California - Here we come - Day 8

[Guest]

Day 8

We are not in any rush this morning and so have time to explore” the Del” (Hotel del Coronado). It’s a lovely confection of Victorian elegance, Over the years they have added extensions such as the ballroom but it’s always been kept in the “Queen Anne” style as it is known.

We have a stroll along the promenade where many of the scenes in “Some like it hot” were filmed. There is lovely big beach stretching for miles. After all that wind and rain of yesterday we are treated to a brilliant clear blue sky although the breeze is still rather chilly.



We take breakfast in the Babcock & Story bar. This genius pair (for whom the bar is named) laid out $110,000 for the peninsula, even though they only wanted the beach area for the hotel. In order to raise funds to build the hotel they then sold off plots of this prime location by advertising nationally that they were available and that would be purchasers would be given a free picnic and a free ferry from the mainland. Many came 4,000 miles to view these plots and the original train fare of $150 was slashed because of demand to just $1 with a fifty cents refund on completion of the return journey! On the day, they ran out of the promised picnics and the tiny 30 foot length boat being used as the ferry could not cope with the thousands of visitors. The sale was so successful that they raised $ 2.2 million. They had their money to build this Grand Dame of a hotel.

We potter around taking last minute photos and buying souvenirs and gifts. I particularly want the book about the history of the place. It has such great photographs.

We also visit the Crown Room – the wooden ceiling was installed with pegs and glue. Not a single nail was used.



Sunday brunch here will cost you $76.50 each !

Around 10 a.m. we set out with the car packed, back into San Diego and then out on the I5 freeway to Huntingdon beach. Here we cut across via Long Beach to avoid the Los Angeles area and its never ending streams of slowly moving traffic. We now join the Ventura Freeway and head north and west taking us through Hollywood with Burbank in the distance. We later learned that the previous night it had snowed in Burbank where the Warner Bros and Disney studios are. Look at the snow on the Santa Monica range:




We continue on our way joining the 101 passing through Oxnard (Hollywood by the sea) and Ventura eventually arriving 3 and a half hours and 220 miles later in Santa Barbara, If you have never visited this city we would recommend you do so. It is beautifully kept and built in the ubiquitous Spanish Mission style, the indoor-outdoor shopping centre called Paseo Nuevo (literally “new stroll”) is right in the heart of the city's retail and entertainment district. At the corner of State and De La Guerra streets it is anchored by Macy's and Nordstrom, the upscale complex with tile walkways and outdoor terraces opened in 1990 and contains more than 50 shops, mostly of the stylish chain variety: Abercrombie & Fitch, Aldo, American Eagle, Aveda, Banana Republic Men, Chico's, Express, Juicy Couture, L'Occitane, Lucky Brand Jeans, Nine West, Papyrus, Sephora, Victoria's Secret, and White House/Black Market among them. You'll also find about a dozen casual restaurants (California Pizza Kitchen, Chipotle, Ben & Jerry's, etc.), and a couple of theatres. It's also a very short walk to countless fine restaurants, hotels, nightclubs, and still many more boutiques and shops.



We take lunch at Hahanas and have chicken teriyaki sandwiches – delicious.


Darrin buys outfits at Abercrombie and Fitch (I HATE him ! ). Since his weight loss he can now easily wear their garments. Our bargain of the day had to be the White Zinfandel we picked up for $2.79 – it would prove to be a little on the sweet side for a Zinfandel but delicious never the less!

We still have an hour and a half to go to get to our overnight hotel at Pismo Beach. We cut across through Los d Santa Maria arriving at Pismo Beach, just north of the Arroyo Grande area, about 15 minutes before the sun is due to set. Our hotel is the Sea Venture - we check in and – oh! – what a delightful hotel and room we have.







Here is that glorious sunset:



We take an hour out to empty all cases and holdalls and re-sort everything so that it is better distributed for our last few days. We also take great care to ensure delicate souvenirs and gifts are carefully packed.

Dinner is taken in the hotel restaurant at 8p.m. Included in our stay is a “flight of wine” each – we choose all pinot noirs – Irony 2008, Monterey County
Cambria 2007, Julia’s Vineyard, Santa Maria Valley
Stephen Ross 2007, Edna Valley



All subtle undertones – particularly a liquorice finish - and the latter being my favourite whilst Darrin preferred the Cambria.

For dinner I choose a Caesar salad for my appetizer – Darrin has none.



For entrees we order the trout roulade, filled with Dungeness crab with a beurre blanc citrus ratatouille. I cannot describe how utterly magnificent this dish was.



We accompanied the entrees with a glass each of Wolff Chardonnay 2008, Old Vines, Edna Valley.

No desserts I’m afraid – we are full.

We retire to our room and whilst I get on with this report we watch the Oscars. Well done Colin Firth! To think my foot was on that red carpet not 5 days ago!

We'd definitely score this hotel 9/10 - only missing out on a 10 because there were no bell services (aka luggage porters) and no safe in the room.

It really is chilly tonight and so we light the fire in our room. To do so you just whack up the thermostat to 70F and it ignites. We fall blissfully asleep whilst flames flicker.



Index

[Eeyore rocks]

Fab photos. How lovely does the Crown room look.

Great room and fabulous sunset.

Thankyou for sharing your holiday with us.

[Aims]

Wouldn't you know the sun came out the day you were leaving San Diego! *sigh* So glad you enjoyed your stay at the Hotel Del, it's such a beautiful, historic place and the beach is gorgeous.

I love Santa Barbara! Larry and I have taken the Amtrak train there from San Diego and it's such a relaxing, enjoyable way to visit the town. Pismo Beach is great too, really like the look of your hotel room there with the fireplace. Enjoying all the photos! Can't wait till you get to San Francisco.

[cathann]

Wow this is an amazing trip, it's going so fast though!

[Guest]

What a fabulous hotel - great sunset, delicious food followed by a roaring fire - perfect!

[Cyclospora]

What an amazing trip so far! Looking forward to the rest

[pepsicube]

Sounds like you're having a fab holiday

[Guest]

Another great day - loved the sunset. Looking forward to the next installment of your lovely holiday - thanks for sharing

[Helen0705]

Hotel looks fab - love the fire!

[Guest]

Loved seeing the Crown Room. That's lovely! (Now a MUST SEE when I visit California next time.) I'm also loving the look of Santa Barbara. We've not been there, but, have stayed in Pismo Beach on the water and it's beautiful! Looks like you're having a blast in northern California!

If you & I were shopping together, Geoff, we'd be in so much trouble with Darrin & Mark! I'm afraid I'd have to take out a loan to keep up with you both! ha!

Awesome report! Can't wait for the next day!