Road Trip! San Francisco and blurbs of other towns in California.

sopas ej · #1 Posted **Jun 28, 2023, 4:58 AM**

My partner and I took yet another road trip to San Francisco (one of our favorite weekend getaways) by making a 5-day weekend for ourselves; we left the morning of Thursday, 6.22.2023 and came home Sunday, 6.25.2023 and took Monday off from work to just relax at home.

So, here are some random photos of San Fran, and some of the towns we stopped in along the way to and home from, SF.

Brunch in Buellton, CA.

Pea Soup Andersen's has been around since 1924. They are known for their, well, pea soup. It's good, but my partner's split pea soup is much better.

Photo by me

Photo by me

Their pea soup.

Photo by me

I had it with their Danish pork sausage, or medisterpølse.

Photo by me

Next stop: Pismo Beach, CA. We spent the night here.

Photo by me

Photo by me

So vulgar-looking.

Photo by me

Photo by me

At first I thought this was an erotica store.

Photo by me

Photo by me

Pelicans look so prehistoric.

Photo by me

Our dinner, which really was just appetizers. Shrimp cocktail...

Photo by me

...and calamari.

Photo by me

And cocktails.

Photo by me

All with an ocean view.

Photo by me

And then dessert and more cocktails in Avila Beach, CA.

Photo by me

Wine bar and French bistro? Yes please.

Photo by me

Photo by me

Lillet blanc.

Photo by me

Crème brûlée.

Photo by me

The next morning... the drive to San Francisco.

Entering the trafficky Bay Area.

Photo by me

Photo by me

Our hotel room.

Photo by me

I loved the mid-century bathroom.

Photo by me

Photo by me

Meal time.

Photo by me

Tea leaf salad.

Photo by me

Beef dumplings.

Photo by me

Photo by me

I guess there was a Giants game.

Photo by me

Photo by me

The Chinatown-Rose Pak subway station.

Photo by me

Photo by me

We usually go to City Lights bookstore on our visits to San Fran.

Photo by me

Photo by me

Southern Indian food...

Photo by me

Papadam.

Photo by me

Dosa.

Photo by me

Photo by me

Chai.

Photo by me

Photo by me

I love the webs of trolleybus wires.

Photo by me

Photo by me

Evening snack time.

Photo by me

Karaage.

Photo by me

Gyoza.

Photo by me

Yakitori.

Photo by me

Our hotel. Well, motel.

Photo by me

On our drive home from SF, we stopped in Saratoga, CA for brunch and to visit a Japanese garden called Hakone Gardens.

Photo by me

Vintage Alfa Romeo.

Photo by me

Photo by me

We ate here, a restaurant in a historical building.

Photo by me

Photo by me

Housemade cinnamon rolls.

Photo by me

Frittata.

Photo by me

Photo by me

Final meal stop on the road, in Paso Robles, CA.

Photo by me

Albóndigas.

Photo by me

We walked around a bit until the effects of the alcohol wore off.

Photo by me

homebucket · #2 Posted **Jun 28, 2023, 5:52 AM**

Fantastic tour!

Pismo Beach and Avila Beach are great little beach towns.

Looks like you hit up the Inner Richmond and Chinatown this trip, two of the neighborhoods I grew up in. IR is a very underrated neighborhood IMO and doesn't get a lot of tourists. Burma Superstar is good although I personally prefer Mandalay just up the street on California and 6th. Not sure if you're into pastries but there's a great bakery in the area too called Arsicault. Genki Crepes, Kowloon Tong, D&A Cafe, and Spices are some of my go to comfort foods in the area as well.

Downtown Saratoga is small and quaint and you captured the essence of it well. I drive through there all the time since it's the start of a very popular driving route. A good spot for car spotting as you experienced with the Alfa Romeo.

How'd you like the Central Subway?

Murphy de la Sucre · #3 Posted **Jun 28, 2023, 7:53 AM**

got turned on everytime when just saw the word "roadtrip"

Murphy de la Sucre · #4 Posted **Jun 28, 2023, 7:57 AM**

Shrimp cocktail...it was an eye opener for sure.

SLO · #5 Posted **Jun 28, 2023, 7:33 PM**

That, is a fun road trip! Good for you.

I'll be in Avila Beach in a few days, cant wait I have a huge project there so I'll get to hang out for a bit.

sopas ej · #6 Posted **Jun 28, 2023, 8:57 PM**

Thanks for the comments!

Quote:

Originally Posted by homebucket

Fantastic tour!

Pismo Beach and Avila Beach are great little beach towns.

Yes they are. I think we prefer the more relaxed vibe of Avila Beach to Pismo, though of course Avila is much smaller.

Quote:

Originally Posted by homebucket

Looks like you hit up the Inner Richmond and Chinatown this trip, two of the neighborhoods I grew up in. IR is a very underrated neighborhood IMO and doesn't get a lot of tourists. Burma Superstar is good although I personally prefer Mandalay just up the street on California and 6th. Not sure if you're into pastries but there's a great bakery in the area too called Arsicault. Genki Crepes, Kowloon Tong, D&A Cafe, and Spices are some of my go to comfort foods in the area as well.

We've actually been to Mandalay a number of times but thought we'd switch it up by going to Burma Superstar, our first time, actually. And yes, we think Mandalay is better.

Quote:

Originally Posted by homebucket

Downtown Saratoga is small and quaint and you captured the essence of it well. I drive through there all the time since it's the start of a very popular driving route. A good spot for car spotting as you experienced with the Alfa Romeo.

This was actually our first time going to Saratoga. My partner just happened to look at Google Maps and saw the Japanese garden, so we thought we'd check it out. Downtown Saratoga is nice. And I didn't know it was a good spot for car spotting.

Quote:

Originally Posted by homebucket

How'd you like the Central Subway?

We thought the Central Subway was cool, though we only really explored the Chinatown Station. We rode the T Line from 4th and King to Chinatown. It's really a faster and convenient way to get to Chinatown. I wish the Central Subway was already open when we were in SF in February of last year, when we stayed at the Hilton near Portsmouth Square. It would've been really convenient.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Murphy de la Sucre

got turned on everytime when just saw the word "roadtrip"

I really love road trips myself.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SLO

That, is a fun road trip! Good for you.

I'll be in Avila Beach in a few days, cant wait I have a huge project there so I'll get to hang out for a bit.

It really was fun! Have fun in Avila Beach.

sentinel · #7 Posted **Jun 28, 2023, 9:10 PM**

Next time I'm in CA (currently traveling between CA and Chi), I am hitting you up, and you and your partner and I are going on one of your fantastic tours!!

LAsam · #8 Posted **Jun 28, 2023, 10:51 PM**

Looks like an amazing way to spend a long weekend. Pleased to see that SF public transit looks like it's still getting solid usage. That new station in Chinatown looks great. Thanks for sharing!

sopas ej · #9 Posted **Jun 29, 2023, 3:10 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by sentinel

Next time I'm in CA (currently traveling between CA and Chi), I am hitting you up, and you and your partner and I are going on one of your fantastic tours!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by LAsam

Looks like an amazing way to spend a long weekend. Pleased to see that SF public transit looks like it's still getting solid usage. That new station in Chinatown looks great. Thanks for sharing!

Yes, SF public transit was definitely getting solid usage, at least this past weekend---we were there during Pride weekend, and there was a Giants game, so transit was pretty crowded. I didn't do my research, but on the flip side though, I felt like there were some MUNI bus lines that were eliminated, and the F Market historical streetcar didn't seem to be running frequently.

The new Chinatown station does indeed look great!

Driver8 · #10 Posted **Jul 3, 2023, 3:24 PM**

Thanks for the tour. It seems like everything I hear about San Francisco these days is negative, so it's nice to see a vibrant city via your pictures!

OhioGuy · #11 Posted **Jul 4, 2023, 3:08 PM**

I already miss SF so it's great to see these!

mrnyc · #12 Posted **Jul 4, 2023, 4:24 PM**

cool pix --

and wow the hindu temple is really especially impressive -- talk about fitting right in like a glove --

i am really hating the city name selfie sculpture or whatever thingys.

i wish that trend would die the heck off already.

geomorph · #13 Posted **Jul 12, 2023, 8:25 AM**

Nice Hakone Gardens coverage!

AviationGuy · #14 Posted **Jul 13, 2023, 3:39 AM**

What a great tour!

My first time in San Francisco was around the time the Tales of The City series came out. My friend, who had moved there from Austin, gave me the grand tour of the disco bar scene. It was exactly as depicted in Tales of The City. Same music and everything. We had similar bars in Austin, but the scale of it in The City was overwhelming. It was an exciting trip.

EastSideHBG · #15 Posted **Jul 13, 2023, 2:37 PM**

Wonderful!