So we took the scenic route from San Jose to San Francisco yesterday. Too bad the weather didn't cooporate.
Posted by
CovingtonCat
Jun 24 '13, 06:35
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First we stopped at the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum in San Jose. The only thing I knew about Rosicrucians (Rosy Cross) is they advertised in the Dell horoscope magazine my mother used to get when I was a kid. Now I know more. They're kind of like Masons crossed with Knights Templar with a little alchemy thrown in. But not the changing base metals into gold kind of alchemy. Interesting stuff - more here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosicrucianism. Ben Franklin and Roger Bacon were Rosicrucians.
Anyway, they have an interest in ancient Egypt and have a museum with real and copied Egyptian artifacts, including a few mummified cats (real) (and a couple mummified people). It's a small place, and if you don't have access to anything else it's a good place to get some history. They don't beat you over the head about the Rosicrucian stuff - there's just a video you can watch about their history. The grounds are beautiful.
OK, we then got on Skyline Blvd, a road atop the ridges separating the bay from the coast. Fun, curvy road with drop-offs here and there. Except it was kind of hard to see the drop-offs because ot the low-hanging clouds. Visibility was limited, to say the least. Even when we got down to Half Moon Bay it was overcast and lightly raining. The weatherman lied! It was supposed to be partly sunny.
We wanted to sit on a pier somewhere and have lunch but downtown Half Moon Bay isn't even on the bay. When we made our way to where we expected water we got to a state beach. Again, you couldn't see very far over the water. So we headed back inland and had lunch at a Japanese restaurant (menu here: http://www.shikirestaurants.com/HB_menu.html). I had real Ramen soup (for the first time) and gyoza. My friend had shrimp & veg tempura. We also got miso soup with that. It was very good.
Then a misty drive up the coast where we encountered surfers in a couple of places but, again, no views of the ocean. Oh, did I mention my friend had never seen the Pacific and the purpose of this route was for him to see it? We may as well have been in Maine in winter but with the water on the wrong side of the car.
Next stop, Twin Peaks, to give him his first view of San Francisco. Guess what? Low clouds and no view. This is a tour bus stop and it was funny watching all the tourists running to the railing to see if they could see anything (they couldn't) and then getting pictures of themselves taken with the fog behind them.
Next stop, Mission Dolores (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission_Dolores). We had to hurry through the basilica because a mass was scheduled but it's very beautiful, as is the original mission. There's an old cemetery next to the mission with graves from the late 1700s and into the late 1800s. It's not very big but they've planted lots of rose bushes and other plantings on the graves.
We had to drive through the Castro on the way to the Mission. It's been many years since I've been here and I was surprised at how many people there were. The district has spread much farther from where it was originally. You can tell by all the rainbow flags flying on the streets.
I also had to traverse some of San Francisco's infamous hills getting to Alamo Square where the iconic Painted Ladies are. I do not like stopping at the top, either at a stop sign or light. It's OK going down. But going up was a bit nerve-racking. My fear comes from the last time I drove here - it was in a standard.
We're staying in the Cow Hollow neighborhood. I don't think I'd ever heard of it before this trip. I knew Lombard St from driving it but had never stopped in the area. It's pretty cool. Lots of motels - tons of restaurants - and lots of activity. Unfortunately, there's a hill separating us from a view of the bay but it's still a cool SF view.
We had dinner at Barney's Gourmet Hamburgers (my friend was in a carnivorous mood). It was recommended by the desk clerk and was just around the corner. (http://www.barneyshamburgers.com/). They've been voted best Bay Area burgers for many years. I tried the chili (good). We shared a full order of fried onion rings & vegetables (very good). He had the Voodoo burger. I had the Big Barney's (very, very good, & messy). Also had a real milk shake (chocolate).
The weather the next 2 days is dicey. Latest says today might not be too bad after some rain passes through. (All the weather people are still freaking out about the weird weather pattern. It *never* rains in June!) Tomorrow is supposed to be rainy all day. Most of what we want to do is outdoors. At least our harbor cruise today should be dry. Alcatraz tomorrow will be wet. The only indoor item is a visit to the Asian Museum so that will be tomorrow. I was looking forward to sitting on the open deck of the tour bus. Oh well, we'll make the best of it.
At least Wednesday, when we drive north to Muir Woods and Bodega Bay, is supposed to be clear. We'll also tour the Castro that evening before catching a red-eye home.
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