Mostly a driving day, we left at 9:15 and made it to Johnny's house in Ventura pretty quick, and had nice lunch and chat with John and Shelly. At Dave's insistence, we stopped at the Madonna Inn on the way, but the famous Men's Room was busted. Still, pretty fun.
The drive itself was OK -- we passed things that reminded me of stories to tell: the Renaissance Faire, Wizzin's, Johnny's AM radio, etc.
We made it to Salinas about 7:30, drove around town looking for somewhere to eat. We found the old downtown, but ate at a Chinese restaurant in the newer part.
The freeway noise here at the Motel 6 is pretty loud, but we'll probably be OK. The room itself is not-so-bad, though they lied about the in-room hair dryer.
Day 2 - Sunday, 07Aug05
We spent almost the whole day at the Monterey Aquarium, and it was a good thing that we had big Denny's breakfasts, 'cuz we didn't break for lunch at all. There's a cylindrical glass tank full of sardines going round and round, and they occasionally open their mouths wide open for some reason. I stood Geneva in front of it and said "Open your mouth!", but I didn't think she'd do it. She apparently didn't think she would either, and we laughed for 5 minutes.
From there we drove a traffic jam to Santa Cruz, and had pizza in the old downtown. Then we walked up and down the main street, looking in the stores, and bought some souvenirs in a bead shop; a Celtic thing for Geneva and a unicorn for Acacia.
After that, we went to the Santa Cruz Boardwalk, which is a classic sea-side amusement park, right on the beach, with all the old-school rides and a big wooden roller coaster called the Big Dipper. We walked up and down the whole park, and finally bought tickets for the roller coaster. Then we were naughty and shared a Funnel Cake. Drove home and were in bed just before midnight.
Day 3 - Monday, 08Aug05
McDonald's for breakfast, then the "National Steinbeck Center", which was pretty cool, considering. They have exhibits on all the major books -- Doc's lab, the Red Pony's stall, the Boiler Tank "house", etc. Lots of the various movies playing excerpts. They also have a little art gallery there that was showing a traveling exhibit from the Smithsonian called "The Graceful Envelope", with a bunch of hand decorated and calligraphed envelopes that had been sent through the mail to the U.S. Postal Museum. Very cool.
Then we went to the Roaring Camp train ride, up the mountain in a steam train. A nice ride through the Coastal Redwoods, tallest (but not "biggest") trees in the world. I had thought that we'd walk through Muir woods tomorrow to see them, but I guess we don't have to now, and can spend the time in Ghirardelli or something instead.
After the train ride, on to the Winchester Mystery House (crazy roofs, pictured), which was also pretty OK. I didn't know that all the furniture had been sold off after her death, so the house is nearly empty. Which is a good thing 'cuz the rooms are all really small, and it lets a tour group fit in 'em.
Found the Alpine Inn that we'll be at for the next three nights, and it's really cute -- a kind of mini-suite, with a main room and another little bedroom.
Day 4 - Tuesday, 09Aug05
After Denny's, we drove up the coast so we could stop at the Cliff House, the ruins of the Sutro Baths, and see the Camera Obscura, which was unfortunately closed. We didn't explore the ruins 'cuz it was freezing cold, and, as usual, Geneva didn't have much warm to wear. Besides, we had to get to the Exploratorium.
I remember going to the Exploratorium in the 70's, and it was really cool. Later, though, I seem to remember going and it was nearly empty, and lame. Now it's picked back up again, big time, and we spent the whole day in there and didn't see it all.
We went for the deluxe ticket that included a trip through the Tactile Dome, which maybe 20 foot diameter geodesic dome with walk, crawl, and slide passages snaking through it. The passages are lined in various "tactile" materials, and you feel your way through it, in total darkness. They want it to be a "change your perceptions" kind of experience, but it just seemed like a simple carnival Fun House to me. Fun though, and Geneva really liked it.
From there we went to Ghirardelli and the Cannery, mostly to spend time in the "Lark of the Morning" musical instrument store. We also got Geneva a "San Francisco" souvenir baby-doll T-shirt.
And on the way back to the hotel, we drove down Lombard, twice.
Day 5 - Wednesday, 10Aug05
We took the BART over to Berkeley, walked around for a while, and gave some of my trail mix to a very tame squirrel.
Unfortunately, they wouldn't let us into the libraries without an ID card. Still, Geneva proclaimed it suitable for her to go to since she'll be able to get to San Francisco easily enough. After we'd seen enough of the school, we walked down Telegraph, where all the street vendors and strange shops are.
Took the BART back to Powell, but the line for the cable car never got short enough to get on it. We walked through China Town instead, then went to Metreon, played with the interactive floor and wall, watched some guys playing HyperBowl at the sci-fi arcade, wandered through the shops, had dinner, and checked out Robby the Robot.
Day 6 - Thursday, 11Aug05
We were scheduled to just drive home today, but first we had to take pictures of all the "Geneva" stuff (Motel, Pizza, HVAC supplies, Pub, etc.) along Geneva Street by our hotel. I also decided that we needed to pull through the city one more time to let Geneva run into "Lark of the Morning" and buy the little wooden noisemaker frog that I wouldn't let her buy on Tuesday ('cuz she just. doesn't. need. another gee-gaw).
When we got there, they weren't open yet, but it's near the Golden Gate, so we drove over to the other side and took some pictures, and came back and got the frog. It's kind of clever, since it's a frog, and if you rub its back with the stick just right, it makes a pretty convincing frog noise.
Then we drove on home down the 5, telling stories, talking about movies, school, and other stuff.
All in all, a great trip. It sure makes it simpler to have only two people -- getting agreement on where to go, where to eat, when to do what, etc., is so much easier. We should do more of these...
2 comments:
Dad, it is the Graceful Envelope.
Graceful. Not Elegant, but Graceful.
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