Route 66 Day Twenty Three
July 4, 2009
San Francisco – Manchester, UK
Today is the last day of our trip so we get ready, make sure everything is packed and go for one last walk around the bay.
After we check out we drive over to the airport, hand the car back to the rental company and then get the airtram over to the international terminal, after we check in we get something to eat, spend our remaining change on sweets and then wait for our plane.
We board the plane and take off, I pass the time by watching three movies (The boat that rocked, Lesbian Vampire Killers and Fired Up) along with TV shows such as Free radio, Flight of the Conchords and Being Human.
We land at London Heathrow the next morning on the Sunday (5th July) and then wait for our internal flight back to Manchester.
Route 66 Day Twenty Two
July 3, 2009
San Francisco
Got up and went out a bit later than normal but we wanted to relax a bit as it was the penultimate day of our holiday.
When we went out we got a bowl of clam chowder for brunch which was served in a sourdough bread bowl. It tasted ok but I think it could have been better. We then walked around the area for a while until it was time for us to board our boat to go across to Alcatraz.
We departed from Pier 33 which was about a five minute walk from the main Fisherman’s Wharf area.
The ferry journey was short ride until we reached the island, but was very windy so sprayed a lot of waves over the front of the ship.
When we docked we had to listen to a short orientation speech about the island and it’s history before we could carry on.
To get to the jail cells you needed to walk up the steep roads until you made it to the top. Here you were given the audio tour earphones and entered the cell house.
The audio that you listened to guided you around telling you who stayed in that cell, what you did for lunch, etc. it was quite interesting. Once thing I do not agree with though is the mythology, some my even say admiration people have for the prisoners who escaped from the island or people like Robert Stroud (the Birdman of Alcatraz). At the end of the day these people were nasty pieces of work, some of them even cold blooded murderers who deserved to be locked up in such a desolate place. I was glad to see a memorial in one cell for a guard who had been killed there when he foiled an escape attempt.
After touring the cell block the audio part of the tour came to an end so we were free to explore where we wished. We went out to the yard and it was so windy there it almost blew you off your feet.
We then walked around a bit more visiting the gardens, museum, morgue, pretty much everywhere we were able to go until we had nowhere else. So we walked back down to the docks waited for a while and then boarded the ferry back to Fisherman’s Wharf.
After spending a few minutes back at the hotel we decided to go for a walk to Chinatown which was not too far away. We saw loads of oriental shops and restaurants there (what else would you expect). We then walked back over to Fisherman’s Wharf where we stupidly had a meal at Johnny Rockets, not only was the food very over priced it tasted bloody awful and the service was dreadful.
We bought some last minute souvenirs and gifts and went back to our hotel to pack for our trip home tomorrow.
Route 66 Day Twenty One
July 2, 2009
Monterey – San Francisco
This seems to be a very repetitive routine now but got up and went down for breakfast, same things as usual; bagel with cream cheese and a bowl of cereal.
After we check out we head over to the Monterey Bay Aquarium which is just a couple of miles down the road. I could not believe the price of the tickets; $30 each, I was expecting them to be a maximum of $20 each. I don’t mind the high price if I felt I was getting value for money but all the aquarium had was some otter pools, one tank with a couple of sharks and a big room full of kelp (yes I know there was more but they were the first things that came to my head when I was typing this).
After we finished in the aquarium we walked along the main street out side looking for somewhere to eat, we decided on a place called Bushwhacked and went in for fish and chips.
After we left Monterey we followed the Pacific Coast Highway north again all the way to San Francisco. As soon as we arrived within the outskirts of the city the traffic became really bad it it took ages to go those last few miles to the hotel.
We were staying at the Holiday Inn Fishermans Wharf, the same place we did a few years ago, it is a good hotel in a great location. After we un pack we go for a walk around all the tourist shops and down to pier 39 before going to In n’ Out for our dinner.
We take it back to the room and settle in for the night.
Route 66 Day Twenty
July 1, 2009
Santa Monica – Monterey
Went down for breakfast this morning before we checked out, Sarah had the eggs Benedict again and I had steak and eggs in a wrap that was bloody awful.
After breakfast we go out for a quick walk to get our official photos at the end of Route 66, first we go to the Will Rogers marker at the end of Santa Monica Blvd (although the official end of 66 is Lincoln and Olympic a few streets away), as well as a sign on the tourist information centre on Ocean Ave.
When we check out of the hotel I notice that they have added of over $70 of extra charges to my bill, as you can imagine I am not very happy about it, they sorted it out but I did not get an apology which I felt I deserved.
We leave Santa Monica and head up the coast, we make our first stop in Malibu and get an ice cream at their local shopping mall and who do we see sitting on a bench there, Brent Spiner, the man that plays Data in Star Trek.
We then continued up the Pacific Coast Highway until we got to Monterey, along the way we passed a number of scenic stops where we had a great view of the sea as well as in one place a group of elephant seals.
In Monterey we checked into the Holiday Inn Express and then went and got something to eat at the Great Wall Chinese restaurant before going back to the hotel and settling in for the night.
