San Francisco

We excitedly drove north to San Francisco, passing through the changing landscape of California. We went from a big city with beautiful beaches to lush green fields, orange groves, farms, pecan trees, high mountains, and deep valleys. Along the way we stopped at Pea Soup Andersen's off of I-5 to try the split pea soup. When we finally arrived in San Francisco, we were shocked and disgusted to find that our hotel wanted to charge us $39.00 per day for parking. We knew parking was expensive in San Francisco, but this rate was five dollars more than the rate the hotel quoted online. We decided to instead park at the airport and take the BART train back into the city to the hotel to save money and make a point.


Driving through the mountains and valleys in Northern California.


Split pea soup at Pea Soup Andersen's.


The Bay Bridge coming into San Francisco

On our first morning in San Francisco, we walked the hilly streets to Union Square, passing by Lombard Street to take photos along the way. We were surprised at the size and fast pace of downtown San Francisco. It was an unexpectedly big city, with a lot of pedestrians and tall buildings. After shopping, we wandered around and eventually stumbled upon Chinatown where we visted a tea shop and a Chinese medicine store. In the evening, we explored the Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39, two of the major tourist areas in San Francisco. These areas are right along the water and are filled with seafood restaurants, musicians playing and selling music, shops, and views of the San Francisco Bay and Alcatraz Prison. We had dinner at Franciscan, where we ate local mussels and shrimp and watched the sunset over the bay.


Kim smiling as she walks the hilly streets. She won't be smiling for long.


Winding Lombard Street


Entrance to Chinatown


The Fisherman's Wharf


Dungeness crabs, a staple at the Fisherman's Wharf. Yum!


Dinner at Franciscan on the bay.

On our last full day, we decided to visit the number one tourist attraction in San Francisco - Alcatraz Prison. The only way to reach Alcatraz is by ferry and we enjoyed the smooth 15 minute ferry ride. When we got to Alcatraz, we took the audio tour of the prison, which guided us through the cell blocks, cafeteria, the yard, and the Warden's home. There was even a former inmate in the gift shop who was signing copies of his new book about being inprisioned at Alcatraz for armed burgulary. Our favorite part about Alcatraz, however, was the view of San Francisco from the prison. Later that evening while waiting for a restaraunt to open for dinner, we stumbled upon a beach and a pier that overlooked the bay. Based on the recommendation of our hotel concierge, we ate at Firenze By Night, a fantastic and authentic Italian restaurant. We ended the night by sharing a brownie sundae from Ghiradelli.


Alcatraz Prison from the ferry


Inside Alcatraz Prison


San Francisco street car


Golden Gate Bridge


The pier overlooking the bay.


Ghiradelli Square


Delicious brownie sundae at Ghiradelli.

Before leaving San Francisco, we stopped at the Golden Gate Bridge and walked across it. Despite the heavy fog and the fact that you can feel the bridge sway when trucks pass, it was an incredible experience. Kim even met some new friends as they exchanged picture taking efforts.


Walking across the Golden Gate Bridge.


The Golden Gate Bridge in the fog.


Kim showing her Tarheel spirit at the Golden Gate Bridge.

Torrance, CA & Los Angeles area Beaches

We enjoyed ourselves in LA so much that we decided to stay a few extra days to take advantage of the 80 degree weather. Our first stop was Anza Avenue in Torrance to visit the home where Lorenzo and his family lived when he was a child. This visit brought back a lot of memories for Lorenzo, especially our visit to the playground and library, and only increased his love for LA. After spending time reminiscing, we headed to Redondo Beach which is only minutes away from Lorenzo's old home. We first explored the pier and harbor, slowly walking past numerous seafood restaurants, souvenir shops, and a marina full of small boats, until we decided to stop to eat at Joe's Crab Shack. We also explored the beach, watching the waves crash against the rocks and sticking our feet into the cold Pacific Ocean. Redondo Beach was the first of many LA beaches we visited. Although the beaches are extrememly close together, each has its own personality.


Lorenzo in front of his family's old apartment building.


Redondo Beach sign


Rocks along the coast of Redondo Beach.


Part of the pier at Redondo Beach.


Kim at the marina at Redondo Beach.


Our crab feast at Joe's Crab Shack.


View from the pier at Redondo Beach.

As the sun started to go down and the tempurture along with it (well it went down to about 60 degrees), we arrived at the famous Santa Monica pier just in time to watch the sunset. We walked along the beach and under the pier exploring the features of our relatively new Nikon D60 camera. We also walked along the pier and watched the locals riding the ferris wheel, fishing off the pier, and eating a variety of carnival-like food.


The sunset at Santa Monica Beach.


Lorenzo under the Santa Monica Pier.


The shoreline under the Santa Monica Pier.


Kim and Lorenzo on the Santa Monica Pier.


Santa Monica Pier and ferris wheel at night.

Our second LA beach day was Valentine's Day and we started the day with a romantic drive up the scenic Pacific Coast Highway. We planned to just drive up the coast, but the weather was so fantastic and the views so beautiful that we had to stop and get out the car. We first stopped on a palm tree lined street that overlooked Santa Monica Beach. We sat on a bench overlooking the beach and enjoying the warm sun on our faces. It was at this point that we noticed that Californians love to be outside running, biking, and walking with their dogs. We continued up the Pacific Coast toward Malibu with the windows down so we could smell and feel the ocean breeze. The traffic was surprisingly heavy on the Pacific Coast Highway, but it gave us a chance to see surfers in the water, mud slide areas, and the beach from a variety of angles.


One of the many beautiful palm trees in LA.


The view from the street overlooking Santa Monica Beach.


Lorenzo enjoying the sun.


Surfers in the water in Malibu.


View of the beach along the Pacific Coast Highway.

After walking along the beach in Malibu, we drove back toward LA to The Spot, a vegetarian restaraunt in Hermosa Beach. We both had veggie burgers and did not miss having meat at all. Venice Beach was the last beach on our list and we arrived just as the sun was setting. Because it was Valentine's Day, the beach was extremely crowded with a lot of other couples (and families) out to enjoy the sunset and the weather. After the sun set, we walked along the boardwalk and passed a number of medical marijuana shops, tatoo parlors, hookah bars, street performers, and groups of musicians playing drums and buckets in the sand. Venice Beach at night was definitely an alternative beach. We ended the night with dinner and a trip to the movie theater to see Valentine's Day (very fitting especially considering that the movie takes place in LA).


The outside of The Spot.


The Guacamole Burger at The Spot


The sun setting behind the rocks at Venice Beach.


Venice Beach boardwalk


One of the medicial marijuana shops at the boardwalk.


A group of people surrounding the drummers on the beach.

Los Angeles, CA

We knew we had officially arrived in LA when we turned on the local radio station to hear the classic California sounds of Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, and Snoop Dogg. Before we even checked into our hotel, we headed over to stage 10 at Sony Picture Studios to sit in on two tapings of the television show, Jeopardy. As part of the studio audience (we sat in the front row!), we saw the set and the behind the scenes filming of the show, and met the announcer, Johnny Gilbert, and of course, Alex Trebek. After Jeopardy, we ate dinner at Bob's Big Boy, home of the original double decker hamburger (the “Big Boy”), the inspiration for McDonald's “Big Mac”.


Sony Picture Studios


The outside of Bob's Big Boy


The big boy combo

The next day we headed Hollywood Boulevard to see Grauman's Chinese Theater, the Kodak Theater (home of the Oscars), and the hand and footprints of the stars. While waiting to cross the street, we noticed a black Porsche Panamera with black rims parked on the street right next to us. To our surprise, Frankie J, from the MTV series "The Hills", was the driver. We were very excited about our first LA celebrity sighting. Only a few blocks from Hollywood Boulevard was our next stop, Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles. From the outside, Roscoe's was rather non-descript, the type of place you might pass if you weren't looking for it. The inside of Roscoe's reminded us of a tavern with wood paneling and low lighting, but the food was as good as we expected. Another restaraunt that lived up to its reputation and was worth the 20 minute wait was Sprinkles, a little cupcake shop in Beverly Hills that we stopped at before heading back to our hotel.


Grauman's Chinese Theater


The Kodak Theater


Michael Jackson's star


Lorenzo trying out Will Smith's handprints


Frankie J and his Porsche


Chicken and waffles from Roscoe's - yum!


Kim inside Roscoe's waiting to eat.


A delicious assortment of cupcakes from Sprinkles.

We began our third day in LA with a visit to downtown and the Staples Center. Unfortunately the Lakers didn't have any home games while we were there. For lunch we headed over to the Farmer's Market which had a large variety of foods and interesting shops. After seeing Pinkberry frozen yogurt restaraunts all over LA, we finally tried Pinkberry at the Farmer's Market but we were not impressed. A short drive down Wilshire Boulevard brought us to the La Brea tar pit, featured in the movie The Last Action Hero with Arnold Schwarzenegger. From a distance the tar pit looks like a small lake, but up close you can see the sticky, black, bubbling tar. Adjacent to the tar pits, we stumbled upon Urban Light, an art exhibit of street lights that come at dusk. Our last stop for the day was Philippe's, the home of the original French dip sandwich.


Lorenzo posing with a statue of Magic Johnson outside of the Staples Center.


Kim tasting Pinkberry frozen yogurt. It tastes like cold plain yogurt.


La Brea tar pit


Urban Light exhibit.


An original French dip sandwich from Philippe's.