Goodbye San Fran, Hello Pacific Coast Highway

Golden Gate Park

Thursday.  We finally got packed and walked down to grab the rental in the morning.  On the way back to the hotel Julie wanted to stop at Japanese Weekend, a locally designed maternity store.  Driving uphill I pulled over and kicked her out and told her to meet me back at the hotel a block away. Luggage and wife loaded we were off.  Ignoring the concierge's advice to hop on the interstate we drove across the entire city to get a sense of the other side of San Fran.  Reaching Golden Gate park in no time we drove around, a bit on purpose a bit not, before spotting this waterfall.


Jumping on Highway #1 in Golden Gate park we start our trek South.  Our first destination is Half Moon Bay, a short drive from San Fran, to stop for lunch at the ocean-front Ritz-Carlton. Before we can even reach Half Moon Bay we're already seeing amazing scenery with the cliffs dropping into the ocean and secluded beaches.  A bit over-dressed we descend the stairs on to an amazing beach with some decent waves.

Julie's a bit confused.

Unfortunately we missed the turn-off at the top of the cliff which would have provided an amazing view in to the cove.  Once on the beach we realized how ridiculously over-dressed we were but either way, it wasn't sun bathing weather.  As we continued down the coast we saw dozens of these small secluded beaches.

A short drive later we reached Half Moon Bay and pulled into the Ritz.  The scene was reminiscent of Cannes with the valets parking a Bentley, Aston Martin, Toyota, Mercedes. Guess which was ours.  There were some other "beaters" in the parking lot but we always seem to get lined up with the other 0.5% of the population. The hotel was hosting a small conference which made me think -- aside from the adventures of living in California, all the work-related functions would be in awesome coastal hotels.  Damn. The patio was closed for lunch despite the fire pits burning.  The view from inside was equally spectacular looking down the golf course and the food in the bistro was good as well.  I opted for the short rib sliders and Julie with the chicken club.

Amazing bread and some local oil and vinegar.

A great spot to watch the golfers.

View from the Conservatory bistro.

After lunch we walked the grounds and took the opportunity to book our next hotel for the night.  Julie decided it was worthy of capturing the moment.

Booking a room at the Carmel Valley Ranch.

We continued down the coast skipping Monterrey and going directly to the Carmel Valley Ranch. We're in love with this place.  The rooms are spacious with cathedral ceilings in all the rooms, a front sitting room, sky lights, fireplace and balconies overlooking the valley and golf course.  The main lodge is completely renovated with modern lines and I'm pretty sure we're the only people here.  Look forward to exploring the area and grounds, over 400 acres, tomorrow. We made a late trip (7pm) into Carmel to check out the shops which would be closed but we were told they are well illuminated and worth the walk about even at night.  No lies.  It was nice and you could do some decent window shopping.  They are high-end shops mixed with local shops and restaurants.  We stopped in to grab some beet & goat cheese salad before heading back to the hotel.  We checked out the main lobby a bit more and hit the hay.  A good day.

View from balcony

 Bar and wine cellar.