..:: jennycu.com ~ 3.10.03 ~ vacation: california coast ::..

..:: jennycu.com ~ vacation: california coast ::..

3.10.03 ~ contents:

..:: march 3 - 10: california coast ::..

drive down california.
this past week, matthias came all the way from germany to visit me. :) i took the week off and showed him california's beautiful coastline. i had never done this drive in the driver's seat before, and i had certainly never planned anything so this was a learning experience for me. there are a few sites that i found were especially helpful, and a lot of lessons learned. this is the site that i started with ~ road trip usa: california coast. you'll find our hotel information here, and locations of other spots we stopped here. keep reading for more details.

santa cruz: mystery spot.
[ mystery spot: 465 mystery spot road · santa cruz, ca 95060 · 831.423.8897 ]

we started off on monday driving from the bay area down 101 south to 17. our first stop was the the mystery spot in santa cruz. i had heard mixed reviews about this place, and now i can explain why.

the weird shack (and our tour guide) at the mystery spot where all the funky things happen

matthias and me having a mystery moment

click here to watch a very odd video of a ball rolling down... then back up again.
[ video: ball rolling ]

monterey sports center.
[ monterey sports center: 301 e. franklin st. · monterey, ca 93940 · 831.646.3700 ]

if you're looking for a gym while you're in monterey, go to the monterey sports center. owned and sponsored by the city of monterey, this newly renovated sports center has a very low entrance fee and all of the facilities you could ask for.

sardine factory.
[ sardine factory: 701 wave st · monterey, ca 93940 · 831.373.3775 ]

after we checked into the hotel, we wandered about downtown monterey (beautiful!) and jogged along the path by the water. upon a recommendation from a former pwc consultant that i met on the plane the other day (and rave reviews from the concierge), we had dinner at the sardine factory. fortunately, it was a monday, and they had their special sunday/monday dinner menu for a fixed price. this place is smaller, dark, and very romantic. i recommend it as a good date place.

..:: tuesday, march 4 ::..

monterey to la.
the drive from monterey to la was pretty long, but not totally unbearable. i took 1 -> 101. the views are awesome on 1, and you can stay on it just long enough that you're about to start cursing the small curvy scenic road when you have the opportunity to cut across to interstate 101.

it was somewhere along 1 that i realized i was running out of gas. the little red light came on, but i figured i'd have plenty of time before the next gas station. you know - that little light comes on pretty early. we did come arcoss a gas station or two, but they were all *ridiculously* expensive. anything over $2.50 for regular unleaded is just wrong. so i pushed it. don't worry, babe, we can make it! :) you just sit back, relax, and enjoy the view. then... *beep!*... my car was telling me that i had 30 miles to go before i ran out of gas. no problemo. the next gas station i ran into was trying to charge closer to $3.00. shyeeah right. no thanks. you can't really understand unless you've seen it - there is *nothing* in sight for miles except green rolling hills. up and down and around for as far as you can see. oh, and the ocean on the right. needless to say, we made it to the next station, but i had to pay something over $3.00.

note to self: fill gas *before* getting on 1.

me and matthias enjoying the view off highway 1

seals.
there are plenty of places to stop along the highway, but somewhere in between monterey and los angeles, we started noticing a lot of large gray blobs on the sand. i pulled into a lot, and apparently a lot of other people noticed the blobs too. :) here are pictures of the informational signs about the seals. there was also a volunteer lady walking around with informational brochures and to answer questions. she told us that these baby seals are only a few months old and they just lay around surviving on their baby fat until they are old enough to swim. i wanna lay around surviving on my fat. :)

seals on the beach off the pacific coast highway 1

venice beach / santa monica.
[ yankee doodles bar/club/restaurant: 1410 3rd st promenade · santa monica, ca 90401 · 310.394.4632 ]

ahh... finally... we reached los angeles. we checked into the beverly hilton, and then headed for the beach! this is venice beach. then we went to 3rd street promenade for dinner @ yankee doodles bar/club/restaurant. the food was good - and cheap if you go during happy hour. it looked like a cool bar to hang out in on the weekends - they have a lot of billiards tables.

venice beach

..:: wednesday, march 5 ::..

exploring la.
[ mäni's bakery: 2507 main street · santa monica, ca 90405 · 310.396.7700 ]

on wednesday, we started out with breakfast at this great little place in venice beach on main street called mäni's bakery. i highly recommend this place - they even have this cute little outdoor section that gets great sun in the morning. then we explored (or just drove by) the typical tourist traps - we checked out the ucla campus (matthias really liked the track), saw the hollywood sign, drove up to universal city, saw the walk of fame, mann's chinese theater, the magic castle, the museum area, etc.

[1] the wonders of my camera's self-timer, [2] matthias standing with jackie chan's star

university of california, los angeles.
actually, being on the ucla campus really made me want to study again. hmm... i guess that assumes i studied in the first place. ok, i guess i mean enroll in school. :) ucla is a lot like berkeley, but nicer. no disrespect to cal - go bears! - but the weather and the actual campus is undeniably *nicer* at ucla. i mean... dude!... it's in westwood.

matthias enjoying the ucla track

asakuma.
[ asakuma: 11701 wilshire blvd · los angeles, ca 90025 · 310.826.0013 ]

when we asked him for a good japanese food recommendation, my cousin lawrence suggested that we have dinner @ asakuma's. matthias had never had real japanese food before (benihana's doesn't count) so this was his first time having miso soup, sunomono salad, and sukiyaki. i had the black cod, and it was *excellent*! we got there early cuz we didn't have lunch, and ran into the early bird special. woo hoo.

..:: thursday, march 6 ::..

los angeles to san diego.
on thursday, we tried to find a breakfast place near the ucla campus but had a really really hard time. we ended up at whole foods cafe, and it was ridiculously expensive for a muffin and a coffee (so i'm not going to link it).

then we hopped on the 405 -> 5 to san diego. it didn't take too long to get there - maybe 2-3 hours? our hotel was in mission bay, right on the water. we actually got there so early that our room wasn't ready yet, so we were debating between going down to mexico (less than 20 miles away!), visiting ucsd, staying in the area, or going to coronado island.

hotel del coronado.
after a few phone calls and a short discussion with the concierge, we deicded to go to cornado island and see the hotel del coronado. there is no longer a toll to cross the bridge, by the way. in my opinion, the little shops/restaurants weren't worth going back for, but the hotel is definitely a cool place that is worth seeing. it's a little city in itself, with a private beach, several bars and restaruants, a deli, a cold stone-like ice cream shop, a coffee shop, and several stores. i'm sure there was more too, but it's just a cool place to see. the only mildly sucky part was that you have to pay for parking by the hour, and it's not cheap.

me and matthias at the hotel del coronado

sunset @ lahaina.
[ lahaina beach house: 710 oliver ave · san diego, ca 92109 · 858.270.3888 ]

we got back to the hotel and gave matthias' friend andrew a call. he was so nice as to invite us to join him for a beer and to watch the sunset a a cool bar on pacific beach called lahaina. every day at sunset, people gather at this bar on the deck, watch the sun go down, and cheer wildly when the sun finally sets. it was really cool, but kind of weirded me out because why would you cheer when a day ends? but it certainly does look and sound cool.

sunset @ pacific beach (pb)

old town mexican cafe.
[ old town mexican cafe: 2489 san diego ave · san diego, ca 92110 · 619.297.4330 ]

after watching the sun set, we decided to all go grab some authentic mexican food in old town. they led us to the old town mexican cafe in the heart of san diego's old town. the food was awesome, and the company was even better. :) also, after a few days of roaming about like tourists, i can't tell you how nice it was to be with people who knew where they were going. we didn't get them, but i was told the crispy quesadillas are great.

old town mexican cafe

..:: friday, march 7 ::..

exploring san diego.
[ rock bottom brewery: 401 g st. · san diego, ca 92101 · 619.231.7000 ]

on friday, we had breakfast at the hotel and headed out to check out the ucsd campus. the campus seems so much more approachable and friendly than the ucla campus for some reason.

then we met up with andrew at his work (he's the assistant manager @ rock bottom brewery downtown). rock bottom is a chain, and since i travel so much, i have actually been to a few of these. this one was by far and away the largest one i have ever seen. the actual restaurant area and the bar are average-sized, but andrew showed us the section that gets opened up at night on the weekends and it is like a dance club! we had lunch there (the specials are great) and then spent some time walking around downtown.

after a while, we decided to head back towards the hotel and hit up a beach. my awesome directional skills somehow ended us up at a dog beach. :) but it was still cool.

chillin @ ocean beach

dinner @ andrew and kate's.
[ have a nice day cafe: 428 c street · san diego, ca 92101 · 619.702.2400 ]
[ nutters peanut butter: 428 c street suite 101 · san diego, ca 92101 · 619.239.7075 ]

friday night, andrew and kate were so kind as to invite us over for dinner at their place downtown in the gas lamp district. they have an awesome loft above the have a nice day cafe (the ultimate cheesy 70's and 80's clubbing scene).

this is one of andrew and kate's two dogs, franklin. she will do anything for beer! :)

franklin

andrew whipped up this awesome dinner for us: turkey breast with an apricot glaze, sauteed spinach, and curry coconut rice. mmm... this man can cook.

mmm

as we were leaving, we asked a guy on the street to take a picture for us. he pretended to run away with my camera, and then his friend came into the picture with us. you can see matthias and i have paper bags with our yummy nutter's peanut butter inside. kate works at nutter's, and we had dinner that night with the owners of the store (i didn't get a picture of them). they are such an interesting story and a really fun couple. both are in law school, both wearing prada shoes, he started 7 nightclubs in new york, she was a professional violinist for a while, they met in law school here in san diego and started this peanut butter store. i forget all of the marketing info they threw at us, but i just remember that they have some way of taking out a lot of the fat and that the stuff is a lot more healthy than jiffy. we had some that night, and i couldn't stop eating it. i took home black & white, white chocolate pretzel, and white chocolate cherry. matthias chose vanilla, black & white, and white chocolate pretzel. absolutely awesome peanut butter. yum!

so... from left to right...
random guy on cell phone, andrew, kate, me, matthias. :)

..:: saturday, march 8 ::..

drove back on the 5 -> 101 all the way back home.

cold stone creamery.
[ cold stone creamery: 9 town and country vlilage · palo alto, ca 94301 · 650.323.2102 ]

matthias really really enjoying something you would never find in germany. something totally customizable... exactly how *you* want it... it's all about the customer. a vanilla bean banana caramel crunch from cold stone creamery.

banana caramel crunch

matthias' lessons learned.
matthias said every time he comes to the united states, he learns something new. from this trip, he will always remember:

go to the very end... (ie, "where's the bathroom?" "go to the very end of the hall and it's on the left.")
to have issues (ie, "you've got issues man" or "she has some serious hair issues.")
car pool (ie, carpool lane or "let's carpool")
"where my bitches at?" (thanks a lot, andrew) :P

hotels.
i booked all of our hotels through priceline. i had never used priceline before, and i was pretty happy with it. you can choose 1-4 stars, and the specific area within a city that you want to stay in. now that i know better, i would have:

bid less for monterey to start out with (~$80-90 should get you a 4 star)
in la: venice beach / santa monica
in san diego: coronado, bid less for a downtown hotel, or try for pacific beach.
people have told me that they like driving down highway 1 and stopping at a bed & breakfast works well. i'm a little too paranoid for that, though. i prefer to have a destination and a final cost.

these are the hotels that priceline gave me:

:: hotel pacific : 300 pacific street · monterey, ca 93940 · 800.554.5542

this hotel was actually surprisingly great. i wasn't expecting much, given that it's not a major chain hotel, but they really treat you well here. i really felt comfortable here. the first thing you should know is that it's old spanish style. there is a shower/tub as well as a shower. they provide bath salts, aveda shampoo/conditioner/lotion, bathrobes, candles, and even a scale. the bed was great - big, tall, comfy, good sheets, down comforter. they give you free postcards from their hotel and pay for postage (all hotels should do this - free advertisement!). a continental breakfast is included (coffee, tea, muffins, scones, bagels, fruit, granola, juice, milk, etc.) which is served in a family room-type room. high tea is also served in the afternoon where you can get coffee, tea, crackers, cheese, and fruit. unfortunately, the rooms are not wired for high-speed internet yet, but the working fireplace, 2 outdoor hot tubs, and eternally great weather should keep you busy enough.

:: the beverly hilton : 9876 wilshire boulevard · beverly hills, ca 90210 · 310.274.7777

this is not a new hotel. i think the best thing at this hotel is probably trader vic's, but we didn't go. there is an outdoor pool, a decent workout room, and neutrogena bath products. the halls just kind of smell... old. the location was great if you want to shop, and was very central to the rest of the interesting parts of la - but that meant about 20 miles to the beach, and about the same distance to hollywood / universal city.

:: hyatt regency islandia : 1441 quivira road · san diego, ca 92109 · 619.224.1234

the concierge at the hotel was one of the best i've seen yet - very helpful and friendly. they have these little index card-sized pre-printed driving directions to anywhere you could possibly think of, and they are so fast at grabbing them. "can you tell me how to get to coronado?" *whoosh!* here you go (hands you little card), and here is a detailed map of the area with suggested restaurants and sights (hands you a map or two).

location info.
[ mystery spot: 465 mystery spot road · santa cruz, ca 95060 · 831.423.8897 ]
[ sardine factory: 701 wave st · monterey, ca 93940 · 831.373.3775 ]
[ monterey sports center: 301 e. franklin st. · monterey, ca 93940 · 831.646.3700 ]
[ yankee doodles bar/club/restaurant: 1410 3rd st promenade · santa monica, ca 90401 · 310.394.4632 ]
[ mäni's bakery: 2507 main street · santa monica, ca 90405 · 310.396.7700 ]
[ asakuma: 11701 wilshire blvd · los angeles, ca 90025 · 310.826.0013 ]
[ lahaina beach house: 710 oliver ave · san diego, ca 92109 · 858.270.3888 ]
[ old town mexican cafe: 2489 san diego ave · san diego, ca 92110 · 619.297.4330 ]
[ rock bottom brewery: 401 g st. · san diego, ca 92101 · 619.231.7000 ]
[ have a nice day cafe: 428 c street · san diego, ca 92101 · 619.702.2400 ]
[ nutters peanut butter: 428 c street suite 101 · san diego, ca 92101 · 619.239.7075 ]
[ cold stone creamery: 9 town and country vlilage · palo alto, ca 94301 · 650.323.2102 ]