Saturday, March 17, 2007

Day 5 - 15/03/07: San Francisco - Monterey

Today was a drive day, but prior to heading South, we had a few more sights to visit in S.F. The sight-seeing drive started soon after we picked up the car from Hertz @ the infamous "Lombard Street"the crookedest St in the world. This street has 8 sharp turns on a 40-degree slope & was built in the 1920's to allow traffic to descend the steep incline.

From Lombard St we headed to "Postcard Row", the most photographed spot in the city to view 7 colourful Victorian houses, the few to survive the 1906 earthquake & fire. The view was captured on the edge of beautiful "Álmo Square".

Next sight was the classic "Clift House" located on the ocean's edge @ the end of Geart St, voted S.F's best restaurant with a view & it certainly lived up to expectations, with the house perched on cliffs towering over breaking waves - spectacular. It has existed in one form or another as a restaurant since 1863. Coffee was the only thing drunk there for a change, as we still had one more sight to see & couple of hour drive down to Monterey.

The famous "Golden Gate Bridge" was our last stop & although I already had photos from along side it & below it, I wanted photos on it, & even though this was my third trip to S.F I had never walked on it, so today was the day.

Thanks to Cass's great directions a few hours later we arrived in Monterey, after a stop in Santa Cruz, a beach town for lunch. Monterey enjoys an enviable position on the edge of the uniquely diverse Monterey Bay, now protected as the Nation's largest marine sanctuary.

The afternoon was spent wandering around Fisherman's Wharf, viewing numerous historical abodes & buildings from Monterey's colourful past. Dinner was consumed @ "The Mucky Duck", an English Pub that served traditional British fare along with an abundant range of Ales on Tap - Some washing was done @ the end of this very busy day.

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