Coastal Journey, Day 3: Monterey to San Francisco

Another day, another institution: The famed Monterey Aquarium. Located in one of the old sardine canning factories in Cannery Row, the Aquarium is well-organized and a great place to bring the Kid Formerly Known as Blogger Toddler. For history buffs, there's even an exhibit on the rise and fall of the canning industry there (basically, the sardines disappeared from Monterey Bay virtually overnight due to overfishing, killing the industry.) Another interactive exhibit goes into detail on which seafood to avoid at restaurants, due to harmful fishing practices or endangered species.


The view outside the aquarium.


Divers examine sea life outside the aquarium.


Our favorite sight at the aquarium: Sea otters swim and hold on to plastic balls.


The back of the aquarium.



After the aquarium -- yes, we had to drag the kid away once he discovered the play area -- we acted on another piece of Chowhound advice and headed up to a small market near the Presidio of Monterey for sandwiches (above). Several people had recommended Compagno's Hilltop Market, and we weren't disappointed. Large sandwiches -- I ate half there, and saved the other half for the drive up. (Maria did the same.) It's a mini-mart, but they did have a few tables out there.

Meanwhile, back on the road, we encountered Castroville -- artichoke capital, so they say.



And they have a big-ass artichoke statue to prove it. Good enough for me.

After that, we sped up to San Francisco, driving through Santa Cruz, heading up and briefly stopping at IKEA in San Mateo for a break (we loves our IKEAs). We made it to the Hotel Intercontinental by 6, and set out to meet our friend Lisa and her husband and son at Osha Thai near our hotel. (Evan, of course, wanted to ride a street car at that very second. It took every effort to keep him with us; he might have ran off to find the cable cars himself hWe wound down the day by grabbing a piece of cake at the Red Ribbon Bakery connected to Jollibee near the Metreon.



Next up: On Day Four, clang, clang, clang goes the Street Car.

Rate-A-Restaurant #177: La Giostra

Restaurant: La Giostra

Location: 1244 Munras Ave. (Monterey)

Type of restaurant: Italian



They stipulated: Come as you are and come right in; on an average weeknight, reservations are not necessary.



We stipulated: Looking for a good but Evan-friendly spot in Monterey, I came across La Giostra via Chowhound. We hadn't dined Italian yet on the trip either.


Pappardelle

What we ordered: Della Giostra (salad) $7.95; Pappardelle ($13.95); Taglier Genovese ($15.95); Maccheroni (kid's) $4.95.



High point: Surprisingly, Evan's macaroni and cheese may have been the tastiest of the bunch.

Low point: My glass of wine was pretty aired out and bad; the restaurant quickly replaced it.



Overall impression: Decent meal, great service, but nothing spectacular. I'm glad we visited, but not sure we would again.

For a complete list of our more than 175 restaurant reviews, check out our companion Rate-A-Restaurant site.

Coastal Journey, Day 2: Morro Bay to Monterey

After an excellent night's sleep -- BTW, that may go down as my favorite part of the whole trip, the great sleep we got -- it was time to pack up in Morro Bay and head up the coast to the Hearst Castle.



The Pacific Coast Highway was fine at this point, but temporary signs warned us that the 1 would be closed about 46 miles away. That was fine; we needed to simply drive up through Cambria and to San Simeon, where the home that W.R. Hearst built still stands.



The Kid Formerly Known as Blogger Toddler wanted to know if any princesses or Prince Charming resided there. Sorry to say, no. We bought a $2.99 toy snake in the gift shop to keep the kid happy -- and sure enough, he was too busy sliding the snake (which doubled as a choo choo train, in his mind) on the ground to make a scene. The tour guide even said she was now thnking of bringing a few toy snakes to every tour in order to placate the rambunctious little ones.



It was hot enough that the Roman Pool looked quite inviting. As part of the perks of the job, Hearst Castle employees get to hop into the pool on one certain day every year.

Employees also had to spend the last few weeks breathing in the smoky air; I could feel it in the back of my throat just minutes after arriving on the hill where Hearst Castle is situated. The guides said they've adjusted, and that thankfully they take turns narrating the tours.



Whatta sight. And yet, the Hearst Castle was never completely finished. Hearst drove architect Julia Morgan a tad crazy as he constantly changed his mind on things.



The dining room.



The indoor pool.



The indoor movie theater. Following the tour, we were back in visitors' center, where we grabbed food from the snack bar. We also checked out the free IMAX sized film that told the story of Hearst building the castle; Evan liked it, as it featured planes, trains and boats prominently.



After all of that, we headed up north a little futher to check out the elephant seals. The animals were lounging on the beach, occasionally getting up to burp and yawn.



The fires in Big Sur forced us to turn around and head up the 101 to get up north; the sky remained pink.



We arrived in Monterey a bit before dinner -- and after checking into the Sand Dollar Inn (another fine spot), we hit the Tuscan-based Italian restaurant La Giostra.



The sun was completely set by the time we got to Dennis the Menace park -- but we managed to still squeeze in some play before a park ranger locked the gate.

Next up: Day three, Sea otters and San Francisco, oh my!

Pink Skies, Pink Twins... It Was a Road Trip to Remember

... And we're back. We spent much of last week driving up to San Francisco, as we mentioned last week, and indeed took advantage of many of your suggestions.

Sadly, we had to skip driving through Big Sur because of the ongoing fires there; we got close enough to breathe in quite a bit of smoky air, particularly at the Hearst Castle. Also, during a part of the drive up and down the 101, we saw plenty of helicopters carrying water... and marveled at the smoky, pink sky (above).

The trip boiled down to a night in Morro Bay, another in Monterey, two in SF and one final night in Ojai. Stay tuned for details and reviews on where we stayed, where we ate and what we did. Some things we planned out, while other experiences -- such as dining next to the infamous San Francisco Twins (below) were happenstance.



For now, it's back to work...