Shawnee Summer

Just A Cozy California Girl

Destinations

California Coastal Drive: San Francisco to Santa Cruz

Destinations

The California drive along Highway 1 from San Francisco to Santa Cruz is extremely scenic and includes breathtaking views of both the Pacific Ocean coastline and pastoral rolling hills. The distance is about 73 miles and takes about 2 hours without stopping, but I would recommend taking your time and making a weekend of it. Some great places to stop and explore along the way are:

1. Point Montara Light house and Point Montara Hostel

2. Pacifica, Ca. is just south of San Francisco. The Best things to See and Do in Pacifica, California is a great article for information about activities this lovely little town.

3.  Have some chowder overlooking the beach at Sam’s Chowder House and watch surfing at Maverick’s Surf Break.

4. Walking Trails. See more information at this site: Half Moon Bay State Beach
Walking Trails.

The Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay
The Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay

5. Enjoy the amazing views at The Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay. Even if you’re not making an over night stop at the hotel, it’s a beautiful place to have lunch or dinner as the sun is setting, walk the paved trails along the bluff, or order food and drinks and relax on the large outdoor patio.

Half Moon Bay

6. The quaint downtown area of Half Moon Bay has several shops and restaurants and is a great place to stop for the night. I love staying at the Half Moon Bay Inn (pictured below) because it is right in town and easily walkable to shopping and to many options for dinner and breakfast. Pasta Moon for dinner and Chez Shea for breakfast or lunch are two of my favorites.

Continuing south  along Highway 1 a couple more scenic areas are:

7. San Gregorio State Beach

8. Pigeon Point Light House State Historic Park is an excellent place to watch for gray whales on their annual migration between January and April or walk through the tidepool area, which is 100 yards north of Pigeon Point.  Half hour guided history walks around the lighthouse grounds are available 10am to 4pm Friday through Monday and the lighthouse keeper’s housing is restored and operated as a Hostel.

9. At Ano Nuevo State Reserve, see Northern Elephant Seals that come ashore to give birth and mate from mid December through March.

10. Santa Cruz, Ca. is a wonderful city with so much to do and see including beaches, the boardwalk, Capitola Village, and strolling in downtown Santa Cruz. An excellent place to stay in Santa Cruz is the Adobe on Green Street Bed and Breakfast Inn because it is so comfortable and charming and easily walkable to downtown restaurants, shops, and entertainment.

Chateau Montelena in Calistoga, Ca

Destinations

Wandering the peaceful grounds of Chateau Montelena Winery is a wonderful way to spend a fall afternoon.

Chateau Montelena Winery Grounds in Calistoga, Ca
Which way to go? We started by heading up the stairs to the tasting room and Chateau.
Barrels and Bicycles~ A lovely scene greets you at the top of the steps on the way to the tasting room.
Barrels and Bicycles~ A lovely scene greets you at the top of the steps on the way to the tasting room.
Barrels and Bicycles~ A lovely scene greets you at the top of the steps on the way to the tasting room.
A closer look…
Arched wooden door at the Chateau.
I love the arched wooden door at the Chateau.
Massive stone wall covered in autumn colored vines.
And the massive stone wall covered in autumn colored vines.
Heading back down to the the path that meanders around the lake.
The path leads you to bridges that connect to small islands on Jade Lake.

The pagoda is a perfect place to relax and watch the ducks and otters swimming peacefully around the islands.
And Black Swans
View of surrounding vineyard and rolling hills glowing in the afternoon light.

Some of my notes on visiting Calistoga:

Eurospa Inn is a relaxed and convenient place to stay. Very quaint and cozy, fireplace in rooms, comfortable bed, heated pool and hot tube in secluded cottage-like courtyard. Have continental breakfast on the patio warmed by a fire-place. Easily walkable to town for shopping, wine tasting, and dinner. About 2 blocks down is the lovely Calistoga Inn, which has a restaurant and pub. If I’m driving around exploring the surrounding area, I also enjoy visiting:

Day One in Madrid

Destinations

My daughter is attending a semester abroad in Madrid, so we decided Spring Break was a great time to visit her for a couple of weeks and get to see a little bit of Europe.  We spent time in Madrid, Barcelona, and Paris and it was wonderful to get to see her and also get to know a bit about these historical cities.

Day one: After about 14 hours of flying, landed in Bajaras airport in Madrid, Spain at 11:00am. Navigating through the airport was amazingly calm and easy and it was great to be greeted by my daughter’s smiling face as we entered the metro station area. We accomplished a lot on this first day, including checking into our hotel (Hotel Convencion), exploring El Retiro Park, and visiting the Prado Museum (which has free admission most evenings). These photos were all taken in Retiro Park.

  • Exploring Retiro Park. This is one of several buildings in the park, I’m not sure what it is
  • Estanque del Retiro. a man-made lake in Retiro Park
  • Walking toward the Monument to King Alfonso XII and the lake
  • Palacio de Velázquez in El Retiro Park
  • Palacio de Velázquez an art museum in El Retiro Park
  • More walking along the many paths
  • Parterre Garden
  • Beautiful view of the city near Parterre Garden in Retiro Park

More Walking in Madrid

Destinations

Madrid is a beautiful, walkable city filled with parks, museums, and grand architecture. It also has a great metro system that is easy to use and super clean compared to any other metro I’ve used. The weather was cold and the skies were cloudy during most of our days in Madrid. It was perfect weather for enjoying a cafe con leche to warm ourselves in between sight-seeing.

This is the Temple of Debod, an ancient Egyptian temple which the Egyptian state donated to Spain in 1968 as a sign of gratitude for the help provided by Spain in saving the temples of Abu Simbel.

  • This is one of several areas that can be toured inside the temple

  • Walking in Parque del Oeste near the Temple of Debod in Madrid
  • More walking in the park
  • Neighborhood views from the park around the Temple of Debod

We were wandering and exploring the quaint winding streets near Puerta Del Sol and we stumbled upon Chocolateria San Ginés. This beautiful chocolateria is tucked away on the lovely Pasadizo de San Ginés and is famous for its chocolate con churros.

  • Chocolateria San Gines

  • Churros Con Chocolate

  • Beautiful doors on Pasadizo de San Gines

There are a beautiful series of doors identical to this one along the small street that leads to Chocolateria San Gines, the perfect place to eat churros con chocolate in Madrid.

  • We tried some olive and cheese skewers from this booth.
  • Mercado de San Miguel

It was about 48 degrees fahrenheit for most of our trip. It was great, but I would love to spend some time in Madrid once Spring has sprung. I hear its even more beautiful.