraz has free wi fi? Who knew?

Some of the prisoner's rules of conduct. Check out rule #5 - that's when prisons were prisons.

The park service does a great job with the tour and grounds here. We really enjoyed spending the morning learning about the history of the island, but we never did see Nicholas Cage or Sean Connery.

I did see the best boat name ever though:

We took the ferry back and walked along the wharf back towards our hotel, where we grabbed a quick lunch:

Double Double, Animal style:

Totally worth the stop. If you are ever in CA or TX, make the trip there.

After In-N-Out, we walked over to Ghirardelli Square, where much ice cream was had by all.

With all this food, we needed to walk off some calories. We'll pick up the second must-do thing on the kids' list in the next post.

[dvccamper 32]

I'm still thoroughly enjoying your report! We leave on Sunday, will see several of the places you've been, also starting in Disneyland. We plan on hitting Santa Monica. I may have missed it but did you eat there, any recommendations?

We'll also be going to San Francisco but we're not driving up the coast, we're going inland and hitting Sequoia and Yosemite. I'll have to look into Alcatraz tickets but I am interested in what your kids enjoyed the most (we have 3 teens). 

 

[shoreline99 137]

3 hours ago, dvccamper said:

I'm still thoroughly enjoying your report! We leave on Sunday, will see several of the places you've been, also starting in Disneyland. We plan on hitting Santa Monica. I may have missed it but did you eat there, any recommendations?

We'll also be going to San Francisco but we're not driving up the coast, we're going inland and hitting Sequoia and Yosemite. I'll have to look into Alcatraz tickets but I am interested in what your kids enjoyed the most (we have 3 teens). 

 

I'll finish up my report today, so check back later.

We ate at a place called Taco Libre, which is a small chain - http://www.tacolibrela.com/  It was really good and made fresh, much better than the fast food they serve on the pier.

We parked at the Sears across the street and walked down to the pier and beach from there. I think it was $10 to park.

I had the fortune to camp at Yosemite when I was only 11 or 12, with my Aunt, Uncle & Cousins. It was pretty awesome and the redwood forests and mountains are incredible. Lots of bears there though, I remember one going through the neighboring campsite and getting in to their food. I'd love to hear your thoughts about seeing the redwoods - so amazing to see.

We stayed in the wharf area of San Fran and just ate where we felt like it there. I don't really have any recommendations but Lou's Fish Shack wasn't bad. My cousin recommended Scoma's but we didn't eat there.

You can buy tickets online here: http://www.alcatrazcruises.com/

There is no admission fee for the island, but you have to pay for the ferry ride there and back. I'd allow at least 3-4 hours for the ferry and audio tour of the island. Grab the early ferry if you can.

[shoreline99 137]

I forgot one photo of Ghirardelli Square.

Pro tip for dvccamper - when you're at DCA buy something at the Ghirardelli shop in the Pacific Wharf area - your receipt is good for 10% off at any Ghirardelli shop, including the one in San Fran.

View down towards the bay and the historic ships in the NPS collection

So the second thing our kids wanted to do was to walk the Golden Gate Bridge.

There is plenty of parking near the bridge if you want to walk it, and there are several trails that lead up to the highway.

It's a long walk over and back, about 3 miles plus the distance to and from the parking area.

The fort under the bridge:

Bridge Plaques

Beautiful views of the city and bay from there. We even saw dolphins in the water below.

After we walked the bridge, we decided to drive around the city a bit, and toured the Presidio, Chinatown and yes, the Haight.

SF row houses:

Cable car:

Haight & Ashbury, just for TCD. If you're looking for your fill of 'dirty hippies', that's the place you want to go.

View down towards Alcatraz in the bay:

Once we got back to the hotel, we spent the rest of the day and evening walking around Fisherman's Wharf.

Giant Cruise Ship!

We had dinner at the Hard Rock because my kids had never been to one. The hippies followed us there:

I include these only because where else but San Francisco would you see something like this in a store:

At least they were equal opportunity:

We headed home to bed from there. It had been a long day.

Saturday we met up with my relatives and spent the day with them, then made it back down to the bay for dinner and one of the most beautiful sunsets I've seen:

Sunday we had breakfast at the hotel and headed out to return the rental car and catch our flight back home.

So that's the end of my report. We had a great time, and covered a lot of ground, but everyone said they would do it again in a heartbeat so I can see us taking a trip out there again one day.

 

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

Wow!  Gorgeous pictures!  Thanks for the TR.

[dvccamper 32]

Excellent trip report and thank you for the Ghirardelli tip. I will have to remember that!  Walking the Golden Gate Bridge is also on the agenda, will check to see if Alcatraz tickets are still available for our dates.

Thank you!

 

 

[Beckers 1,136]

Thank you for sharing!! I'm glad you posted the post Disney stuff too. It looked like a great trip minus the rain. 

 

we are in the talks of Disneyland in Oct 217, but have a lot of figuring out to do. I don't care if the new stuff is open yet but I want to make sure the stuff that's closed now because of construction will be open (anyone know when that will be?). 

Also trying to figure out how long for Disney and what else we could do (probably only going a week unless Brian could get 2 weeks off we could go during "Jerseyweek" and a little before or after because I don't want Adam missing an insane amount of school. But considering what airfare from Philly will cost we want to make sure we make the most of being out there.

[dblr....Rennie 224]

Great pictures!!!!!! I did the Alcatraz tour many years ago and it was great then but so far back they still had Rangers that gave the tour, at least with self guided you could take your time, thanks again.

[ependydad...Doug 176]

Very much wonderful. Thanks for the TR. :)

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Great job on this trip report.

I was afraid that there would be actual photos of the dirty hippies.  I'm glad that there weren't.

So, now that you've done it, do you feel like you spent the right amount of time at each stop?  Is there anything you would do differently?

TCD