Holiday to the Pacific West Coast in Aug 2006: Day 10 – San Francisco to Monterrey

Woke at the normal time in a faily overcast San Francisco.  Breakfast wasn’t any better than yesterday – this continental stuff is no good for a Full English guy!

Got the car back from the Valet ready to leave at 8:30am.  SF was busy and we were going to head up to Twin Peaks to check out the view, but based on the low cloud/mist we decided there was little point.

Continued down Highway 1 through Golden Gate Park and except for a couple of stops at beach State Parks, we stuck to the road until Santa Cruz, which was when the fun started!

Vick read in the Lonely Planet guide about a great coffee shop called Rebecca’s Mighty Muffins (which sounds a bit like a porn shop doesn’t it?). 

Anyway we found the location in Santa Cruz, but it seemed to have turned into a florist!

Anyway we asked the owners (who were very helpful) and they told us where Rebecca had moved to.  They even printed out the MapQuest directions so we could find the place.

So we get back in the car and head 10 miles down the road.  Anyway could we find it?  After asking at another shop, which as it happens was a fabric shop, it turns out that Rebecca had a bit of a falling out with someone and it had now been reborn as Pleasure Point Bakery & Cafe.

We finally got there (this was after about an hour of hunting it down), and when we went in and told the owner (Rebecca?) about our search, I can quite honestly say she didn’t give a stuff!

The coffee wasn’t that good and the cherry/blueberry scones we tasted were only ok.  Anyway, it gave us a challenge for the morning.

After coffee, we pushed on for Monterey which we reached by about 2pm.  The Hilton Garden is a very new hotel – opened in June 06, and the builders are still working in some areas of the building.  Anyway it’s very nice.

After checking in and dumping our stuff, we headed out and wandered around Carmel (Clint is no longer the Mayor there).  We did the 17-mile drive and finally got back to the hotel for a clean up ready for dinner at a Thai restaurant in Monterey.

After nearly a week heading down the west coast we think we have finally worked out the best strategy.  Generally speaking the mornings are a complete wash out – it tends to be misty and overcast.  During the morning you need to aim to either sleep in, chill out or visit somewhere inside.  In the afternoon you need to hit the road and do a max of about 100 miles.  It’s the afternoon when the shy tends to clear and the weather is at it’s warmest.

That seems to be the best approach (at least during the summer months).  Wish we knew that prior to planning our holiday!

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