Remember When: California



I'm in a traveling mood, so this week's Remember When is another one of my vacations: California. We flew into San Francisco, drove down the coast, stopping along the way. We ended up in San Diego, and flew home for there. Just a warning, I've got a lot of pictures ahead, and this was the period in my life before I developed my fashion sense. So, don't make fun of my bad outfits, crazy hair, and braces - ha!

San Francisco

I love, love, love San Fran. It's such a beautiful and unique city. I would go back in a heartbeat.

[The cable cars were so cool!]

[Fisherman's Wharf - classic San Francisco place]

[The Golden Gate Bridge]

[Alcatraz - this place was cool, but crazy. It was weird to think that Al Capone had been there.]

[HAHAHAHA]

[The view of San Francisco from Alcatraz Island. I love how you can see the streets in this picture. Some of the streets are SO steep!]

[My mom and I on Lombard Street - the crookedest street in the world]

[This is another picture of Lombard Street. It's kind of hard to tell, but there is a street in there. The green area is between the street. It is unbelievable how crooked it is. I bet it's hard to drive on, but I bet it's kind of fun too!]

[You can't go to San Francisco without stopping at Ghirardelli!]

We stayed at this really cool bed-and-breakfast called the Petite Auberge. It was such a cute little place, and the breakfasts were amazing!

San Francisco was SO much fun. I loved going to Ghirardelli, and Boudin (a sourdough bread restaurant/cafe).

Muir Woods

We stopped at Muir Woods and saw the big Redwood trees. It was unbelievable how big some of these trees were.

Monterey

The Monterey Bay Aquarium was so neat. It is located right on the Pacific Ocean, and there was even an area where you could walk outside and look at the animals in the real ocean!

We stayed at this really cool bed-and-breakfast called the Gosby House Inn. It's a Four Sisters Inn, so it was really nice! We had our own private entrance to our room too.

[The porch outside of our room]

[The bear that is in all of the Four Sisters Inns]

Highway 1

Highway 1 runs right along the coast of California, and it is beautiful. The water is gorgeous and the cliffs are spectacular.

San Simeon

San Simeon is home to the Hearst Castle. It's a beautiful castle that sits on top of a hill. I've been to the Biltmore, and the Biltmore was nothing compared to this! It was crazy how huge and extravagant this place was.

 [Indoor pool]

Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara was a more relaxing stop. We had time to chill and swim at the hotel, and then we walked around the city a little bit too.

[Bridlewood Winery - I think this was in Santa Barbara]

[The Santa Barbara Mission]

[My mom and I in town - I really like this picture!]

San Diego

I loved, loved, loved San Diego! It was such a fun city!

We shopped around Seaport Village, which is a really neat shopping area that is right on the water.

[I really regret not buying these sunglasses......

And I'm so glad the braces days are over - ha!]

We also went to the San Diego Zoo, which is a must if you go to San Diego. It was one of the best zoos I've been to.

[Coronado Beach - the first time I actually got to go into the Pacific Ocean!]

That was our California trip. It was so awesome - I would highly recommend it! We drove through LA at one point, and I swear I saw Jessica Simpson. We were in traffic on the highway, and I glanced over and saw a blonde woman in a Mercedes who looked just like Jessica. I'm sure there are a lot of blonde women driving Mercedes around LA, but I personally think it was her :) (I feel like I mention Jessica Simpson a lot on here, which is funny because I'm really not that big of a fan - ha!)

Have you ever been to California?