| With the exception of going to Disneyland, there aren't many tourist cliches about California that Sally, Darryl and I didn't indulge on our trip. We: Went to wine tastings in Sonoma County Watched seals at Jenner on the coast Rode cable cars in San Francisco and had cocktails at the Top of the Mark Had dinner at Clint Eastwood's restaurant in Carmel Drove the coast from San Francisco to Los Angeles Went to the Hearst Castle at San Simeon Visited the Reagan Presidential Library Went to a taping of the Tonight Show in Hollywood and Saw Faith Hill in concert at the Hollywood Bowl. Heck, we even went to the State Capitol in Sacramento. Most importantly, we attended my niece's wedding. And we ate and ate and ate and.... Here's a "day-by-day" re-cap. |
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| A word about hotels... One of the things that made this trip so great was our selection of the five hotels we visited. My personal favorite was our selection of Vintner's Inn in Sonoma County. Here's a photo of the patio of our room (where Sally developed a personal relationship with a hummingbird she named "Chuck". This picture is taken through the grape vines of the vinyard that surronded us. When we moved on to San Francisco, we stayed at the Tuscan Inn at Fisherman's Wharf. I had stayed here on business in the past and liked it quite a lot. It's a bit worn around the edges now, but you can't beat the hospitality of the staff and the location--around the corner from the end of the cable car line and across from the ferry to Sausalito. Sally's favorite hotel was the LaPlaya on Carmel by the Sea. Here's a photo of her enjoying a mojito in the bar. I probably didn't enjoy the hotel as much as Sally did because that was where our rental car decided to give up the ghost. I spent a significant amount of my time in Carmel waiting for tow trucks and driving to the Budget office in Monterey to pick up a new car for us. In Santa Barbara, we stayed at the Hotel Santa Barbara downtown on State Street, which provided a great location to see the sites of the city, and in Los Angeles, we were at the Luxe Bel Air on Sunset Boulevard. It's kind of a funky place. When we checked in the receptionist said that she'd upgraded us to a "theme suite". She wouldn't tell what the theme was, but it turned out to be Japanese. The huge room had a great patio overlooking the Westwood-Century City area. |
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Thursday-Friday We arrived in San Francisco late on Thursday night and drove to Santa Rosa and checked in at Vintner's Inn. Friday was an "R and R" day where we just hit a couple of Sonoma wineries. One was B. R. Cohn near Glen Ellen. B. R. was and is the manager of the Doobie Brothers, and he's parlayed his earnings into a terrific winery. Sally, Darryl and I stopped at the Glen Ellen Market, picked up some sandwiches and picnicked at the winery (left). Later in the day, we hit the "new" Coppola winery near Geyserville. It's not nearly as big or flashy as Coppola's other winery (although it will be soon), but it did have a great laid-back feel that we appreciated. Later, we went in to Healdsburg and had dinner. |
Saturday was the raison d'etre of the trip. My niece Meghan got married to a very nice young man named Michael Wilmoth in Sacramento. In the photo above, they're enjoying a well-deserved lunch after the ceremony. It was a warm (really, really warm) beautiful day, and a very impressive ceremony. Afterward, S, D & I toured the State Capitol, which we liked quite a lot. We were particularly impressed by the dozens of magnola, palm and orange trees on the grounds. |
On Sunday, we drove from Santa Rosa to Jenner on the coast for lunch. While we were there, we saw a small sand bar off the coast covered with dozens of seals who were basking in the sunshine. On the way in to San Francisco, we saw a wildfire near Bodega Bay, and later in the evening we had a great dinner in Chinatown, followed by a trip to the Metreon multi-plex to see The Hangover, which neither Darryl nor Sally had seen. Shockingly, they said that it wasn't the funniest thing they'd ever seen. |
Monday was a "free day" in San Francisco. The original idea was for the three of us to split up and do whatever we wanted to do. That didn't pan out. The day started early as Darryl and I rode the cable cars from Fisherman's Wharf to Mission Street. Later, the three of us rode the ferry to Sausalito (see photo of Sally above) for lunch and shopping along the waterfront. Among the most improbable purchases I made was an aluminum Christmas tree. Go figure. Later that evening, we went to dinner at a very nice Italian restaurant in the Financial District and finished our visit to San Francisco with a cocktail at the Top of the Mark. It's lost some of its luster since its heyday, but it still makes a mean martini, and the fews of The City are incredible. Tuesday was our most improbable day. The goal was to see a couple of things in San Francisco (the "crookedest street" section of Lombard and the "painted lady" Victorian houses on Steiner before driving to Carmel to explore that town. We saw the SF sites, but a strange thing happened on the way to Carmel--the Santa Cruz boardwalk. We were delayed for several hours by the old time amusment park, where: 1) Darryl and I rode the water coaster; 2) Sally and I played miniature golf (I won a free game!); and 3) Darryl ate cotton candy and got a tattoo. In short, it was a very guilty pleasure, but we had a ball. Later in the day, we arrived at the hotel in Carmel. It was certainly beautiful , but I wasn't able to enjoy it as much as I wanted because that was the moment our car decided to conk out. I spent valuable vacation time waiting for tow trucks and returing cars to the airport. However, later in the evening, the three of us did have a wonderful dinner at Clint Eastwood's Mission Ranch restaurant. |
Wednesday, we drove along the coast from Carmel to Santa Barbara, stopping in San Simeon to visit the Hearst Castle. In the photos above, the "Casa Grande" or the main house is at left; the swimming pool is in the middle; and Sally is goofing around in the main court at right--taking a picture of me taking a picture of her. It's quite a place-- creepy in lots of ways, but still quite a place. |
Thursday's highlight was visiting the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley. We spent about four hours there, and I think I can say that all three of us were inspired and renewed by reveling in the words and deeds our 40th president. Above is a replica of the Oval Office in 1985 (except there's no picture of Donna Hild Russell this time), and a right, Sally and Darryl stand near the tomb on the site where Reagan's funeral was conducted. Later we drove into Los Angeles, went to the Arclight to see Up, and had dinner at Eva Longoria Parker's restaurant, Beso (where we were surrounded by twenty-somethings and felt as if we were about 300 years old. |
| So obviously, if you're going to California, you've got to have a big finale, and on Friday, we did. We started in Pasadena by touring the Gamble House, a famous representation of the Arts and Crafts school of design from the early 20th century. Darryl is a big Frank Lloyd Wright fan (for some reason) and although Frank didn't design the Gamble House, two of his disciples did. From there, we went to Universal Studios for a taping of The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien. Conan's guests were actor Seth Green, a stuntman,and Demi Lovato from the Disney Channel. Even though we had to wait in line for an hour-and-a-half to get in (see photo at top of page), it was worth it, and we had a great time. Afterward, we hotfooted it down to Hollywood to see Faith Hill at the Hollywood Bowl. Yes, it was a long way from Star, Mississippi to the big stage she was standing on Friday night, but she did indeed make that stage her own. She put on a great show and the audience loved her. To toast the success of the trip before returning home on Saturday, we went to the Beverly Wilshire Hotel for a nightcap. It was truly a memorable trip. |
| Well, OF COURSE, I made a compilation CD for the trip. Here's what was on it Pacific Coast Party Smash Mouth Highway 101 Jackson Taylor Band Santa Rosa The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band The Late Great Golden State Dwight Yoakam (More Bounce in) California Soul Kind #1 20th Century Fox Fanfare The London Symphony Orchestra Ready to Take a Chance Again Barry Manilow Fake Tales of San Francisco Arctic Monkeys San Francisco Judy Garland Studebaker Warren Zevon I Love L. A. Randy Newman Moving to L. A. Art Brut Los Angelenos Billy Joel All I Wanna Do Sheryl Crow Hell Looks a Lot Like L. A. Less Than Jake Hooray for Hollywood Duke Ellington The Little Old Lady from Pasadena Jan and Dean Sweet Dreams My LA Ex Rachel Stevens Disneyland Five for Fighting California Girls David Lee Roth California Girls Gretchen Wilson California, Here I Come! Al Jolson |
| TRAVELING WITH DARRYL Yeah, Darryl is lots of fun, but when you're traveling with him, all of Baton Rouge comes along for the trip. (Needless to say, that if you're an investor or tenant in Baton Rouge, you should do business with Darryl because he'll always take your call.) Sally and I have made a joke out of it over the years,and on this trip, I thought I'd do a "photo collage" of Darryl on the phone in scenic locations. This is as far as I got before I gave up. Darryl on the phone in San Francisco... Darryl on the phone at San Simeon... Darryl on the phone at Alcatraz... You get the picture. |
| Sally, Darryl and Matt in the Golden State July 2009 |
| Sally, Darryl and I were resolved to go somewhere that started with an "I" in 2009--either Iceland, Italy or India. Oddly enough, Iceland was the frontrunner until schedules couldn't be worked out. As it turns out, the second week in July was the only week they were available. I said I had to be at my niece's wedding in Sacramento that week. From there, it was inevitable that we would decide that we'd all go! |