Pismo Beach, San Francisco, Napa Valley,
Yosemite, Vegas, L.A & San Juan Capistrano – July 2014
DAY 1 – L.A to Pismo Beach, (Tues 1st July 2014)
Fiona and I meet for the first time at LAX and pick up our massive hire car. From there we drove to Thousand Oaks to meet up with Siobhan and Michelle (where they were staying with a friend) and from there we then drove up to Pismo Beach. That night we stayed in a random holiday let and had dinner at Cracked Crab, which I’d highly recommend. [Drove 180 miles]
DAY 2 – Pismo Beach to San Francisco, (Wed 2nd July 2014)
First stop of the day was to Pismo Beach Premium Outlets where we enjoyed the huge discounts of Nike Factory Store. From there we drove up the Pacific Coast Highway first stopping at Hearst Castle, we had a little nosey around the shop entrance however opted against waiting to do the tour. We then moved on to see the famous Elephant Seals, huge and smelly but amazing to watch, before driving onto the Big Sur. With breath-taking views along the way, it’s not long before we’re back in the car heading to San Francisco and having dinner at Barreta (described as a trendy spot with unique cocktails and handcrafted pizzas). [Drove 245 miles]
DAY 3 – San Francisco, (Thurs 3rd July 2014)
With only two full days in San Francisco there’s a lot to fit in. First on the agenda, get the Aussies a decent coffee and so we jump on the subway to Radius Coffee shop. From there we have brunch at Radish, walk to Castro Street (the vibrant gay district) and get the tram to the Ferry Building where we walk to Fisherman’s Wharf and get an Irish Coffee at Buena Vista (credited for introducing the Irish coffee to the American’s in 1952). The plan was to book onto a Alcatraz tour but unfortunately we’d left it too late. We then trek up over Hyde Street (super, super steep) and towards Russian Hill and Nob Hill where we see the famous zig-zagged Lombard Street. We finish the day with dinner at Tres (Tequila Lounge & Mexican Restaurant).
DAY 4 – San Francisco, (Fri 4th July 2014)
Today we started with breakfast at Union Square and then went and hired bikes for the day. We cycled over the Golden Gate Bridge which was great – awesome views, and then went down into Sausalito where we had a lovely lunch by the sea at a place called Scoma. We got ferry back across, did a bit of shopping and then had dinner at Brenda’s, French Soul Food (which was really, really good).
DAY 5 – San Francisco to Napa Valley, (Sat 5th July 2014)
Driving over the Golden Gate Bridge we set off for Napa Valley, however went via Redwood Forest (nr. Austin Creek) to see some of the tallest (and the most massive tree species) on Earth. Never have I felt so small. From there we went to Calistoga, a small old-fashioned town, had lunch at Busters (Southern BBQ), a quick wine tasting at Tank, before stripping naked and jumping into a mud bath at the local Indian Springs. What an experience…leave your reservations at the door! We later checked into Napa River Inn, had an Italian dinner and finished with drinks at Faganinis.
DAY 6 – Napa Valley, (Sun 6th July 2014)
Today we treated ourselves to breakfast in bed, before heading out to the wineries. First stop Mumm, where they specialise in sparkling wines, then onto Silver Oak (where each barrel holds 288 bottles at a worth of approx. $31,000). This followed by lunch at The Fig Café in Glenn Elen before driving to BR Cohn (where Jenny’s parents live) and finishing up at Imagery. Later that evening we drank the bottles of wine that we’d bought and had dinner at our hotel. High five to Siobhan for driving the whole day!
DAY 7 – Napa Valley to Yosemite National Park, (Mon 7th July 2014)
Leaving Napa we headed to Livermore Outlet Store where I somehow managed to spend $525 (including $325 on a nice new handbag)…clearly these girls like to shop and it would seem if they shop, I shop. From there we drove to Yosemite National Park, had our ‘bear safely briefing’ and checked in to our cabins at Curry Village. Feeling both excited and terrified at the prospect of seeing wild bears, we were quick to follow the rules and locked away our toilettes and any food in the ‘bear boxes’ provided outside. That night we ate pizza, played cards and drank red…whilst looking out into the darkness anxiously at the sound of any rustling away in the bushes.
DAY 8 – Yosemite National Park, (Tues 8th July 2014)
Yosemite really is breath-taking and today we hiked to the top of Vernal Falls which was amazing. Refuelling on hotdogs, we then walked to Mirror Lake. That afternoon we had a swim, had a few beers, had a power nap and then had dinner at Ahwahnee Hotel.
DAY 9 – Yosemite National Park, (Wed 9th July 2014)
A slow start but today we drove up to Senal and Glacier Point, the views were amazing. From there we headed to Wawona Hotel and caught a shuttle bus up to Mariposa Grove and walked 1.6 miles to Grizzle Giant and Tunnel Tree.
DAY 10 – Yosemite National Park to Vegas via Death Valley, (Thurs 10th July 2014)
Time to leave Yosemite, we headed to a small town called Bishop where we had pancakes at Jacks. Checking we had plently of fuel, from there we headed to Death Valley, one very eerie, eerie place! At 46/47 degrees we desperately didn’t want to get out of the car but once at Badwater Basin (282 ft below sea level) we had a very quick, very hot look around. Sweaty messes, we were back in the car and on route to Vegas…wow!! Feeling like we were now extra’s in a hollywood movie, we checked into the Bellagio. That night we had cocktails and dinner at Milos, a lovely Greek place, followed by a quick flutter on the ‘pokies’, before making a brief appearance at Bank nightclub (one of the many nightclubs within the Bellagio).
DAY 11 – Vegas, (Fri 11th July 2014)
Explored the strip, swam, shopped, ate…later that night we decided to have a cheaper evening and ate at Todd English’s Pub.
DAY 12 – Vegas, (Sat 12th July 2014)
Similar to the day before (shopping up and down the strip and cooling off in the pool), that night we went to The Wynn and had their famous buffet. OH. MY. GOD! Never have I seen so much choice of different foods and you can just keep on going up, helping yourself, again and again. And don’t even get me started on the seperate room that’s dedicated just to desserts! No trip to Vegas is complete without some kind of show, we watched Le Réve – The Dream, which was so bizarre I couldn’t even begin to tell you what it what about.
DAY 13 – Vegas, (Sun 13th July 2014)
Having decided we weren’t yet done with Vegas, we boycotted our plans to go to Palm Springs and opted to stay in Vegas another two nights. First up was more shopping, and so we drove out to a nearby shopping outlet. As much as we loved the Bellagio, we were intrigued to see what the Cosmopolitan was like and so checked in there for a night. ‘Why would you only come to Vegas for the one night’, asked the hotel receptionist. Once we explained that we didn’t want to leave and that we loved the Bellagio but now wanted to try here instead, she decided to bump our room up to the 52nd floor. Wow, now we really did have the best view over Vegas. After a few hours by one of their many pools, we had a few cocktails and then headed back to the Bellagio to have dinner at Yellowtail. A drunken night ahead, we ended up in Bank nightclub again.
DAY 14 – Vegas, (Mon 14th July 2014)
Not forgetting that everyday it’s pretty much 40 degrees, we opted for a lazy day by the pool. Later we had cocktails at Marquee, dinner at Shakes & Buns and got a taxi to Downtown / Freemont Street, better known as old Vegas. A poor man’s Vegas, it’s definitely worth a visit.
DAY 15 – Vegas to L.A, (Tues 15th July 2014)
We started the day with brunch at Wicked Spoon, then it was a quick photo stop at the iconic Vegas sign before driving to L.A. We said goodbye to Siobhan (who was off for bridesmaid duties) and checked into the Andaz in West Hollywood and then went and explored Venice Beach, before having dinner on Abbot Kinney Boulevard. [Drove 270 miles]
DAY 16 – L.A, (Wed 16th July 2014)
Come the evening we went to Skybar at the Mondrian Hotel for a few drinks before having dinner at Katana (sushi). We then got an Uber and headed downtown and partied the night away at The Standard.
DAY 17 – L.A to San Juan Capistrano, (Thurs 17th July 2014)
Laurence & Alicia’s Rehearsal dinner, Mahe
DAY 18 – San Juan Capistrano, (Fri18th July 2014)
Laurence & Alicia’s Big Day
DAY 19 – San Juan Capistrano to L.A, (Sat 19th July 2014)
Drove back to L.A and flew back to London. Another amazing trip done!
