San Francisco Day 6

On Friday we decided to head down the coast on Highway 1. It was a beautiful day! After a scenic drive down the coast, complete with fresh fruit stands and places where you could pick your own strawberries, we arrived in Santa Cruz.

I loved Santa Cruz! It was a darling little town with such a fun, amusement park type of boardwalk, complete with arcades, and rides. Notice that the rollercoaster is on its way to the top in the picture. It was very warm in Santa Cruz. People were walking around in shorts and sandals. Needless to say, I felt a little silly and hot with my turtleneck. However, it cooled down as we headed down to Monterey, and I was grateful to have it then.

Next we stopped at Carmel. One of my students had recommended the drive to Monterey/Carmel, and it ended up being one of the highlights of our trip. Now that we look back on the trip, we wish that we would have stayed the last few nights, down in Monterey or Carmel. It was beautiful! This is a view of the water at Carmel. Isn't it gorgeous? In the background you can see the elite Pebble Beach Golf Course.

Carmel was a quaint upscale Mediterranean town. The architecture was so beautiful! I love the little archway that leads to this little coffee shop. We went window shopping, and got some delicious pastries from a local bakery.

I love this picture of Preston, especially his cute dimples! Carmel was one of Preston's favorite places on the trip.

Of course we had to dip our feet in the water, and walk in the sand. I love walking along the ocean!

After Carmel, we headed to Monterey to the Fisherman's warf. Preston and I both agree that we liked the Fisherman's Warf in Monterey, more than we liked the one in San Francisco. There were more shops, and the clam chowder that we got for dinner was amazing! There were several places selling clam chowder, and many of them had samples so it was fun to taste all the different varieties and choose our favorite. We also bought a roasted garlic to spread on our bread bowl once the chowder was gone. It was delicious! (sorry Preston looks like he is in pain in the picture, it was just really bright :-)

This is a look from the end of the pier in Monterey. It was such a beautiful day!

One of the restaurants located on the pier in Monterey. I loved seeing all of the boats docked at the pier in the marina.

After an amazing day, we headed back along highway one, and were able to stop and capture this beautiful picture of the sunset.

After taking a picture of the sunset, I turned to the other side of Highway one, and captured this picture! What a gorgeous place. Preston and I were actually sad to head back to the city. I wish that we could have spent more time driving down the coast. P.S. If you drive in San Francisco make sure to take a gps, because if you don't have one driving is a nightmare with all of the one way streets, and streets where you can't turn left. It took us thirty minutes upon entering the city, to navigate our way back to the hotel. I would much rather walk in the city!