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Martin and I landed in San Diego, California on Friday, December 4th at 11:30am! Both more than ready for a nice long vacation, we collected our bags and immediately hit up the Denny's for breakfast! I know...how romantic!?! But we were still sleep deprived from the wedding extravaganza and needed fuel because the next 18 days were going to be jammed pack! Our goal was to drive up one side of California, then back down the other before Christmas!
Two days in San Diego: We took a drive across the Coronado-San Diego Bay Bridge, which was breath taking by the way, and spent a few hours walking the beach in front of the Coronado Beach Hotel. The good thing about being so close to a Naval Base is the free air show! We did a bit of plane watching and then enjoyed a very yummy dinner at Casa de Pico where, I of course, had a BIG margarita! The next day we spent the entire morning and afternoon at the San Diego Zoo. Martin and I love zoos! We've been to over 15 since we started dating, so the San Diego Zoo was a highlight for us! The weather was perfect and the surroundings gorgeous! Later that night we attended the December Nights Festival at Balboa Park. All of the museums, including the Natural History Museum, the Museum of Photographic Arts, The Old Globe, and the Botanical Building opened their doors for a huge food and wine Christmas Celebration! It was fabulous, albeit a bit crowded, as the news that evening said 200,000 people were expected to attend!
The next morning was early to rise as we hit the road on our way to Los Angeles. En route we stopped at La Jolla and visited The Children's Pool, which is the famous beach where over 200 seals have taken up home! The beach was beautiful; rocky with huge waves crashing in! We couldn't stay there forever however, after all, Hollywood was calling, so we took off in our rental and donned the over sized sunglasses as we came into L.A.
Our one full day in L.A. was the one day of the year it decided to rain in California! We joined a Hollywood Bus Tour which, despite the pouring rain, took us everywhere from Hollywood Boulevard to China Town to Snoop Dog's house. The celebrity home portion was my favorite part but I don't think Martin was impressed! We lucked out and were dropped off at Graumann's Chinese Theatre just when Robert Downey Jr. was receiving his Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. So we shook his hand and tallied off our star spotting score. Onto the Hollywood Sign, Muholland Drive, Fox Studios, Rodeo Drive, the Sunset Strip, and Santa Monica Pier. It was a long but exciting day! The next morning we went back to Hollywood Boulevard so I could check out the Kodak Theatre and NOT get rained on while I pretended to walk the red carpet in my invisible Oscar dress! Lunch at the Disney Soda Fountain fueled us up for the long drive to San Francisco!
San Francisco was a bit chilly, but that didn't keep us from driving across the Golden Gate Bridge and spending half a day on Alcatraz Island. The prison was cold and eerie, but incredibly interesting. That evening we strolled along Fisherman's Wharf and had dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe on Pier 39. A side note here: Martin and I love HRC and try to eat at one every time we take a trip somewhere. We started a pin collection on our Honeymoon and are already up to 4!
We finished off San Fran by taking a self guided tour which included Ghiradelli Square (yummmmm chocolate), Union Square, Geary Street, Lombard Street, Alamo Square and Postcard Row. Driving through the streets of San Francisco is nothing short of a challenge, which is why I stayed in the passenger seat and pointed out all the pretty sights to Martin! :)
On Friday we took to the road again, this time on our way up to Lake Tahoe, but we chose the long way around and drove through Napa Valley. We enjoyed a bit of wine tasting on our tour through Beringer Vineyards. I was in pure heaven! The Vineyard was beyond beautiful and the wine scrumptious! Martin isn't a wine drinker, but he really enjoyed learning the wine-making process and the beautiful grounds. I finally got him to try a few sips of a couple of different wines and he was surprised at how yummy they were and ended up stealing my glass!
A huge snow storm hit the area that night, so we had a very interesting drive up to Tahoe. Snow chains were required and it was slow going, but the sights were well worth it! We spent the first day in Lake Tahoe just relaxing and catching up on sleep since we had been going non-stop from the moment we landed in Cali. Our hotel, 968 Park, was fabulous! After a day of doing absolutely nothing and loving it, we were rested up and ready to hit the slopes! We spent our first ski day at Sierra where I took a beginners class and Martin decided to try snowboarding. I was so proud of myself, never falling, not even once! I ate my words the next day though! This time we up to Heavenly and I spent 90% of the time face first in the snow. I'm not kidding! I eventually gave up and just rode the gondola back and forth while Martin hit the difficult slopes and practically looked like a professional. This is where growing up in Sweden really pays off!
Over the next 2 days we drove south, heading for Vegas! We stopped at King's Canyon National Park and walked the Grant Hiking Trail amongst the Giant Sequoias then had a picnic in the snow!
Las Vegas! You can see it coming from miles away and I must say, it lived up to all of the hype! We arrived late at night, so we familiarized ourselves with the hotel and then headed off to catch some zzzzzs. We stayed a bit off The Strip at Southpoint, but our room was amazing and huge! The hotel had everything, including a bowling alley, movie theatre and the biggest, best buffet I've ever seen in my whole life. I had to convince Martin to eat there, but once he saw everything it had to offer his eyes lit up and I bet he went back up to the food 10 times! That afternoon we walked The Strip and saw all the famous sights, including the "Welcome to Las Vegas" sign, the Bellagio Fountains (which put on a Christmas Show and were AMAZING!), Treasure Island, Coyote Ugly, the gondolas at The Venetian, Margaritaville and the MGM Grand (which had a really cool lion habitat). We had tickets to KA by Cirque Du Solei that night and enjoyed it immensely. After the show we did what everyone goes to Vegas to do, GAMBLE!!! We won a bit, then lost a bit, then won a bit more, had a midnight snack back at the hotel and then tried out the gambling there too! As with everyone in Vegas, we kind of lost track of time and it feels as though we gambled the next three days! I know somewhere in there we did head over to the Hoover Dam and enjoyed another meal at that wonderful (and now Martin's favorite) buffet!
And so, our Honeymoon came to an end and they forced us to return the rental car and board the airplane back home. It was a fabulous trip. A once in a lifetime experience!
