California without a car Day 4

[ali-s]

California without a car Day 4 San Francisco – Monterey Aug 12

Today we were leaving mid afternoon for Monterey, but we still had plenty planned for the morning. I asked for, and got, a late checkout ( 2pm ) made things so much easier to be able to keep our bags in the room until the last minute.

We hadn’t ridden the Powell/Mason line yet, and I had promised myself we would ride all of the lines, so that is where we headed first ( left out of the hotel and cross the street ).No queue so me and the boys hung on the side while DH sat and filmed. You’d think the ‘standing hanging on’ places would be the last to be filled, but these are the most popular, so if you want to ride standing, get there early.We rode up to the turntable, then got off and reboarded a Powell/ Hyde car, no queues at this time of the morning and this turntable is the terminal for both Powell lines. We got off again a couple of stops later to have a look around Union square. I had planned on doing this when the shops were open, but having seen the crowds the day before, we preferred it quiet.





Back onto a Powell/Hyde car and off again after about 6 stops at Vallejo st( there seems to be a stop every block, and they are small blocks )I had an Eyewitness travel guide book with a 90 min walk around Russian Hill, it looked interesting, so following the map, that is what we did.It took us about 30 mins ! and we couldn’t find some of the points of interest- the Octagon house wasn’t where it was supposed to be, and some of the ‘stunning views’ were obscured by trees. But it was a pleasant enough wander and we were back on the cablecar well ahead of schedule.

We were back at the wharf in time for elevenses, so crossed the street and went back to Ghiradellis choc shop in Ghiradelli sq.Brownies, cookies and mocha lattes later, we felt a bit sick, but it was delicious. I bought a tin of chocs for my chicken minder back home, then decided they were too nice to give away, so had to buy another tin for us!


We carried on to Hyde st pier, more of a ‘proper pier’ rather than the tourist fest which is pier 39. They have a couple of old sailing ships here, as well as lots of little boats moored up. They have some info boards dotted about and several barrels with ropes and diagrams attatched so you can try tying the different sailors knots. We all had a go at these and were quite pleased with ourselves when we got them right ! We saw some sealions playing in the water and watched them for a bit- I’d begun to think they were superglued to their rafts, so it was a novelty to see them swimming.


Into a few souvenir shops so the boys could spend some of their money, I bought a couple of bits as well – a cablecar Christmas tree decoration was one ! very tacky, but it will remind us of our holiday. DH bought an Alcatraz ‘psycho ward out patient’ T shirt, that got so many ‘Awesome shirt’ comments it was unbelievable !

Lunch was at Johnny Rockets. There was a rather strange smell in here- bit like damp wash cloths ? it was a bit offputting, but the food was nice and the staff pleasant enough.We made our way back to the hotel, stopping at Barnes and Noble bookstore and Worldmarket ( a hotch potch of houseware, food and knicknacks )on the way. We retrieved the cases from the room and waited in the lobby for our taxi. I saw one of the computer terminals was free ( they have 2 pc’s for complimentary guest use)so said a quick ‘hello’ on the dibb before our taxi showed up 10 mins early.

We were catching the Monterey airbus, a shuttle bus that leaves from SFO several times a day.It was costing $45 each + an extra $10 to be taken directly to our hotel. Taxi to the airport this time cost $60 inc tip. We had to go into baggage claim, down one floor, then outside to a sort of underpass where the airporters vehicles pick up. The airbus was on time and the driver very friendly. We were his only passengers until his 2nd pick up , he told us a bad accident was causing chaos on the usual route, so he would take us an alternative more scenic route. Well, apart from a lake, all we saw for the first hour was parched brown hills, so I wonder what the ‘less scenic ‘ route was like !


He stopped in Salinas, where several more people got on – you could feel a wall of heat as the door opened. As we headed south, the scenery changed, far greener and lots of farms – garlic seemed to be a major crop and you could smell it through the air conditioning- many farms grew garlic alongside another crop such as cherries, couldn’t help wondering what they tasted like !

We arrived in Monterey at 6.10pm, the fog had come down and it was very eerie, we could see about 100ms in every direction, but the fog came down to ground level and it felt like we were driving through a ‘snowing snow globe’ (or how I imagine it would feel ! ) it was damp and chilly when we got out of the bus. I wanted to tip the driver but found I had only a $100 travellers chq and my fairfx card in my purse, not sure of the etiquette of tipping with a debit card, I had to leave it.

This was the first trip we had used one of these Fairfx cards and on the whole it was fine, but I did have to keep reminding myself to save the notes I got as change from the travelers chqs for tips and I had to use an ATM a couple of times ( charged a $2.50 fee each time ) just to get some cash . I thought I kept track of my spending pretty well, writing down each day what we’d put on the card and keeping a running total, I estimated we had $7 left on it when we got back to Heathrow, but checking my balance at home, I found we have $130 left ! not sure what happened there, but it would be just as easy to spend more than you’d thought.If you have access to a computer, you can check your balance online, but we didn’t have pc access after Monterey.

We were staying at the Holiday inn express again, on Cannery row. I book for the free breakfasts, not cos of any form of loyalty to Holiday inn ! The hotel seemed quiet and had lots of flowers in the outdoor areas. No swimming pool, but a hot tub that we used a couple of times.




We headed out for dinner- I asked directions to Hulas, a Hawaiian themed restaurant that has good reviews on tripadvisor.DH had steak, the boys shared a burger which they didn’t eat ( so I was pleased they were sharing not eating it ! )and I had spicy fish soup. Think the menu had changed since I looked on the net, as we did struggle to find something we fancied. My fish soup was nice, a bit too spicy for me and it had chunks of fish and long flat noodles floating in it. To eat it I was given chopsticks and a deep china spoon. Following the instructions on the packet, I actually managed to use the chopsticks- I was so proud of myself ! the noodles were another matter. I guessed I was supposed to somehow get them into the spoon, but as soon as I got one end in, the other would slide out and escape back into the bowl. My efforts provided great entertainment for DH and the boys and my laughing made it hard to eat.
We went back to the hotel via a quick look at cannery row ( the hotel is actually in the block next to cannery row – about 5 mins walk away). The hot tub was empty , so we had a long, very hot soak in it before bed at 10.30 again.


Tomorrow we go whale watching.

[wickesy]

I've got one of those 'Psycho Ward Outpatient' shirts. I wore it going through Immigration once and got a laugh out of the Immigration officer, who had been looking quite sour until she spotted it.

[Jools]

More lovely photos. You really had a busy holiday. How long did it take to get to Monterey?

[Guest]

Another great report with more lovely photos.

[ali-s]

Originally Posted by Jools

More lovely photos. You really had a busy holiday. How long did it take to get to Monterey?

See more...

Just over 2 hrs, including the stops at salinas and the transport plaza where they drop most of the passengers.

[ali-s]

Originally Posted by wickesy

I've got one of those 'Psycho Ward Outpatient' shirts. I wore it going through Immigration once and got a laugh out of the Immigration officer, who had been looking quite sour until she spotted it.

See more...

DH had so many comments , I couldn't believe it. Thing is , some of the comments were made when we forgot he was wearing it -while we were in laguna beach, one shop assistant said to DH 'you done the tour ?' puzzled we asked 'how did you guess?' (thinking she was talking about the beach bus tour we were on )she laughed and said 'it's creepy isn't it?' we just looked blank at her , wondering how she could think Laguna was creepy.Only when she went on to ask if we'd seen the 'escape cells' did we realise she was talking about Alcatraz, felt like right idiots !

[Sarah84]

More fab photo's

[highlander447]

An excellent report

[DisneyMadAng]

Another good day. Am sure DH will be buying one of those t-shirts too.

[Guest]

Had to laugh at you buying a christmas tree cablecar I bought a couple of those to.Another great report and good pics.