Day 4 - Carmel to San Francisco

The trip from Carmel to San Francisco went very well! We had a wonderful breakfast at the Sea View Inn in Carmel before walking around at Carmel-by-the-Sea. I cannot tell you enough how much we enjoyed our stay there! We also really liked the town of Carmel. Everything about it was so nice! I loved walking in all of the shops. Most of them were very unique and upscale. I saw tons of things that I wanted, and even Graham seemed to enjoy browsing around in all of the shops.

When we left Carmel, we headed for 17 Mile Drive & Pebble Beach. I didn't realize how close it was to Carmel. We drove through and looked at the beautiful houses and the views. The waves in this area were much bigger than what we've seen so far along the trip. We also saw quite a few deer standing in the middle of the fairway at one of the golf courses there. People were just playing around them and tons of people were standing on the road taking their picture. I thought that was funny. Graham especially loved the Pebble Beach Golf Course area. I did too! It was gorgeous and we had the best time walking around in all of the shops, Pro-Shop, bar, and restaurants. We spent some time looking out over the 18th green and fairway and at the first tee box. The picture at the top is from the golf course, right outside the Pro-Shop and putting green. And, I know I've said this before, but I want to know who lives there and what they do. The houses were HUGE and so pretty!

We left Pebble Beach and stayed on Hwy 1. This part of the drive was much different than Morro Bay to Carmel. We didn't feel like we were going to fall of the side, there were more beaches, and the waves were huge. It was also a much prettier day. It was blue sky and very sunny. We stopped and got out on one of the beaches. It was so cold by the water, and the water was freezing. There was a sign on the beach that said "Warning: Sharks, Rip Currents, Large Waves," but there were people surfing and all in the water! I just barely stuck my toe in! It was so rough - you can tell in the pictures - but very pretty. We could not get over how clear/blue-green the water was!

We hit San Francisco right a rush hour. There was so much traffic! We were so glad to fianlly make it to our hotel, The Fairmont. And oh my goodness, the hotel!!! It is fabulous! I completely felt like "country comes to town" when we pulled up. The valet took care of our car, unloaded our bags, wrote us a ticket, and said they would have the bags sent to our room...we weren't sure what to do! Haha. The lobby is gorgeous, and everything is beautiful. We checked in with a really nice guy who offered us an upgrade to a king room with a city view for an extra $50/night. We definitely didn't want to spend the money, and told him no thank you. Well, he went to hand us our keys and said that he went ahead and upgraded us to the king room anyway. Woot woot! The room is great, bathroom is huge, and the bed is super comfy! I love it here!

After we got settled and unpacked, we got ready and decided we'd catch a trolley to Cannery Row for dinner. What an experience that was! We had no idea what we were doing, which car to get on, how to pay, etc. Haha. I bet we looked really funny. Anyway, we finally figured out what line we needed to take, and crammed ourselves on a trolley. I really enjoyed it, but I think Graham would rather have walked. We did have some great views of the Bay Bridge, Golden Gate, and Alcatraz. Plus the sun was setting and it was a really pretty (but cold!) afternoon. We made it to the Wharf area and tried to take our picture of the sun setting with the Golden Gate in the back ground. There was also a group of crazies swimming laps in that freezing cold water behind us in the picture.

We decided to hold off on Fisherman's Wharf and Cannery Row, and explored Ghiradelli Square instead. We at dinner at a litte pub there, watched the sunset, and the ate desert at the Ghiradelli Chocolate and Ice Cream Shop. YUMMY! We split an Original Hot Fudge Sunday.

I had to put Graham's jacket on, because it was so cold!

After our over indulgence on desert, we decided to walk up Hyde Street towards Lombard. It was only about 4 blocks, and we thought we'd look at Lombard and then try to get a taxi. Remind me never to try that again! The mountain that is Hyde Street is insane. I thought I might die before we made it to Lombard, but was glad we were walking up and not down. Looking down was a little scary, and I probably would have made it about two steps before falling and rolling all the way to the bottom (especially in the poor choice of shoes I decided to wear for dinner)! It was a very pretty walk, though and the sights along the way (Alcatraz lit up, the bridge) were really worth it. Don't tell Graham that...I did some major whining and complaining along the way! Finally, we managed to get a taxi. Could have been the most unfriendly taxi person ever, but he did get us back to the hotel safely, and it was pretty cheap!

San Francisco was a little overwhelming at first, but now that we have a map and an idea of what we want to do and where we want to go, I feel much better!

Today, (Wednesday) we are headed to The Cliff House for breakfast, over to Sausalito, and then Fisherman's Wharf. We are also going to Alamo Square where Full House was filmed! Feel free to leave some suggestions of things to do/places to eat!