For our Honeymoon we are flying into SanFran and flying out of LA - which is all that is currently booked. I was wondering if people had good ideas to fill in some cool places to see and do in the gaps? We are leaving on June 10th and late to the planning game.
So far we have
-Alcatraz tour - only the night tour includes a guided tour, is it worth it? Doesn't work well with our days because already sold out on some days
-MLB games
Napa vally - any tips on locations to stay or tour or places to go?
-Anything else!
Since its your first time, I would recommend taking the longer but more enjoyable CA-1. Of your stops, I'd recommend Carmel and do 17-mile drive. From SF, you may want to grab lunch at the pier in Monterrey, they are priced quite reasonably there. The 101 route is longer then the I-5, but not as boring (I-5 is like HWY-2 from CGY/EDM).
If you take the I-5, there is a section (152?) that is single lane and traffic gets jammed from 3pm-9pm, especially on Friday's. Other days its probably just normally bad, rather then nightmare bad. For me, my scheduel is usually leave SF around 7pm, 152 clears out by 8:30... when you enter LA, you avoid the 5/405 junction nightmare after midnight, as any time from 4am to 11pm is a nightmare.
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Oh for other recommendations, since you have a car, the best panaramic shots of SF are :
- Mt Tamalpias (just north of SF)
- Treasure Island (in between SF/Berkeley)
- top of Berkeley hills
If you head towards TI/Berkeley, there is a ton of cheap food around campus. The most popular among students there is Top Dog. Watch out of parking, I have about 10 parking tickets from there as I swear parking officers are hiding in the bushes waiting for the second your meter expires. Half of those, I was within 5 minutes after my meter expired.
EDIT : to minimize spam... I recommend going to farmers market which is Tues/Thurs/Sat mornings. Its my favourite thing to do in SF. A lot of cool shops and stands there. I usually get a few raw oysters, I think its 3 for $5? The sandwhich place that has a really really long line is pretty good, not worth a 30 minute wait but if you go just before they wrap things up, its <5 minutes.
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"With a coach and a player, sometimes there's just so much respect there that it's boils over"
-Taylor Hall
Last edited by Phanuthier; 05-20-2013 at 11:34 AM.
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Santa Cruz is a cool little city to check out and drive the Big Sur Hwy.
Its expensive to park near the pier, but after taking HWY-17 to the pier, if you go left instead of right, and drive uphill, there is a bunch of free parking. Look for obvious lookout points and a kind of sketchy bridge... its just a few feet up from that. Sketchy bridge is fun to cross, love to take visitors on it all the time.
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"With a coach and a player, sometimes there's just so much respect there that it's boils over"
-Taylor Hall
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I believe Alcatraz gives you a tour via headsets (at least that was the case when we went about 3 years ago during the day).
I'm assuming you're taking #1 (Pacific Coast Highway) and not I-5. Hearst Castle might be worth a visit -- we thought it was pretty neat (amazing what people can do with enough money).
Take advantage of the drive -- it's relatively easy/cheap to get back to LA and or SF if you want to go back but you can't always fit in a drive in between...
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Done this drive multiple times both directions. Skip the 17-mile drive as while it's nice and scenic, you'll find even better scenery for free as you get to Big Sur.
It's a bit of a trick to find but Pfeiffer State Beach is a must stop. Expect to pay $5 to park. Google it and you'll want to go.
Absolutely have lunch on the deck of Nepenthe Restaurant overlooking the ocean.
We're going again June 8th.
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Just drive the 1 (PCH) as much as you can allow to. The scenery is jaw-dropping, and my favorite memory of my own road trip from last summer.
I just got back from a road trip where we took Hwy 1 and it was awesome. Fun to drive and scenery is amazing. Only problem is you want to stop every five minutes to take photos and look.
Also AT&T Park is great. Go see a game, I found cheap tickets on stubhub the day before.
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Originally Posted by henriksedin33
Not at all, as I've said, I would rather start with LA over any of the other WC playoff teams. Bunch of underachievers who look good on paper but don't even deserve to be in the playoffs.
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^I have that exact same picture when I drove on Hwy 1 last month. Just a beautiful drive.
MLB games - I went to Giants vs Diamondbacks on April 24 and it was a Wednesday afternoon game which was completely packed to my surprise. We got tickets from a scalper for $10 in Section VR 305 and the view was pretty good. Try the Bacon wrapped hot dogs when you're at the ball park.
We stayed mostly within SF so we walked around the Piers and around Bay Bridge which is beautiful at night.
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Oh, when in San Fran for breakfast make a stop at Mama's on Stockton & Filbert (Washington Square). Worth the wait in line!
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Originally Posted by henriksedin33
Not at all, as I've said, I would rather start with LA over any of the other WC playoff teams. Bunch of underachievers who look good on paper but don't even deserve to be in the playoffs.
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I believe Alcatraz gives you a tour via headsets (at least that was the case when we went about 3 years ago during the day).
I'm assuming you're taking #1 (Pacific Coast Highway) and not I-5. Hearst Castle might be worth a visit -- we thought it was pretty neat (amazing what people can do with enough money).
Take advantage of the drive -- it's relatively easy/cheap to get back to LA and or SF if you want to go back but you can't always fit in a drive in between...
Yeah I just went to Alcatraz a month ago and they still have the headset tour. It was pretty informative, super interesting. And you can walk around the island a little bit and see a limited amount of stuff, most of it is closed off.
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AT&T Park is great, but Giants tickets could be hard to come by.
We didn't have an issue at all and we saw the Braves vs Giants. I think it would depend on the game. Saturday/Sunday day game would probably be the busiest from my experience because more people bring family but there were still tickets to be had. It's just not like the Mariners where you can get $20-30 tickets right behind the plate.
My advice for AT&T Park would be dress warm and bring a blanket even in June. You are right along the bay and if you aren't in the lower section along the 3rd base line it gets cold at night. I'd actually recommend a day game if you can make it work but a night game is still worth going just be prepared for pay $8 for a hot chocolate.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by henriksedin33
Not at all, as I've said, I would rather start with LA over any of the other WC playoff teams. Bunch of underachievers who look good on paper but don't even deserve to be in the playoffs.
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If you're going to Napa, do yourself a favor and stay at Dr. Wilkinson's in Calistoga. It's a great little town that's one step removed from all the central Napa stuff, so it's a little more relaxing.
Dr. Wilkinsons is a fantastic little hotel that with different kids of mineral pool. You can also get some mud baths and stuff that they are known for. We just enjoyed the pools, and it was fantastic.
If you're going to spend a lot of time on the PCH (which you'd be a moron not to), get yourself something a little fun to drive. It's your honeymoon...don't go for the Camry.
Oh, and one last thing... don't call it San Fran.
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Honeymoon Driving from SanFran to LA
