Hello everyone! I'm sure you all are excited that spring break is two weeks away. Although the weather has been looking a bit gloomy lately, let's at least be happy that there is rain! Rain or shine (hopefully shine), I am going to share three great places to go to on your spring break in California!
Monterey Bay
Monterey is about a two hour drive south of San Francisco State University. I went there during spring break of my senior year of high school. During my trip, I was able to see the Bixby Bride, the 17 mile drive, Pebble beach and eat at the infamous Vivolo's Chowder House.
The Bixby Bridge was opened in 1932 and is quite a view to see. This arch bridge is carefully placed in a valley on Highway One. It was created out of wood and then covered in concrete. I believe my mom was telling me that the difficult part was building the main posts of the bridge into the mountain, since the ground below is sand. Since mountains tend not to have flat surfaces, the builders had to excavate 4,700 cubic yards of earth and rock. (Research information provided by the Monterey County Historical Society.)
Yes, Pebble Beach is also the golf course that many professional golfers practice at. However, the reason why Pebble Beach was my favorite is because my brother went onto this rock to take a picture.
Since numerous people were taking pictures here we thought it was OK, so my brother was able to get this picture; however, the officer told us it was a part of the golf course and my brother had to get off. Yay for trespassing! Just kidding.
After all this sight seeing, the best place to get food is Vivolo's Chowder House. The address is 127 Central Avenue, Pacific Grove, CA 93950. It is a cozy restaurant and even though the food runs a little pricey, their chowder in the bread bowl, in my opinion, is possibly better than San Francisco's. If you have the chance to go to Vivolo's I would highly recommend it.
The next place I want to share with everyone is:
Calaveras Big Trees
Calaveras Big Trees is a state park about three hours east of San Francisco. The great part about this specific park is that it is very family friendly. Anyone from little kids to senior citizens can go. Since my family brought my grandma, we were able to stay in a nice cabin that had two big bedrooms, a living room, a dining room and a kitchen with all appliances while my brother and his friends stayed in a tent (ha-ha). Even so, I had a great time with everyone.
Near us was a beautiful river that was a short walk from where we were staying. My dog, the boys and I had a great time swimming; however, people who aren't very good swimmers should be careful because one of the boys almost got swept away by the current. If you're not much of a swimmer, the park also provides white water rafting (which I hope to do next time) and a tour of the Calaveras Big Trees.
There are numerous tours of the park where you can go on hikes or do some light walking. You can either have a tour guide or do a self-guided tour. After a long day of exploring, and if you almost ran out of food like we did, there is a small town nearby with little restaurants. I believe we ate at a burger joint; the service was good and the food was pretty good too. Also, before you go back to your tent, there is a cliff-side view somewhere along the road. I unfortunately can't find the pictures I took, but it had a very nice view of the night sky -- so be sure to check that out.
Catalina Island
Catalina Island is near the coast of Long Beach in Southern California. It was one of the stops on a cruise I went on during the summer of my junior year. However, I heard that you can take a helicopter to the island for a good price. Catalina is a nice getaway location if you are wanting to get away from Los Angeles traffic. There are numerous little shops and restaurants, and many things to do.
One thing I did was rent a golf cart for a couple of hours. My brother and I took it around the island and saw nice views, like the picture I've posted above. There is the option of a golf cart for four people and a golf cart for six, so if you have a big family you can all still go.
After riding around in the golf cart, you can go snorkeling on the right-most (or left-most, depending on how you see it) side of the island near the big cliff-side casino. I enjoyed the snorkeling because the instructor that was with us also showed us some creatures, like starfish, and we were able to hold them. However, the water was quite cold and you have to wear a wet suit (which they provide), so keep that in mind when you're deciding on snorkeling.
Thank you everyone! Good luck with all of your tests, midterms, work, etc. Hang in there because there are only two weeks until spring break. Always remember to keep exploring!
