Tag: Travel Blog

DESTINATIONS, Restaurants & Bars, Road Trips, TRAVEL, United States

The Last Bites of San Francisco

Jane Sadek
Happy and Relaxed in San Francisco
Happy and Relaxed in San Francisco

TRAVEL THERE: THE LAST BITES OF SAN FRANCISCO CA

The time to head south is drawing close, but let me tell you about a couple more meals in San Francisco.

Not Your Dallas Goodfellas

On Saturday night after Pinot Days we hung out at my nephew’s condo.  Confession:  I’m not good at hanging out.  I feel like I need to be DOING something – so I read while we hung.

However, I was quite happy to put down my Kindle when the Goodfellas Pizza arrived.  You need to know that a Goodfellas Pizza in San Francisco is a whole different thing than your Goodfellas Pizza in Dallas.  I haven’t been to the Dallas Goodfellas, but browsing around on the internet it was easy to tell.

The important thing to remember when ordering Goodfellas Pizza in San Francisco is that you only need to order a slice.  Heavens know what we would have gotten if we had ordered a whole pizza.  As my nephew went around taking orders, he tried to impress upon each of us that we could each have whatever we wanted, because you ordered it by the slice.  There was quite a bit of haggling as the other guys tried to convince my nephew that we should all just agree on a type of pizza and order one.  What eventually arrived was an array of huge pizza slices, but each slice was more like three slices.  There was plenty of each type of pizza and more to share.

Sunday Night at Vicoletto

There’s one more thing you need to know about the area of San Francisco called North Beach, where my nephew’s condo is located.  Another name for the area is Little Italy.  That explains why in the few days we were there we ate so much Italian food.

On Sunday night we walked to Vicoletto’s.  Like the other restaurants in the area, this is a small, neighborhood-type restaurant, greatly removed from anything resembling a chain.  Most of the world was still wherever they were after America played a playoff game in the World Cup – and it was a Sunday night.  However, Vicoletto’s was not hurting for business.

What they were suffering from was a lack of waiters.  For reasons that were never exactly clear, our waiter was the only waiter for the whole restaurant.  It might have been a small place, but it wasn’t that small.  A large party of perhaps twenty lined one side of the restaurant and then couples were sprinkled about the rest of the room.  then there was the four of us.

For being the only guy there, our waiter did a good job, but it was obvious he was stretched.  The lack of waiters had no effect at all on the food.  It came out hot and seriously delicious.  We’d brought our own wine and paid a corkage fee.  Their food and our wine made for a wonderful experience.

One of the things I liked best about my nephew’s North Beach digs is the whole walking to the restaurant experience.  the walk there whets your appetite and the walk home helps digest the food.  I like my house in Texas with a yard and garage, but there’s nothing wrong with having the world within a few blocks of your home either.

Monday morning we got up early and hit the road.  Come back next week and find out about the incredible scenery on Highway One.

ART, Attractions, DESTINATIONS, Gardens, Road Trips, TRAVEL, United States

The Japanese Tea Garden and More

Jane Sadek
Japanese Tea Garden, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco CA
The Japanese Tea Garden at Golden Gate Park.

TRAVEL THERE: MORE ATTRACTIONS AT THE GOLDEN GATE PARK

Foiled by the unreliability of the Golden Gate Park Shuttle, Bill and I entered the Japanese Tea Garden. We were unfortunately underwhelmed.

The Trouble with Travel

You know me.  There’s no one who loves travel more.  But travel comes with a price.  The more you do it, the more room for comparison.

I like Japanese Gardens.  We’ve got a great one over in Fort Worth and there’s another nice one in San Antonio.  We saw one in Lotusland a few days before our visit to San Francisco and a few days after our visit to Golden Gate State Park, we saw an amazing Japanese Garden at the Huntington Gardens.

Japanese Tea Garden, Portland OR
Judge for yourself. This photo was taken in Portland.

Still no Japanese Garden that I’ve ever seen beats Portland’s Japanese Garden.  Two years later, my senses are still reeling from the beauty we saw in Oregon and the Portland Japanese Garden was among my favorite attractions there.  So that should give you an idea of how stunning it was.  (As gorgeous as their Japanese Garden was, it was still my second favorite garden in Oregon.  Crystal Springs Rhododendron Gardens was the best.)

Small and Sad

You can’t judge a book by it’s cover and I suppose you shouldn’t judge a garden by the price of admission, but we were surprised by the $7 entry fee.  That’s more than Ft. Worth’s garden, though less less than Portland’s.

The first thing we realized was that the garden was very compact.  Fort Worth’s garden is huge and so is Portland’s, though not as large as its sister in Texas.  Size isn’t everything , but the size does add to the charm, because in the bigger gardens you seem far removed from the every day world.

In every part of San Francisco’s Garden I felt cramped.  I had the sense that just a few feet away was the world, because I could hear it and see it all around me.  There were also crowds of other folks.   The Tea House was humming with business and the line for it wandered through the garden.  Serenity was in short supply.

Japanese Tea Garden, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco CA
Looks magnificent in the picture, but up close it’s falling apart.

The sad part was the evident disrepair.  The gardeners are doing a great job, but the park needs to hire a company of carpenters and painters.  Right now – before the wooden structures rot away!  Peeling paint and rotting wood are just unacceptable.  The Tea House has a rollicking business.  Devote some of the revenue to maintenance.

The Rest of the Story

After the Japanese Gardens we waited around for a few moments hoping the shuttle would make an appearance, but it didn’t.  So we wandered over to the Botanical Garden.  Two things kept us out.  It was closing in less than an hour and they wanted another $7.  The last $7 each we spent had not been a good investment.

So we thought we might walk a little.  We headed toward the Cherry Tree Azaleas, got a peek of Stowe Lake and strolled past the Rose Gardens.  We were tired.  It was chilly.  We decided to call it a day.  We weren’t going to get to see all of Golden Gate Park on this visit either.

I’ll Be Back

In spite of the disappointing Japanese Garden, I plan to go back to Golden Gate Park.  I want to see the Conservatory of Flowers, the Dutch Windmill, The Chinese Pavillion, Strawberry Hill, the Carousel and the list goes on.   Next time I’m thinking about bikes or one of those surreys I saw people riding.  I guess next time I’ll need to do a little more research and be a little more prepared.  Third time’s charm, right?

Next week I’ll wrap up my stay in San Francisco, but for now I’ll leave you with a few more shots from the Japanese Garden.  It was pretty.  It just suffered from comparison.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ART, DESTINATIONS, Gardens, Museums, Road Trips, TRAVEL, Travel Planning, United States

Drat That Golden Gate Park! Foiled Again!

Jane Sadek
You can get one of these at the de Young Gift Shop.
You can get one of these at the de Young Gift Shop.

TRAVEL THERE: I ALWAYS MISS SOMETHING IN THE GOLDEN GATE PARK

One of the first things I saw pass by, on the road outside the de Young Cafe, was the Golden Gate Park Shuttle Bus. Unfortunately, that was also the last time I saw the Golden Gate Park Shuttle Bus.

Running Out of Day

If you know me or visit the blog frequently, you know Mr. Bill and I have completely different body clocks.  I fought it for years, but I’ve learned life is a whole lot easier if I cooperate with Mr. Bill’s clock.  So even though I woke up raring to get out and start sight-seeing, Mr. Bill wasn’t quite as eager.

He slept later, enjoyed playing with his grand-nephew and eventually started wondering what we were going to do for our morning meal.  We weren’t exactly the first people to enter the de Young.  I’m not really complaining, because we’d been having a lovely time, but there was a whole lot of Golden Gate Park to see and not much time.

Where’s the Bus? 

My trusty Golden Gate Park brochure informed me, “On Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays…take the free park-wide shuttle which services all major Golden Gate Park destinations…The free shuttle operates 9 am – 6pm every 15-20 minutes.”  I’d seen one shuttle go by, so I thought that by the time Bill and I finished our meal and were ready to see the park, another shuttle would be by.  I figured it would be the best way to see the most of the park in the least amount of time.

See the park is 1017 acres, so the idea of walking the whole thing is overly enthusiastic, especially late in the afternoon – and remember, I already thought it was a little chilly.  So we stood next to the shuttle sign and waited and waited and waited.  We waited well over twenty minutes and if you add that to the time we’d spent in the cafe after seeing the shuttle, then you know that something was going on.  This wasn’t just a free shuttle running a few minutes late.

At first I wasn’t too worried.  I just perused my map and guide, familiarizing myself with what we would see.  Eventually, I realized we weren’t going to see anything if we didn’t start hoofing it.  In a panic, I read every sign in sight and realized we were quite close to one of the attractions I was most interested in, The Japanese Tea Garden.

I think Bill would have been just as happy calling it a day, but he is a good husband, so he trailed behind me as I marched towards the Japanese Tea Garden.  I had some sightseeing to do.  Come back next week and I’ll tell you about it.

ART, DESTINATIONS, Gardens, Museums, Restaurants & Bars, Road Trips, TRAVEL, United States

The de Young Museum at Golden Gate Park

Jane Sadek

deyoung tickets07242014

 

TRAVEL THERE: ON THE MUST-SEE LIST

This trip to San Francisco was my second, so I’d already knocked out these San Francisco points of interest:

Jane’s Must-See Attractions in San Francisco

Golden Gate Park

I’m convinced I saw the very best of San Francisco on my first trip, but that didn’t make me any happier about missing Golden Gate Park.  We actually got into the park, but it was the end of the day and both the driver and the navigator were exhausted.  So the park was a must-see for this trip.

At the top of my list in the park was the de Young Museum of Fine Art, so that’s what I plugged into the GPS.  Last time we’d been to the park we didn’t have our electronic buddy, which explains why we were so disgusted and disgruntled.  This time we did have it, but we ran into another problem.  The GPS was telling us to turn into the park at one location and there were all kinds of signs telling us we couldn’t.  Finally we found a sign directing us to enter for de Young parking.  Victory!

deyoung brochure07242014
Instead of folding it up and putting it in my pocket, I should have studied the map. Following my nose wasn’t a good idea.

The De Young

I confess, I don’t do spontaneous well.  By the time I visit a museum, I’ve usually studied the map ad nauseum and know exactly where in the museum I want to go.  Having not had the opportunity to do that, we walked into the de Young and followed our nose.  Unfortunately, at the beginning, our nose didn’t lead us to much stuff we really wanted to see.  Maybe that’s the reason so many people claim they don’t like museums – they’ve been following their noses around!

Different strokes for different folks, but we all know what we like.  Bill and I are less fond of modern and tribal art than we are traditional figurative art.  Bill told me to just put up the map and enjoy myself, but that wasn’t very good advice.  We saw every piece of modern and tribal art in the museum, before we found our good stuff.

Now once we found our good stuff we were plenty happy and we took a long time perusing delightful pieces. Here’s a few samples:

Rainy Season in the Tropics by Frederic Edwn Church
Petunia by Georgia O’Keefe
California Spring by Albert Bierstadt

Not everything was paintings.  There were some sculptures and decorative arts, but these were the postcards I picked up in the gift shop.

View from the Hamon Tower
View from the Hamon Tower

After our tour of the art, we went up in the Hamon Tower.  The view was actually quite amazing.  The light was not cooperating, so we didn’t get a good shot of the city vista – which would blow your socks off – but this picture gives you an idea of what you see directly below, when you’re up there.

Food Time

To my list of favorite places to eat in San Francisco I’d like to add the de Young Cafe.  Its a nice crisp modern sort of place that sits next to the Sculpture Garden.  Outside is patio seating and there were people sitting out there, but it was a little chilly for my Texas blood.  While we ate, we were serenaded by a big orchestra playing in the Temple of Music across the street.  It doesn’t get much better.

Kudos delivered, I’d like to have a do over.  This is one of those cafes where you really should have some sort of idea of what you’re doing before you actually get to the selection part.  They have a card menu to order from, they have pre-made snacks and sandwiches available to browsse and then they’ve got a sort of coffee bar, but that has a blackboard menu that you might miss before you get around to ordering.  So, if you ever go, check out ALL the options before you make a selection.

One Last Thing

Everybody but me probably already knew this, but if you’re also out of the loop, San Francisco actually has TWO Museums of Fine Art.  The Palace of Legion of Honor and the de Young.  The Palace is out by Lincoln Park and may be one of the most impressive buildings I’ve ever seen.  I know the view from the portico is certainly one of the best.  The grounds were covered with brides having their pictures made with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background.

If I only had time to see one of the museums, I would choose The Palace, for two reasons.  One being the spectacular nature of the venue.  The other being that the art is more classical.  Also, now that I’ve seen them both, I think I’d be quicker to return to the Palace.  I wish I’d had time for the special exhibition of Impressionist portraits they had while I was there.  However, you should take time to see both at least once and then choose your favorite based on your own taste.

After our meal we headed out to explore the rest of the park.  Join me next week to check it out.

Attractions, DESTINATIONS, Road Trips, Shopping, TRAVEL, United States

Pinot Days in San Francisco CA

Jane Sadek
Pinot Days Brochure, San Francisco CA
Pinot Days Brochure

TRAVEL THERE: TASTING PINOT IN SAN FRAN

If you recall, this vacation went through a number of alterations before becoming a reality. In one of the original stages, a trip to Wine Country was penciled in, but by the time we went, Napa and Sonoma had been erased. Instead we enjoyed Pinot Days at City View At Metreon.

How We Got There

When you’re visiting your hip nephew in San Fran you do all kinds of cool things.  Take it from me, Uber is cool.  It’s like a taxi, but a lot more chic.

Since all I did was go along for the ride, I don’t claim to know all the details, but to quote Uber “request, ride, and pay via your mobile phone.”  That means you don’t call or hail a cab.  You request a ride at a certain time with the app and the car shows up.  If you wonder if you have time to go to the bathroom, the app tells you where the car is and how long before it will be to your pick-up point.  You don’t have to ride in a cab either.     A sleek black SUV picked us up and the driver was dressed very professionally.When we left the wine event my nephew punched a few buttons on the phone and by the time we got downstairs our car was waiting.

Uber’s website says they do have taxis, but that wasn’t our ride.  Nephew says it’s about the price of parking and since we were going to a wine tasting without a DD it was a lot cheaper than a DWI.  Dallas is an Uber city, but I haven’t Ubered here yet.  Let me know if you have.

Where It Was

Meteron is like nothing I know of in Dallas.  It’s like NorthPark‘s Food Court on steroids, but the anchor store is a Super Target and for kicks there’s an AMC Cinemark.  You got it?

Well, upstairs there’s something called City View which is a huge event space.  They do weddings, corporate events, whatever.  The “restaurant-centric mall with multiplex” is amid the Marscone Center and City View overlooks the Yerba Buena Gardens.  Yeah, it’s cool.

How It Was Pinot Days, Meteron, San Francisco CA

I’m just going to be straight with you.  This wasn’t the most fun I ever had tasting wine.  I used to live on the Central Coast and spent Sunday afternoons at Castoro Cellars Tasting Room, Edna Valley Vineyard and other local wineries.  My first date with Bill was to a function called Art and Wine at the Dallas Museum of Art.  We’ve been to Dallas Opera Wine Tastings. We have also been to other wine festivals, like the Paso Robles Wine Festival.  We know from wine tastings.

The Metreon was cool and I loved looking out over Yerba Buena Park and San Francisco’s Financial District.  However, I got a little tired of Pinot and there was a crowd.

I love wine, but I’m no wine connoisseur.  Were I a wine connisseur, I’m sure the opportunity to compare so many Pinots in one afternoon of tasting was euphoric.  However, there were so many people crowding around the tables that there was really no way to have a decent conversation with the winemakers and that’s one of the things I like best about a tasting.

There was also nowhere to sit.  There were community baskets of crackers and cheese to give your palate a break, but no where to give your sore dogs a break.  Am I glad I did it?  Yes!  Would I do it again?  Probably not.

But come back next week, because we’re going to Golden Gate Park.

DESTINATIONS, Restaurants & Bars, Road Trips, TRAVEL, United States

San Franciso Brunch Bites

Jane Sadek
Who wouldn't go to San Francisco to visit this little guy?
Who wouldn’t go to San Francisco to visit this little guy?

TRAVEL THERE: BRUNCH AT ORIGINAL JOE’S AND CAFE FRANCISCO

For us, the main attraction in San Francisco was Jack. He’s our grand-nephew and being one year old was still brand new to him when we got there. Imagine all the wonderful things you can do with a darling one year old boy and insert them here.  We also enjoyed some great food.

In the Thick of Things

Jack’s parents are hip.  Really!  Dad went to Greenhill, graduated from Wharton School of Business, got married in a museum and is an investment banker in the gaming industry.  If I wrote a novel about him, people would think I made him up.  Mom also went to Greenhill, has her MBA from UTD, had a ballet commissioned for her wedding reception and she spends her days being Jack’s mommy.

So, of course, they live in the coolest part of San Francisco.  From atop their building you can see the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, Coit Tower and the Bay Bridge.  They’re blocks away from Fisherman’s Wharf, Washington Square Park and the crazy intersection of Columbus and Broadway.

Brunch at Original Joe’s

Saturday morning after Jack’s morning routine was accomplished, we took a stroll to Original Joe’s.  In San Francisco you stroll a lot.  It’s not a car-centric society like LA or Dallas.  There are plenty of cars, but you don’t drive one unless you have to.

The beautiful Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul is also on Washington Square.
The beautiful Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul also faces Washington Square.

Original Joe’s faces Washington Square Park on Union Street.  The restaurant may be a San Francisco classic, but once I was inside, I thought I was in New York’s Little Italy.  Black and white tile floors, lots of woodwork, tuxedo-ed waiters, white linen tablecloths, gleaming chrome and brass;  and the aroma of marinara permeates it all.

The food?  OMG! We stuck to the brunch menu, enjoying treats like Crab Cake Benedict, Brioche French Toast and other amazing goodies.  The food looked so delicious when it arrived, I dove right in!  The prices are reasonable, but not cheap.

Brunch at Cafe Francisco

Sunday morning Bill and I ventured out on our own to Cafe Francisco, just around the corner from our nephew’s condo.  For me, this brunch spot felt more San Francisco-ish than the more famous Original Joe’s.  The space had for many years been an artist’s studio and along with serving great Belgian waffles, Cafe Francisco is also an art gallery.

If I lived in my nephew’s condo, I might just convert my kitchen into a gym and have all my meals at Cafe Francisco.  The prices were so reasonable that I doubt you can cook at home for so cheap.  The menu is not extensive, but it’s got everything from breakfast to Mediterranean salads to amazing cheese plates paired by the Cheese School of San Francisco.  I wish I’d gotten back over there to enjoy a bottle of wine and one of those cheese plates.

These were not our only gastronomic adventures in San Fran.  After brunch at Original Joe’s we went to Pinot Nights.  Come back next week and I’ll tell you about that.

Architecture, ART, Attractions, Decorative Arts, DESTINATIONS, Gardens, Road Trips, TRAVEL, United States

The Winchester Mystery House

Jane Sadek

Winchester House07032014

TRAVEL THERE: IT’S A MYSTERY ALRIGHT

Next stop on our California adventure:  The Winchester Mystery House in San Jose.

The Real Mystery

Several years ago, I asked my mother which San Jose attraction was better, the  Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum or the Winchester Mystery House, because she’d been to both.  She didn’t stutter or stall – she was all about the Egyptian Museum.  So, on that trip I went to the museum and promised myself I’d see the Winchester House another day.

Well, on this trip to California I carved out some time for the Winchester Mystery House and learned the real mystery is why it’s become so popular.  Remember last week when I told you Lotusland was worth every penny of the $45 tour price – and more.  Well, the Winchester House, in my opinion, is not worth anywhere near the $33 per person they’ll hit you up for – and that’s just the basic tour.  Some people pay more for extended and special tours.  Ten dollars?  Maybe.  Anymore than that?  Rip off!

Don’t Judge This Book By It’s Cover

An exterior shot of this rambling edifice leads one to believe visitors will tour a beautiful Victorian mansion.  Well, the exterior is very pretty and I do recommend that you at least drive by it on South Winchester Boulevard, but what you can see from the street is really all you need to see.  The interior of the house is pretty scary – and I’m not talking about the spirits some people claim they encounter.

We found the house, parked the car and went to the entry booth.  We actually discussed getting the more expensive ticket which included a behind the scenes tour, but we were supposed to be in San Francisco by six thirty.  We were afraid we wouldn’t have time for more than the basic tour – thank goodness.  That’s when things started to get weird.

Right This Way for your Cruise Photo

I’m used to lining up to go on a house tour.  At the Winchester House, the tickets are timed.  A sign tells you where to wait for the next tour and there’s a velvet rope hanging between stanchions.

However, I am not used to lining up for cruise-type photos at historic homes.  (They do the same sort of thing at Hearst Castle, but that’s Hearst Castle.)  At the Winchester they put you in front of a green screen and hand you a fake rifle.  We were not enchanted.  Bill resents having his picture taken on cruises, so this really set him off.  “I made an ugly face,” he told me.

Welcome to….the Stables?

After all the people on our tour had their obligatory rifle picture taken, we were allowed in the house.  We were herded into a sort of holding pen and given a very canned speech by an eager young guide.  In his defense, he was fairly new to his job as a guide, but it came off like, “I am thoroughly bored with this speech, and hahaha you’re stuck listening to it.”  It did not improve as the tour continued.

From the holding pen we went to the stables, but it was a little confusing, because it was also a sort of warehouse.  I thought to myself, “This isn’t a very engaging place to start.”  I didn’t realize then that it wasn’t going to get much better.  From the stable we used a very bizarre staircase to get to another floor.  I hoped better things were coming.

Most of the House is More of the Same

With very few exceptions, things didn’t get any better.  The floors were linoleum.  The walls were, for the most part wood, though there were some that were wallpapered.  Any room looked pretty much like all the rest of the rooms.  They had millions of visitors to the house and it looks like it.  It also doesn’t look like they’ve done anything to preserve what people may have come to see.

Part of the problem is that most of the rooms are unfurnished.  When the builder/owner died, everything was taken out of the house and sold for cash, per the little old lady’s will.  There are a few rooms that have items in them, but the furnishings matched everything else about the house – sad and worn out.

I think one of the reasons the house is so empty and so unfurnished is that they want to impress upon visitors just how nuts Mrs. Winchester was.  The story of the house is that she bought it and kept building on to it.  Another part of the story is that she was trapped in part of the house after an earthquake and after escaping closed down that part of the house, damaged as it was, and kept on building.

Okay, so I get the part about the lady being nuts and I realize her original belongings were sold, but if you’re going to charge me $33 dollars, I want to see more than an empty house in disrepair.

On to San Fran

On any other tour, we might have tried to sneak away and go on with our business, but in this dreadful rabbit warren of a place, who knows where you might have ended up.  We endured the rest of the tour and were relieved when we escaped.

The story of the Winchester Mystery House is well worth your investigation.  The owner was the widow of the man who invented the Winchester rifle.  Her idiosyncrasies are fascinating.  The Winchester Mystery House as it stands today, is not.

Our trip to California gets better though!  come back next week.

 

Architecture, ART, Attractions, Decorative Arts, DESTINATIONS, Gardens, Road Trips, TRAVEL, United States

Santa Barbara’s LotusLand

Jane Sadek

Lotusland, Santa Barbara CA

TRAVEL THERE: LOTUSLAND, BEYOND BEAUTIFUL!

First atraction, first day: Santa Barbara’s Lotusland! Talk about a great way to start a vacation – this was it!

Hanging in SB

So, if our adventure started in Santa Barbara, why did we fly to LAX and stay in Carpenteria?  Well, this was a road trip which would end in LA, so it was cheaper to fly into and out of LAX, not to mention avoiding a one-way rental car charge.  And Carpenteria is only ten miles away from Santa Barbara and about a hundred dollars cheaper than any accommodations I could book in the more famous city.Santa Barbara CA

 

The Beach

 

We left Carpenteria early enough to spend some time in Santa Barbara, because it’s one of our favorite cities.  The list of things we would have loved to do would be quite long, but all we had time for was a leisurely visit to the beach.  Next was lunch and we had fast food.

 

Lotusland Brochure, Santa Barbara CAFinally, Lotusland!

Lotusland is one of those hidden travel gems people talk about, but it shouldn’t be such a secret.  Their website says they’ve been having tours since 1993, so I don’t know why more people aren’t raving about it.  I lived on the Central Coast of California for six years and in all that time I heard one person mention it in passing and they made it seem like a cactus farm.

Listen to me – you need to go to Lotusland.  Beautiful, serene, amazing – these are the words that come to mind.  Yes there are cactus gardens, but that’s only the beginning.  There are twenty other gardens there, also.  From a Japanese Garden to a Water Garden full of water lilies to a Topiary Garden – and the list goes on!

Lotusland Map, Santa Barbara CA

Here’s a map from our tour.  At least, Trip Advisor lists it as the number two attraction in Santa Barbara,behind the famous Courthouse, but I’ve been to the Courthouse and it doesn’t light a candle to Lotusland.  Santa Barbara Mission is pretty wonderful, but Trip Advisor rates that as number seven.  What’s wrong with these people!

First you need to know Ganna Walska, the lady who planned and planted Lotusland, should have her own mini-series.  A famous opera singer with five different husbands, ties to both the Polish and Russian royal families and over thirty acres of gardens in Santa Barbara – what’s not to love?  Then there’s the gardens themselves.  Breath-taking!

Next, you need to know that you can’t just show up at the address on the internet for a stroll through the garden.  All tours are docent-led and there are two each day.  To tour the garden you have to go online, make reservations and pay for the tour.  Then you will get directions about where to show up for the tour.  I have to confess that you might get a little sticker shock.  The tours are $45/adult and $20/ child, but I am telling you it is completely worth the price of admission.  Trust me on this.

We had quite a tour.  About half-way through a sweet little old lady fell INTO a cactus plant, which sort of threw everything off – and certainly slowed us down on the next leg of our trip – but that’s for next week.  Lotusland is one of those places that I could wear myself out talking about and still not capture the essence of it, so now I’m going to shut-up and show you some of our pictures.  Just be sure and come back next week.  There’s more fun to come.

The cactus mishap is just about to occur!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Accommodations, DESTINATIONS, Restaurants & Bars, Road Trips, TRAVEL, Travel Planning, United States

Great Hotel in Carpenteria CA

Jane Sadek
Refreshed and Ready for the Road
Refreshed and Ready for the Road

TRAVEL THERE: GOOD LUCK OR GOOD PLANNING

When you’re traveling, is a good night’s sleep good luck or good planning? Or could it be because you’re too exhausted to do anything else?

We Gotta Get Out of LA

As we surrendered to Navi (the GPS) and headed north, I was fantasizing about pillows and linen,but my job as navigator wasn’t over.  About the time we got to Thousand Oaks, Bill wanted to eat.  Food was just about the last thing I wanted, but through experience I’ve learned, when Bill wants food I’d better find a restaurant.

Gastronomic Detour

Do you remember what life was like before our electronic traveling friends?  You drove along hoping to see a sign on the side of the road, but you’d never just pull off the road, because you might never figure out how to get back.  Using that method, I might have made it to Carpenteria without having to stop, but no, Bill tells me to get out my phone.  Lo and behold, Google Local tells me there’s a BJ’s in the neighborhood and Bill takes the next exit.  We kept Navi pointed towards Carpenteria and used Local to get to BJ’s.

Now I really want to whine and complain about how awful it was, because I was really tired and not very hungry, but we shared BJ’s new Roast Beef Dip Sandwich, and I’ve got to be honest with you, it was really good.  In my day we called them French Dip Sandwiches, but I guess in this new politically-correct world, that might have some negative connotation – like all French people are dips.  Either that or some teenager planning their menu didn’t know their au jus from their assembly line.

A Reward at the End of our Drive

Sandwich happily consumed, we drove on to Carpenteria and found the Holiday Inn Express where I’d made our reservations.  This was an older property, but completely renovated, so you had all the charm of the old with all the convenience of the new.  The desk clerk checked us in like a champ, then we found a parking place close to our room and we moved ourselves in.

The room was wonderful.  A small seating area and mini-kitchen were separated from the bed by an attractive divider.  The furniture was new, but some older decorative touches were carried into the new design to add character.  We were very happy.

I would have loved to crawl in bed oblivious to everything, but I knew the drill.  I wake up at six and Bill doesn’t. I’d get up raring to go and Bill would be livid at my rattling around, if I didn’t get things ready ahead of time.  So, with a foggy brain I started re-organizing everything and getting ready for the rest of the trip, because packing for a flight and packing for a road trip are two different things.

Those gifts that took up half my suitcase? Well they were moved to the tote-bag.  All my shoes, belts and accessories?  I’d packed a fold-up nylon bag for them.  Pretty much everything else we packed needed to be shuffled around, too.  When I’d reorganized everything to suit me, I pulled out my exercise gear and an outfit for the next day, then fell into bed.  I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.

A Bright New Day

Yes, I did wake up at six.  I slithered into my workout clothes and found the exercise room – a nice one I might add.  They didn’t have a recumbent stationary bike, like I do at home, but the treadmills were in good working order and I slammed out an hour of cardio.  Then I was starving, so I went to the breakfast bar.

Cinnamon Rolls from Heaven
Cinnamon Rolls from Heaven

Let me tell you this – Holiday Inn Express rocks their breakfast buffet.  My particular favorite is their cinnamon rolls.   But they have everything from bacon and eggs to a pancake machine to hot biscuits.  They also have healthy things, so with my single cinnamon roll I had a boiled egg, yogurt and apple juice.

I returned to the room and Bill was stirring, so I returned to the breakfast bar with him – not to eat, just for companionship.  He got breakfast down, we got ready for the day and headed out.

Vacation Day One is ahead and it was a great one, so come back next week.

DESTINATIONS, Road Trips, TRAVEL, Travel Planning, United States

California on My Mind!

Jane Sadek
Santa Barbara CA
On the Beach in Santa Barbara

TRAVEL THERE: STILL CALIFORNIA DREAMIN’

We just got back from California and it was a crazy trip. In fact, it was crazy before we packed the first bag.  Just getting the vacation planned had been all kinds of crazy!

The Best Laid Plans

See, last year one of our nephews moved into a new home and had his first child.  We were all geared up for a long weekend once our grand-nephew settled in.  Then my mom went into the hospital and that meant all travel was on hold.

She was in and out of the hospital several times, but rehab was planned and Bill thought the care-giver needed a break.  Everyone seemed to agree with him, so I re-planned the trip for nine days and bought our airfare – just a little too soon.  Rehab turned into hospice and then a funeral.

I wasn’t much in the mood for travel, but Bill thought I needed a change of scenery, so I started trying to coordinate a date for new travel plans.  However, the holidays were coming up and nothing worked.  So, we postponed the trip until March.

Believe it or not, before we could get the trip planned, another game changer came along.  A niece and grand-nephew from Egypt would be in California in June.  So we postponed our travel plans to June and the trip grew to 11 days.

Does this sound familiar?  Does this kind of thing happen in your family?  Well, it got crazier.

The Heath Project

If you’ve been following my Friday posts, then you know that sometime in March we decided to start looking for a new home and that search turned into a building project in Heath.  Since one thing always leads to another, we put our house on the market, thinking we might be lucky if someone bought it before the end of summer.  So, of course, some one bought it, right before we were supposed to leave on vacation – but that’s for the Friday posts.  Bottom line, even though it looked like something might undo our plans, right up to the phone call I got as we boarded our flight.  We made it all the way to California!

Confession is Good for the Soul

I’ll just tell you right now, with all this planning and re-planning, more than one thing fell through the cracks.  I double-booked myself into two hotels on one night, for instance.  I packed way too much and ended up with an $85 extra bag fee for another.  So travel stuff happens to the best of us.  Come along with me and I’ll show you a good time over the next few weeks as I share my experiences – good and bad – with all my blogospere friends.