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Before I left on my trip and I knew I was going to be in California with time to do some driving, I knew I had to see the Golden Gate Bridge. By seeing it so often on TV and in pictures it has really appealed to me. It is like how I really like viewing the Sydney Harbour Bridge and marvel at how it was built before all the modern equipment was available. They both are from a different era. Nobody would even attempt too build a bridge like either of these today.
Got up this morning and packed the car before going to put some petrol in the car. My motel was right near the freeway entry so filling with gas and getting onto the freeway only took fifteen minutes and I was on my way.
I had about two hours driving to get to San Francisco and I pulled off the freeway once to get some breakfast and then arrived on the eastern side of SF just about ten o'clock. Following the GPS it lead me over the Oakland Bridge into the centre of San Francisco and along some of the main city streets towards Fisherman's Wharf before turning left following the harbour front until I looped onto the approach to the Golden Gate Bridge. I filmed crossing the bridge and as soon as you get to the northern side you turn right into a viewing area.
I took some video and a lot of pictures, unfortunately it was overcast and quite windy whilst I was there. Walking around the viewing area there are some memorials to the various mariner groups At the centre of this is a bronze casting of "The Lone Sailor" who represents all sailors who have sailed out under the bridge in service of their country. Around the sailor are tributes to the Navy, Marine Corps, Merchant Marine and Coast Guard.
Whilst looking at these and taking some photo's I heard my name being called out and turned around to see two blokes waving at me from the upper deck of a double decker day tour coach. It was Doug & Keith, two of our Aussie group who went to the Canvention in Orlando. I spoke with them for five minutes before the bus departed to it's next stop. They had been to Vegas also and then spent four days in San Francisco looking at all the sights. They were flying home to Sydney tonight. It was a welcome surprise to see two people from home when I would not of expected to see anyone.
I was surprised at the viewing area that there was no information building or shop. I had wanted to get some books on the history of the bridge so it was disappointing that there was nothing there to be bought.
I jumped back into the car and turned back under the freeway to go back south across the bridge and there was a sign saying Golden Gate Recreational Area, so I head off on that road instead of going back over the bridge. There is a few areas to pull off the road to get photos of the bridge and if you follow the road around you get to Rodeo Beach where there is a large marine research centre. Driving back around toward the bridge I came across the Golden Gate National Park Visitors Centre which was open so I stopped and went in. They had a good selection of Golden Gate Bridge items to buy and I purchased a t-shirt and two books on the history of the Golden Gate Bridge. Outside the Visitors Centre there were some deer wandering along the roadside.
I then drove further around the headland and came across a US Army base. It is actually a old base that was one of the Nike Missile Sites that were set up to have anti-aircraft missiles deployed in case of enemy attack on the USA. I then drove back towards the Bridge and stopped and got a few extra photos from another angle before driving over the bridge and going to the pylon base of the southern end of the bridge.
This area is known as Fort Point due to the fact that the southern bridge pylon has been built right next to a Fort what was built in 1850's. The fort was built to protect San Francisco's bays and as a major protection for San Francisco from naval attack. The fort itself is built of brick and the structure is described as one of the most perfect examples of brick masonry in the USA.
I walked into the fort and looked around plus checked out the bridge from below. The cold day even felt cooler here as it is quite windy at the side of the bay. Several tourist boats were in travelling around the harbour and there was even an antique Fire Engine doing tours of the city.
From here I left to follow the coast road south. Straight away I drove along Lincoln Boulevard and onto El Camino Del Mar which was an old trail way between Spanish missionary outposts in the 17th and 18th centuries. You see a lot of mentions of this road all the way along your drive along Highway 101 all the way to Los Angeles.
Whilst driving along this road you pass through the Lincoln Park Golf Course which includes some holes with great views of the Pacific Ocean and the Golden Gate Bridge. From there I drove across to the western coastline to a beach area and past the San Francisco Zoo. It was now about 2pm and I still had over 200 miles of driving to do for the day to get to my accommodation plus I still had a list of micro breweries to visit in Santa Cruz. So my original plan to totally follow the coast road needed some revising as there would be not enough time to stop at the breweries if I did that.
I headed slightly inland and started looking for somewhere to get some lunch. I ended up in Belmont and grabbed some lunch in a shopping mall. From there I picked up highway 101 and headed south towards Santa Cruz following the directions on the GPS navigator.
By the time I got to Santa Cruz it was about 3.30 and I headed straight to the Seabright Brewery which is celebrating it's 20 year anniversary as a brewery. They have a great building which is really spacious and a great outdoor area as well. I stopped long enough to speak to the main brewer Jason Chavez about their setup and the different brews and got some information from him on the other micro breweries in the area. Before leaving he gave me a heap of coasters and a shot glass with their name on it and I bought a couple of T-shirts.
I was out of money so I had to find an ATM to get some money before heading off to the next stop. I had to go across town to the Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing Company. They have a small bar on site for you to quench your thirst whilst picking up some takeaways. I spoke with the lady behind the bar and she checked for t-shirts, coasters and labels in the storeroom but there was none to be found. I spoke with her for a few minutes and was about to leave when she called out to me to wait and then came over and gave me a pint glass. She said she found it next to the bar and sorry it has a crack in it but I could have it. Luckily the crack was in the back of the glass so it is a good addition to my collection.
By now it was 5.30pm and I headed off to the Santa Cruz Brewing which was on the outskirts of the city. By the time I got there unfortunately it was closed for the day so I missed out on meeting the people.
It was then time to get the GPS working to find my way south towards Cambria. I drove for about an hour passing Carmel and arrived at Monterey where I pulled off the freeway to get some petrol and also call my motel for the night to tell them i would be there late. They said the reception closed at 10.00pm and if I was not there by then that they would leave the door key under my entry mat at the room. I told them where I was and the man said I had about three and a half hours drive to get there. As it was starting to get dark I decided to get some dinner and called into a supermarket where I found some M&M containers I did not have. I also got some food and ate it before taking off again. Once on the road I started down the the coast road.
The main freeways between San Fransisco and Los Angeles travel inland from the coast but there is a California State Highway 1 which in this section follows the coastline. It is a single lane each direction. At night whilst I was travelling it all you could see was yellow lines to follow. two in the centre of the road and one on the right side of the road.
For the next three hours these three lines became my good friends. It was a cloudy night and the road has no lighting so unless there are other cars all you can see is the three yellow lines.
Occasionally you would see the lights of a ship travelling off the coastline and I think I went through two small townships as well. The road many times doubled back on itself quite sharply and you would only be travelling about 20 kph. There were so many turns and up and down hills that I actually felt seasick and had to stop to get out of the car to get some fresh air at one stage.
Finally I came to the township of Cambria and found the motel about 10.30pm and finding the key under the mat as promised I quickly got all my stuff out of the car and after a very long day of driving I was asleep very soon after settling into the room.
