I asked myself a serious question: if I were to leave California tomorrow, what is the one thing that I would wish I had done? It was a no-brainer to drive along the Golden Coast. I’ve been jealous of friends who have done the drive from LA to San Francisco as I’ve heard that the drive along Big Sur is stunning. So I decided to knock this one off my bucket list.
After some sweet talk and convincing Mike that it would be a good idea, we decided to do the shorter drive (5hrs) to get to San Francisco, and the longer route along the coast on the way back.
I’ve been to SF several times and it’s always been a different experience depending on my trip objective. Usually I’m there visiting friends, or attending conferences for work so it’s never been a tourist-y trip. But not this time! I was that typical, Asian tourist with the camera down the neck and posing in peace signs at every photo opp. Our 3 days were a good mixture of touristy and local activities. We covered a range of stuff like drinking Irish coffee at the Buena Vista, eating ice cream at Ghiradelli Square, crabbin’ at Fisherman’s Wharf, boat ride to Golden Gate Bridge/Alcatraz, fireworks along the pier, drunk dancing to some street music at midnight, and visiting the Japanese Tea Garden. To balance, we did SOME local stuff like go for a jog around Golden Gate Park and eat at this awesome sandwich place that’s apparently well-known among locals. Alright, it was mostly touristy stuff 😉
On Saturday morning (the same day the Asiana Airline crashed into the SF airport), we began our coastal drive heading back to LA. Little did we know that it would take us 11 hours (!!!) to get home because of what seemed like every other car pulling over to take pictures of the beautiful scenery. But I couldn’t blame them, the scenery really was stunning!
I’d love to do the drive again, even though it took us that long to get home. Honestly though, I would’ve liked to spend maybe one night in Monterey, a city along the coast, so that I can enjoy the drive a little better. Regardless, glad I crossed this one off of my bucket list!
xoxo,
Janice
