San Francisco - Monterey 10 Days

[pepeguitarra]

1) CARMEL BY THE SEA TO SEE A GALLERY WITH ANSEL ADAMS and ED WESTON PRINTS

2) DRIVE SOUTH OF MONTEREY ON PCH 1 TO BIG SUR, CROSS THE BRIDGE AND TAKE FEW SHOTS THERE.

3) DRIVE NORTH OF MONTERREY TO MOOS LANDING TO EAT THE BEST SEAFOOD AROUND AT PHILS ( Phil's Fish Market and Eatery at Moss Landing, California by Palenquero Photography, on Flickr)

4) THERE IS A 17 MILE DRIVE, YOU NEED NOT TO DRIVE ALL OF THEM, JUST ONE TO TAKE SHOTS OF THE ROCKS AND THE SEA AT POINT LOBOS, THE LONE CYPRESS, ETC.

5) If you like artichokes in any form, you can stop north of Monterey in Salinas oR Castroville.

5) NOT MUCH MORE REALLY.

[John Kasaian]

1) CARMEL BY THE SEA TO SEE A GALLERY WITH ANSEL ADAMS and ED WESTON PRINTS

2) DRIVE SOUTH OF MONTEREY ON PCH 1 TO BIG SUR, CROSS THE BRIDGE AND TAKE FEW SHOTS THERE.

3) DRIVE NORTH OF MONTERREY TO MOOS LANDING TO EAT THE BEST SEAFOOD AROUND AT PHILS ( Phil's Fish Market and Eatery at Moss Landing, California by Palenquero Photography, on Flickr)

4) THERE IS A 17 MILE DRIVE, YOU NEED NOT TO DRIVE ALL OF THEM, JUST ONE TO TAKE SHOTS OF THE ROCKS AND THE SEA AT POINT LOBOS, THE LONE CYPRESS, ETC.

5) If you like artichokes in any form, you can stop north of Monterey in Salinas o Castroville.

5)

Phil's---great sea food!
Check out the beach in the back

[Bernice Loui]

Continuing one from Montara on HWY 1 brings up Moss Beach which is known for the Moss Beach Distillery (Lady in blue dress ghost myth). This was a famous Booze running location where boot-legged booze would arrive on the beach then hauled up to shore for distribution during Prohibition.

Today the Moss Beach Distillery is an OK tourist trap restaurant.

On the other side of the Moss Beach Distillery is the Cypress Tree tunnel. This tree tunnel was planted about 1890 by an Inn owner nearby. Weekdays it is often a road less traveled and beautifully peaceful.


The Fitzgerald Marine Reserve is located very near by the Cypress tree tunnel.
http://www.fitzgeraldreserve.org/newffmrsite/
Know this area is often PACKED on warm summer-autumn weekends with folks from the other side of the hill wanting some beach and escape from the blazing heat of the valley. There is often a temperature difference from 15 to 30 degrees F between Coastside and over the Hill.

Continuing on down HWY 1, brings up the Half Moon Bay airport. Originally put in by the US military for supply and other aircraft. There was an aerial target practice school in the area during WW-II and a few abandoned Nike missile sites that were put in during the Cold War.

Next on HWY 1 comes the costal industrial town of Princeton which is a place were fishing boats get worked on and fishermen harbor their boats and transfer their catch. Know HMB was fished out some time in the early 1980's. The fish and crabs were decimated by greed and the belief this Natural resource has no end. With the help and much work from the Scientific and Marine Biology experts in this area, serious conservation efforts were put in place to moderate what fishing is allowed, when fishing is allowed and what can be taken by private and commercial fisherfolks. About a decade later some of the once diverse marine life that thrived in the area began to return.

Princeton is home to Barbara's Fish Trap which is more Tourist Trap seeking sea food. HMB brewing company can be a good place to have a brew. One good restaurant in Princeton is Mezza Luna, was once the Mezza Luna Inn.
https://www.mezzalunabythesea.com

Directly by Princeton is Pillar Point and Surfer's Beach, HMB kayak rentals, Sam's Chowder House (Another Tourist Trap) and the beginning of the Coastal Trail that goes into Miramar Beach and HMB. The big white dome is part of the US military aircraft tracking network.


Autum sunsets at Pillar Point and Costside can look like this:


Opposite Pilar Point is El Granada, once a summer resort community began about 1900. Like most development Coastside, it mostly failed in it's day. Today it is a residential community with a good Beach India Restaurant for eats directly across Spangler's a local grocery market.

Next beach South on HWY 1 is Miramar Beach. There is one local community art gallery. On weekends they some times put out stone sculptures like this:


After Miramar is HMB or Half Moon Bay the 'big" Coastside town.


Part three, to be continued.
Bernice

[Louie Powell]

Leland Stanford was a Lawyer, Robber Baron and Railroad tycoon. Married to Jane. They had a son Leland Stanford Jr. who died at age 15. Both were so distraught over the death of their sone, in memory of their son, Stanford University is named after their son. It should be know that Stanford Uni was considered a nothing back when it began about 1885. During the WW-II effort their engineering department got about $50K for US military work which was tiny compared to MIT, Brown and similar East Coast Universities of that era. Fred Terman was determined to alter that and set about poaching technical and scientific talent from MIT, Brown and other notable East Coast universities. It was their partnership with the Varian brothers that made one of the first significant technology contributions to what became Silly Valley (Silicon Valley). There are others like Bill & Dave ....


Bernice

An interesting factoid - the land on which Stanford University was built was originally a nut farm. Some will say that nothing has changed - - -

Today, the campus faces out on the main north-south surface road through Silicon Valley, El Camino Real, and the front part of the campus continues to feature a beautiful grove of walnut trees.

[pepeguitarra]

An interesting factoid - the land on which Stanford University was built was originally a nut farm. Some will say that nothing has changed - - -

This information seems to be very accurate. Sorry, my friends who attended there and paid lots of money for it

[Bernice Loui]

Stanford to this day is referred to the "Farm" by folks who work, teach and attend Stanford. As for cost of tuition, Stanford has a tuition free program for students in need. I like the place for a long list of reasons, then again this is a totally Biased Personal Opinion.

For those with too much time and too much curiosity, here is a video about the history of Silly Valley..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6dIQ6KK3og


Bernice

[Drew Wiley]

Well, there's has been a lot lately on the news about how to get into Stanford; but I won't go there. Palo Alto can be a traffic headache to get caught up in if your freeway 101 timing isn't right. And it's only getting worse. I'd rather stick to the coast using Hwy 1 both directions if a vacation sanity-break was the priority. Let's just say that rush "hour" tends to be a prolonged ordeal both AM and PM, and somewhat unpredictable in between. Sure glad I don't have to commute the freeways anymore. I'm close to Fwy 80, and it moves efficiently only between 10:00AM and 2:00PM on weekdays, and can be worse on weekends. And all it takes is a single big wreck or a shooting to shut it down completely for many hours on end. Just a clue. Getting past Morgan Hill, through San Jose, and clear up to SF on 101 should be done either midday or at night. For me, that's the difference between getting to the Monterey area via 101 in an hour and a half, or taking up to six hours!

[pepeguitarra]

...Stanford has a tuition free program for students in need......
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6dIQ6KK3og Bernice

Most universities do!

[Bob Salomon]

Well, there's has been a lot lately on the news about how to get into Stanford; but I won't go there. Palo Alto can be a traffic headache to get caught up in if your freeway 101 timing isn't right. And it's only getting worse. I'd rather stick to the coast using Hwy 1 both directions if a vacation sanity-break was the priority. Let's just say that rush "hour" tends to be a prolonged ordeal both AM and PM, and somewhat unpredictable in between. Sure glad I don't have to commute the freeways anymore. I'm close to Fwy 80, and it moves efficiently only between 10:00AM and 2:00PM on weekdays, and can be worse on weekends. And all it takes is a single big wreck or a shooting to shut it down completely for many hours on end. Just a clue. Getting past Morgan Hill, through San Jose, and clear up to SF on 101 should be done either midday or at night. For me, that's the difference between getting to the Monterey area via 101 in an hour and a half, or taking up to six hours!

Not that bad getting to if you take the San Mateo bridge. Not the most scenic route though!

[Bob Salomon]

Most universities do!

There no longer is tuition for NYU med school either!