The Traveling Hillbilly Get's Locked Up!

The Traveling Hillbilly has been to San Francisco many times.   Many times, I've tried to go to Alcatraz, but it's always sold out.  I was determined to go this time, and was smart enough to make reservations in advance.  For those who have never been, it is worth the trip.   Aside from getting the chance to see one of the most well known and mythical prisons, you get some of the best views of the city!

I also recommend the audio tour.  I don't normally like audio tours.  I find they tend to slow the tour down and provide a little too much information.  But this one was very interesting.   Who knew that many of the families of those who worked at the prison actually lived on the island?  I also did not know about the occupation of Alcatraz by a group of Indian tribes in 1969 and last for 19 months.   There were also close to 80 kids that lived on the island, right along with the prisoners.  We actually got to meet one of those kids, Ernest Lageson.   His dad was a guard at the prison and was one of the nine hostages taken in one of the most well know escape attempts.  The escape attempt failed but it turned into a 3 day siege at the prison which resulted in two dead guards and three dead prisoners.  The other three "escapees" where later tried in court, two were sentenced to death and died in the gas chamber a couple of years later and one was given a life sentence.  Aside from this drama,  Lageson claimed it was an idyllic life and was like living in a small town.  

Approaching the island from the ferry

Being inside the prison was actually a little eerie.  I can't image what life must have been like there or what it would be like in any prison for that matter.   The cells were so small, only 5 feet wide by 9 feet deep.  There was just enough room for a small cot, toilet and sink.  Each cell had one small shelf, along with a very small metal table and stool built into the wall.   The days and nights must have passed achingly slowly.  I think the most torturous things for the prisoners was knowing that the vibrant life in San Francisco was so close by.   From the island, the city looks so close and I can see why many prisoners thought they could just swim to freedom.

Elephant Seals? Is There Really Such a Thing?

After taking a few pictures in Pismo Beach, it’s back in the car to continue our journey.  As we drive along, I suddenly see a vista point with a sign that says elephant seals.   I have heard about this place and we decide to turn and see if we can actually see any seals.    Boy did we see seals!   They were everywhere and they were huge!   The whole beach was littered with seals, sleeping, playing and swimming.  It was a site to see!

As we are observing the seals and laughing at their odd but amusing behavior, a cloud rolls in.   Suddenly the blue sky is overcome by clouds and we no longer have our sunny blue skies.   We get back in the car with the hope we’ll turn a corner or two and be back in the sunshine.    But no such luck!  At about 4:30 the rain starts and about 4:45 it’s dark.   So much for our scenic drive!  We are now driving along the winding road, in the pitch dark, in the rain.    It becomes a true roller coaster ride and we know we are in for a long night ahead.

The Traveling Hillbilly Goes Road Trippin’

Back a few months ago, the Traveling Hillbilly got a “save the date” notice for a friend’s wedding.  This friend just happens to live in San Francisco, so I decided then and there to make this a road trip adventure.  My friend Jon and I hit the road the Thursday before the wedding and started the long drive up the coast.   As a lot of you know, the Traveling Hillbilly has done this drive before and highly recommends it.  It is such a beautiful, scenic drive.   It takes you through some of the most amazing scenery California has to offer. 

So off we go.  Unfortunately it’s cloudy and raining lightly as we head out of Los Angeles.  Our first stop is Mo’s Barbeque in Pismo Beach, a great place for a late lunch.  Yum!   It’s a little chilly but the clouds have gone and now there’s nothing but blue skies.   We just can’t wait to see the beautiful sunset to come in just a few short hours.  

Our adventure has truly begun!

The Big Chill - 21st Century

Some of my friends decided they wanted to spend their birthday with good friends by renting a house in Sonoma for a long weekend. So here we are, eight of us, renting this beautiful house in wine country. We all arrived late yesterday and we have a private wine tour scheduled for today. After introductions, a few cocktails and a very late dinner it was time to call it a night.

Ahhhh, a full night’s sleep. I can’t remember the last time I actually slept several hours in a row without waking up! The Traveling Hillbilly must admit it was nice to wake up in such a calm and peaceful place. It was time to put on the running shoes, grab the ipod and go exploring. There’s nothing like being on the road in the early morning hours when all is still quiet. A few good tunes, make it even better. It truly is one of the best ways to clear your head.

I think it’s going to be a great weekend. As someone said last night, it’s kind of like the movie, The Big Chill. Except we are here for a celebration. We’ll see if that holds true as the weekend progresses.

Do we have to leave?

While the Traveling Hillbilly’s long weekend in Northern California is not over, it is time to leave the Hotel Healdsburg and this lovely wine region. The Traveling Hillbilly is not ready to leave but it is time to head back to San Francisco for a night out with friends. Hopefully we can fit in a stop at Silver Oak before heading out!

Day 2 – A full day of wine tasting!

We decide to join a tour so we can truly enjoy a day of wine tasting without having to worry about driving. Wine tasting is no fun when only one person can truly indulge. We join Platypus tours which usually takes smaller groups and customizes the tour based on the group. Floyd, picks us up at the hotel at 10:30am and then it’s off to pick up two more people. We’ve completely lucked out, there are only going to be four of us on the tour for the day. Another plus of touring on a weekday. Turns out, the other two folks, Andy and Sarah, are a couple celebrating their 4 year anniversary.

The roads are winding, the van ride is bumpy and it turns out the Traveling Hillbilly is the only one on the tour who doesn’t have issues with getting car sick! Things start out pretty rough. For the first 30-40 minutes of the ride, it looked like it might get ugly and messy in the back of the van, but we stopped at our first winery before anyone tossed their cookies! Whew! The first stop, Alderbrook. The Traveling Hillbilly was disappointed in this winery as were the rest of the crew. We were all ready to head on to the next destination. We hopped in the van and headed off to Everett Ridge Winery. We all LOVED Everett Ridge. We got to sit outside with amazing views of the winery, while Ben, who has a true passion for the wines he serves, proceeded to allow us to sample at least 8 different wines! Floyd realizing we were all having a good time and might be staying for a while, stealthily disappeared only to reappear with a nice cheese tray for us to sample with our wines. We all loved Everett Ridge and each bought multiple bottles of wine! All in all it was an amazing place and Ben was key in making it a truly great experience! Thanks Ben!

Next up? We headed to De La Montanya for more tasting and a picnic lunch. While we were engrossed in our tasting, Floyd once again snuck away and started preparing a great little picnic lunch for us. We decided to buy a bottle of wine to enjoy with our lunch and all sat outside on this lovely spring day and indulged!

My friend and I really lucked out. Andy and Sarah were a really terrific couple and Floyd was pretty cool too. We all had a great time.

Next up, a cool little winery with a tasting room inside a cave, Bella Vineyards & Wine Caves. Here, thanks to Sarah’s inquisitive and outspoken nature, we actually got to sample some wine right out of the barrel. While we were checking the cave out, we stumbled upon a man, taking some wine out the barrels to test the taste. Sarah asked him what he was doing and when he told her he was do a taste test, she asked if we could try some too! He politely obliged the request and proceeded to tell us about their wine making process. Little did we know until later, he was actually one of the owners of the winery. Thanks Sarah for making this a little more unique experience for all of us!

The last stop, Raymond Burr Vineyards. Here we got to taste some wine, play with Lucy (a cute and hyper little pup) and have our picture taken holding Raymond’s Emmys. It was a fairly quick stop and the Traveling Hillbilly has to admit, after an afternoon of wine tasting, this last stop is a little fuzzy

Hotel Healdsburg – Day 1

We arrive at the hotel minutes before our spa appointments. We don’t even have time to check in. We pull up to the hotel and tell the valet we’re staying at the hotel, but will have to check in after our spa appointments. He kindly tells us he’ll take our luggage to the room and it will be waiting for us whenever we’re ready. First impression of The Hotel Healdsburg? What great service.

What about those spa appointments? All the Traveling Hillbilly can say is aaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Second impression of the Hotel Healdsburg? What great service.

After a relaxing couple of hours at the spa, it’s time to officially check in to the hotel and get ready for dinner. The room is really large for a hotel room. The bathroom is the biggest the Traveling Hillbilly has ever seen in a hotel. The bathroom is probably the size of the Traveling Hillbilly’s guestroom!

We have reservations at the hotel restaurant, The Dry Creek Kitchen, a Charlie Palmer restaurant. The dinner was fabulous. The food was delicious, the wine was top notch (cheers to the Sommelier for a great reco) and the service was great. Third impression of the Hotel Healdsburg? What great service. Are y’all starting to see a pattern here? The Traveling Hillbilly highly recommends the Hotel Healdsburg.

P.S. You must try the Guiness Ice Cream. Yum! Yum! Yum!

Getting Arrested in Sonoma?

Turns out my friend is looking for a rental for the summer in the area, so next stop is a house on the potential list. We stop at this amazing house in the heart of Sonoma. We go inside and quickly try to disarm the alarm. Suddenly the alarm goes off and we panic assuming we’re sure to be arrested any moment. Luckily we get a hold of the owner and are able to disarm the alarm. Whhhheeeeewwwwwww! Close call. Time to get back on the road.

The second house was actually located on a vineyard and the Traveling Hillbilly considered it to be more of an estate than a house! It had absolutely stunning grounds with a little brook running through it. As you enter the main gait, there’s a “geese crossing” sign. The landscape was truly stunning.

My friend is going to have a tough decision choosing. Both houses were amazing.

Wine Tasting in Northern California

So the Traveling Hillbilly decides to meet up with a friend in San Francisco for a weekend of wine tasting up north. First on the list is a stop at Domain Caneros, a recommendation from a co-worker that has wonderful sparkling wines. It turns out to be a great recommendation. We sit outside on a fabulous sunny day and have a flight of delicious sparkling wines. The Traveling Hillbilly ponders if life can get any better!

A Perfect Sunday

So far, our day was great but it turned out it was about to get even better. We heard from some other friends of ours as well. We had hoped to meet up with them while we were here as well but did not think it was going to work out.

After lots of phone tag and texting, we had a plan. We decided to meet up and wander through the Haight street festival. Apparently each of the neighborhoods hosts a street festival during the summer. There was one in both the North Beach and Haight neighborhoods today. Sounded like a great San Francisco experience. The streets were crowded and quite and interesting crowd it was. We wandered around for a bit and then decided to rest in the park.

Turns out we sat in the park for most of the day and just hung out. At first the Traveling Hillbilly was thinking, “we could be doing this, or that, we should go somewhere, do something.” Then I stopped for a moment and thought to myself, when was the last time you just hung out? I realized it had been a very long time. Here I was in San Francisco, hanging out with some really good friends and just enjoying a Sunday afternoon. The six of us just sat in the park, caught up with each other for the whole afternoon. The Traveling Hillbilly could not think of a better way to spend the final day in San Fran!

Not So Early To Rise

As I mentioned in my last post, we met up with some friends for a night out. What a night we had. We started at the hotel with a quick drink before heading out for a late dinner. There are so many great restaurants in this town. The Traveling Hillbilly has yet to have a bad meal here.

We just hung out until late into the night, drinking, sharing stories and laughing until our sides hurt. It truly was a fun evening. It made me realize how much I miss my friends. I miss having them in Los Angeles and being able to see them often.

After the late night last night, neither of us was eager to jump up and start the day right away. The Traveling Hillbilly even slept until 9am! We got a bit of a late start but it turned out to be one great day.

We headed down to the Ferry Building to grab some coffee from the Blue Bottle. They have a great New Orleans iced coffee our friends had told us about the night before. They were right the Traveling Hillbilly enjoyed the brew!

We got a text from our friends (who also got a late start) and decided we’d all meet up for a late breakfast. We wandered around the ferry building for a bit while waiting for them to join us and decided to have a drink at the Slanted Door while we waited. Jon had a very spicy but delicious Bloody Mary, while I had some champagne. Having a drink early in the day without feeling guilty is just one more reason the Traveling Hillbilly loves to travel!

Our friends met us at the Slanted Door and then we headed over to the Market Street Café for breakfast. We were a little disappointed in the breakfast there, but it was such a beautiful day we couldn’t help but enjoy ourselves. Sitting outside, on the water, when it’s sunny and just under 70 degrees, you can’t help but enjoy yourself.

Running into an Ex - Awkward

First, the Traveling Hillbilly has to give a shout out to Le Meridien, San Francisco. As always, they truly deliver on service. The Traveling Hillbilly has stayed at Le Meridien’s around the world and they always have great locations (except in Hong Kong) and provide truly great service.

We pleased to discover that despite our last minute notice, our friends are available to hang out. We are in the elevator going down to meet them in the hotel bar for a drink when the elevator stops, the doors open and in steps in a couple. One of who looks amazingly familiar. Sure enough, it turns out to an ex of the Traveling Hillbilly. Now I won’t bore you all with all the details, suffice it to say this is the one person, the Traveling Hillbilly has always felt was owed an apology. One I planned to give if we ever ran into each other. We both live in Los Angeles and have never run into each other, so I have never had the opportunity. Now suddenly we come face to face in an elevator in San Francisco. Awkward and not really an appropriate situation to apologize. Wow. It really is a small world.

After a few moments of awkward chit chat, we meet our friends and start our evening. Let’s just say a fun time was had by all.

Day 2 - This Is Living

We hit the road before 8am. We make a quick stop for coffee, at the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, of course. We’re on our way. What a truly beautiful drive. Now a lot of you know the Traveling Hillbilly did this drive just under a year ago but I have to say, it’s still just as awe inspiring the second time around. It’s amazing we have such beauty so close to us.

Of course, like typical Californian’s we’re dressed like we’re in the middle of winter in Chicago, with our heated seats on and the top down!

We stop for some fresh strawberries along the way at this little stand that just has a box for you to drop your money in. It’s nice to know there are places where you can still be on the “honor” system. After a few hours in the car, we decide to stop for breakfast. We went to a fabulous place called the Big Sky Café in San Luis Obispo. It’s at 1121 Broad Street and the Traveling Hillbilly highly recommends it!

We stopped at several vista points to take some photos. One of which, had a hundred squirrels running around. I guess people have been feeding them so the moment we stepped out of the car, they came running up to us begging for food. One guy was letting them crawl all over him. It was a almost creepy, like a scene from a horror movie, Squirrels Gone Wild. But they were cute and there were a bunch of little baby squirrels running around and so close to the beach.

We decided to hike in Big Sur and go see the waterfall at Julia Pfieffer State Park. Jon had found a great site, www.hikinginbigsur.com and it listed it as a must see. I wouldn’t really call it a hike though. It was more of a walk, but well worth the time. Add one more to the list of amazing things to see along this most scenic drive.

Day 2 - Early To Rise

Before crashing last night, we decided we wanted to get an early start and agreed to rise at 7am. After finishing a bottle of wine on the beach, the Traveling Hillbilly was not sure how realistic that was. However, here it is 6am and I’m already wide awake and ready for the day.

For the first time in weeks, I actually slept through the night. I got a whole six hours of sleep! Maybe by the end of this trip, I’ll actually be able to sleep for eight whole hours in a row vs. 2-3 hour increments.

I’m ready to hit the road, if only my friend were as eager to get going. The alarm should be going off very soon.

Let the Road Trip Begin

It’s been way too long since the Traveling Hillbilly has actually been traveling. It was time to get the heck out of Dodge. My friend felt the same way. So we decided to take a road trip.

Why not, load up the Jeep and hit Highway 1 for the scenic drive up the coast? We could say hi to some friends in San Francisco, stop for a hike in Big Sur or Monterey and maybe even do a little wine tasting in Sonoma. Who knows where our adventure might take it us.

Knowing we had a long drive up the coast and wanted to do it at a leisurely pace, with some stops along the way, we decided to knock a couple hours of the drive and hit the road Friday night, after traffic of course. Traffic was surprising light, as we headed up the 101 to Santa Barbara. We arrived at cute little place called the Hotel Marmonte, www.hotelmaramnte.com and checked in for the night. Our adventure has begun.

We grabbed a bottle of wine, headed down to the beach and listened to the waves crash. Now as a lot of you know, the Traveling Hillbilly is somewhat frightened by the ocean. We all know what an angry beast she can be, so I must admit sitting on the beach late at night is not exactly the Traveling Hillbilly’s idea of relaxation. I kept a close eye on the water as the tide rolled in, my fear rising as each crashing wave grew just a little bit closer. Did the tide pull way back suddenly? Was a wave going to suddenly come crashing over us and pull us in? The wine helped in keeping these random thoughts at bay.

We sat, we talked and we sipped our wine, feeling so far away from the hectic pace of, what has been our life for the last several weeks. Despite the constant fear of being sucked into the deep dark ocean at any moment, the Traveling Hillbilly was having a good time.

It was time to head back to the hotel and get some rest. We know we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow.