Maitlands Go West: Coit Tower & Cable Car Fun

San Francisco has a multitude of fun and exciting neighborhoods to explore.  We didn't have time to check out all of them, but we did spend some time in the Telegraph Hill area that boasts Coit Tower.  We were also able to browse City Lights Books on our way over to the tower.  This famous bookstore has multiple levels of both old and new books.

Eventually, we continued our uphill journey toward Coit Tower.  It was the steepest climb you could imagine!  Definitely not easy to access, but the views were stunning!  We waited in line for about 45 minutes to take a super small elevator to the top.  Upon arrival, we were able to see nearly all of San Fran with a bird's eye view!

On our way back down, we found a couple of stores with an insane amount of records on display!  Chris enjoyed looking through them...and even found a few for his collection!  I was just amazing at the sheer volume for people to sort through.

Our final task on the San Francisco list involved riding the cable cars.  We walked toward the end of one line passing famous Lombard street along the way.  You know I had to stop for pictures there!  We could actually see this street from the top of the tower, but it was in the shade so the photos from up there didn't turn out as clear.

Finally, we found the end of the cable car line!  We rode it both as seated passengers as well as those crazy folks that hang off the side.  I highly recommend riding while standing - SO much fun!!  Experiencing a ride on the cable cars has been on my San Fran to do list for quite some time.  I am so glad that I was able to share the experience with Chris on this trip!

We rounded out our evening with an improv show.  Our hotel advertised the San Francisco Improv Festival was going on the week we were in town. We thought it looked like fun so we bought tickets.  We actually saw a troupe from Louisville (where we held our wedding...so ironic!) perform the night we attended!    We had some good laughs and enjoyed experiencing a bit of the local life.

Our time in this fabulous city was dwindling, but we had big plans to continue to make the most of it.

Do you enjoy experiencing local activities when visiting a new place? 

Or do you prefer to stick to the tourist attractions?

Andrea :)

Maitlands Go West: Alcatraz & Fisherman's Wharf

After walking the Golden Gate Bridge, we made our way toward Alcatraz Landing to board our boat for the island.  This was my second trip to Alcatraz, but I found it just as fascinating on round two. I love the audio tour that allows you to explore the island at your own pace.

We also managed to catch a demonstration where we witnessed the slammer doors being opened and closed.  This is a manual process at Alcatraz.  It was interesting to hear how loud it is in person.  Definitely not a place I have any interest in staying for an extended amount of time!!

After spending a few hours on the island, we boarded a boat back to San Fransisco.  We worked our way down to Pier 39 to check out the seals.  It is amazing how they just hang out on those docks all day.  What a life!

We noticed a neat window display with sourdough bread figures outside the Boudin Bakery.  We were able to see part of the bread making process through the window as well.  Too bad they didn't have samples available for the onlookers!

Have you ever been to Fisherman's Wharf in San Fran? 

What is your favorite activity on the piers?

Andrea :)

Maitlands Go West: Golden Gate Bridge & Ghirardelli Square

After our stunningly beautiful drive on Hwy 1, we ended up in San Fransisco - the land of endless hills!  Our first adventure included a walk across the Golden Gate Bridge.  We walked the Brooklyn Bridge on one of our very first dates so it was fun to experience this one together as we celebrated our one year anniversary.

The walk was nice - breezy and sunny, but not too hot.  Unfortunately, the bikers and pedestrians were all on the same path so that made for a few tricky moments.  We could easily see Alcatraz and the city from the bridge.  There were lots of boats out, too.

We walked to a photo area just before the off ramp for the bridge before turning around.  We spent a total of about two hours here between walking and taking photos.

Later that night, we made our way to Ghirardelli Square for a treat!  We decided to go for the banana split, appropriately named Golden Gate on the menu.  The store was unique with a display of the chocolate making process set up in the far end of the room.  I enjoyed checking it out while we waited for our ice cream treat.

Do you enjoy Ghirardelli chocolates?  Which flavor is your favorite?

Andrea :)

Maitlands Go West: 17-Mile Drive & Big Sur

Our original goal of this first anniversary trip was to drive the scenic California coast.  We ended up detouring a tad to incorporate trips to games at each of the California football stadiums, but we did managed to still explore a good portion of Highway 1.

When we were in Monterey, I saw a brochure for the 17-Mile Drive through Pebble Beach.  It looked like a fun adventure with some great views so we went for it.  There was a small fee of $10 to enter the private drive, but it was well worth it.  Upon entry, we were given a map that highlighted key stops along the drive. It didn't really matter though because at every turn there was a spectacular view.  We stopped several times for photos!

After our 17-Mile Drive exploration, we ventured further south on Hwy 1 into Big Sur country.  I can't possibly describe the beauty of this area.  It was overwhelming!  Our main mission was to find Bixby Bridge before sunset.  We were initially fooled by Rocky Creek Bridge, but we ultimately achieved our goal.  Bixby Bridge was stunningly beautiful as the sun retreated for the day.

As the sunset, we took a ride over the bridge and then headed North toward San Fransisco where we planned to spend the bulk of our time in California.

Have you ever been amazed by the beauty of our country?

Andrea :)

Maitlands Go West: Carmel-by-the-Sea & Monterey Bay

After visiting the zoo in San Diego and a quick trip to Hollywood, we spent a couple days driving along beautiful Highway 1.

We stayed in Monterey and ventured over to the Pacific Ocean to dip our toes in the chilly water one morning.  This was Chris' first encounter with the Pacific and its temperature gave him quite the shock!  Thankfully, he managed to hold on to our video camera when that first wave creeped up on him.

After our experience with the ocean, we made our way to Carmel-by-the-Sea - a quaint little town.  We found a bakery and managed to try some wine and olive oil dips before settling on a fun restaurant where we shared a fresh-baked pizza!  Yum!

Cannery Row, where we spent some time that afternoon, was quite a treat as well!  It is definitely a tourist trap, but still worth a look.  We walked along the main drag taking photos and imagining what life in that area must have been like back when they were canning sardines for a living.  Some of John Steinbeck's work is based on the time he spend in Monterey so we made sure to check out the statues dedicated to him in this area before we left for the day.

The most exciting part of possibly the entire trip came in the form of our meal at Shake's Old Fisherman's Grotto.  It was easily one of the most tasty meals I have ever experienced!  And we weren't the only table raving about the dishes here. We considered going back the second night...it was THAT good!!  Chris had the surf and turf while I stuck to fish with a couple mammoth shrimp on the side.  Seriously, we are still dreaming about the food at this place!!

Along the wharf where the magically delicious restaurant can be found, there is a bit of a carnival atmosphere.  I enjoyed watching them make salt water taffy.  Wish we would had more time to really explore this area.  Monterey definitely gets two thumbs up from the Maitlands!

Have you ever driven Hwy 1 on the California coast?

Where did you stop along the way?

Andrea :)

Saturday States: Pennsylvania & Maryland

Pennsylvania

State Nickname: The Keystone State

Year of Family Trip: 2002 and 2004

Cities Visited: Philadelphia, Gettysburg, Hershey

Can't Miss Tourist Attractions:

Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, Gettysburg Battlefield, Chocolate World

Pennsylvania boasts a variety of places to visit and historical sites to see.  We spent some time in Philadelphia checking out the crack in the Liberty Bell before moving onto Gettysburg.  Mom was really the only one very interested in roaming around the battlefield memorials there.  Unfortunately, the rest of us were on our worst behavior.  Long story short, we ended up with one mad mama as we drove away much earlier than anticipated.

Hershey was a real highlight for our bunch!  We went on a little tour that explained how chocolate is made...and, of course, we did our fair share of taste testing!  Fun stop among all the historical sites!

Maryland

State Nickname: The Old Line State

Year of Family Trip: 2002

City Visited: Baltimore

Can't Miss Tourist Attractions:

Fort McHenry

The most memorable part of Fort McHenry for the Heflin bunch is a bit odd - cheap souvs.  Dad collected a souvenir spoon for each of the states as we visited them throughout the years.  As you can imagine, the prices fluctuated quite a bit from state to state and year to year.  Fort McHenry, where Dad picked up our Maryland spoon, came in on the very low end of that spectrum.

Have you ever been to Pennsylvania or Maryland?

Andrea :)

Maitlands Go West: Hollywood Sign Hike & Dolby Theater

On separate previous trips to LA, Chris and I had done some of the more touristy things so I suggested we hike to the Hollywood sign and visit Dolby Theater (home of the Oscars!) this time.  Chris was on board as long as we worked in some time for him to check out records at Amoeba!

We attempted arriving at the base of the Hollywood sign early in the day, but it was probably around 11am before we actually began making our way up the massive (mostly) dirt trail incline.  Fortunately, the weather was a bit overcast and even sprinkled a little on the way up.  It took us what seemed like FOREVER to climb up to the top, but we finally made it!!

It was really awesome when we rounded that corner and saw the back of the Hollywood sign!  By the time we arrived at the top, the sun was shining bright!  We spent a few minutes taking photos and relishing in our accomplishment before we began the trek back down.  It was HOT as we descended.  So hot!

Sadly, our timing didn't allow for a trip to the hotel for a quick shower and change of clothes so we continued on to Amoeba Records in our sweating garb.  No one really seemed to notice though!

We finished up our time in Hollywood by doling out $20 each for tickets to tour the Dolby Theater - home of the Oscars!!  I was really excited to check this out since I'm an all things Oscars fiend.  I really regretted not having on more appropriate apparel since there were several fun photo ops!  I guess there's always next time, right? :)

We met some of Chris' friends for dinner and ice cream out in Manhattan Beach as a perfect end to a busy day in the Los Angeles area.

Have you ever spent time in Hollywood?  What did you most enjoy?

Andrea :)