OffTheHoox.com

One stop along the way down the ever scenic Californian coastline was Cayucos, CA. It’s a small town with a little old pier and a nice looking beach. But that’s not the emphasis of this story! It’s all about the food!

Without knowing where to eat and not having any recommendations, I think we has humans tend to go for what looks the nicest (or cheapest, or particular style of food) in the hope to get what we are looking for. This place caught my eye. It looked old, rustic and so full of character and history that it was definitely worth a shot. We sat upstairs, outside on the porch which was incredible. So chilled!

The place: Schooners Wharf, Cayucos, CA

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Today was a bit of a lethargic start to the day. I had dropped laundry off at a wishy washy spot across from the hotel yesterday and begged and pleaded for it to be ready for 9am this morning as we were wanting to set out early. Whatever! We have never set out early unless it was damn well necessary like going ballooning or we were just damn frustrated and annoyed and uncomfortable like in Yosemite. Today was no different. I set an alarm and I then I switched it off again. Pangs of guilt was the only thing that got me out of bed and to the laundry before 10am.

“Breakfast” consisted of 3 portions of mixed Dim Sums, a combination Chow Mein and green tea. Yes, we were in Chinatown and yes we had ordered too much. That has not been uncommon this trip thanks to B.

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Alcatraz, as most know, is the most notorious maximum security prison 1 mile out in the bay of San Francisco. I won’t go into great detail of the history and so forth but if you want to read more about it on Wiki click HERE. For prisoners, an absolute hell. For tourists, an absolute must.

The ferry ride is relatively inexpensive and takes only 12 minutes to get there. Booking ahead of time is highly recommended. Just ask those people ahead of us who were sent to back of the line as standby. It gets busy. It’s a very pleasant boat ride out there with great views of the city.

Once you are on the island it is a completely different story. They have laid out the tours so well that you actually get made to feel like a prisoner and hear and sense some of the things that went on there. The audio tour is incredible.

There is not a lot more to say about the island other than it is well worth the visit and an incredibly interesting day out. Even with a million school kids!

One thing that kept going through my mind was: “It sure does look a WHOLE lot bigger in the movies!”

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After a very rude awakening at Yosemite we kinda jut decided to hit the road and head directly for Frisco Bay. It didn’t really take as long as I expected. I was driving merrily down the Interstate when I recalled, “Damn, I know someone in San Fran!” I mean really, my company’s head office is in San Francisco. So we were on the blower and making arrangements for lunch. Done and dusted, 1pm. That’s when it hit me. I haven’t showered in 2 days and I must stink. I haven’t shaved in a days. Great, meeting work colleagues in this state is a wonderful way to introduce yourself. Need to stop. Need a shower.

We called the hotel where we had made reservations 20 mins before asking when we could check in. Only after 3PM? Damn. Need a shower. Need to shave. GPS. “Find my nearest”, “Lodging”, results: “Motel 6, 1 mile”. Done. One mile down the road we pull into this Motel 6 and ask for a room for 30 minutes. You should have seen the look on this guy’s face.

Dude: 30 mins sir?
Hoox: Yes
Dude: Are you sure?
Hoox: I have been driving for 2 days. I have a meeting in San Francisco. I need a shower.
Dude: Ok well I am going to have to charge you for a night
Hoox: Ok
Dude: Are you sure?
Hoox: Yes. Can you please just check me in. I need a shower.
Dude: Is it for both of you?
Hoox: Yes
Dude: That’s a double rate
Hoox: Ok
Dude: Do you want a double or a twin room?
Hoox: Just a damn shower. No beds will be fine!
Dude: We don’t have rooms without beds.
Hoox: Ok. Give me ANY room that is available now and that has a shower.
Dude: Ok.
<He then goes on to explain to a trainee how the system works>
Hoox: Listen, take my card. Can you please just give me a key and fill in everything while I’m taking a shower?
Dude: Ok.
<I get a key>
Hoox: THANK YOU!

Of course this dude was thinking, “Yeah right, he just wants a shower. Hmmm”

We get on the road again after 25 minutes and checking out. Now it’s only maybe one hour into town. Driving around San Fran is quite something. Loads of one ways and pedestrian crossings and taxis and busses and NO FRIKKIN PARKING! It took us just as long to find parking near where we needed to go as it did to get there in the first place. Finally parked the car and walked a few blocks back to the building where we had to be.

We had a great lunch with a guy I worked with out in Iraq but we had never actually met before due to security restrictions on transportation etc. We had only ever spoken online or on the phone. It was really kewl to catch up. B must have been so bored listen to our war stories. Cheers Kev. Great finally meeting you!

After lunch we hit the hotel, checked in and passed out for a nice siesta. For dinner we went to a highly recommended seafood restaurant called Tadich Grill, a Croatian family owned (for 4 generations) place that was established in 1849. The service was impeccable, food was outstanding and the bill, well the bill was to be expected. It’s ok to pay for good food! Saying that though it wasn’t all too expensive.

Back to the hotel and to sleep. It was late and we had an early up in the morning. We had a city to visit. The tourists have arrived.

I have not had much of a chance to take photos during the day because of our running around but below are some that I did manage to take during some sightseeing and long walks at night.

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Yosemite National Park was fun. All 6 hours of it. But I will get to that later. More impressive was the Texas Cattle Co restaurant we found in the middle of a little town called Ridgecrest (which for the life of me I kept thinking B was calling Witch Craft). I wanted a meal and would have been happy with a burger, until we found this place. We slammed on breaks and parked up. It was time for a meal, Texas style.

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Somewhere between Barstow and somewhere else. A stop that I had to make and I am so very glad that we did.

Johannesburg. And Randsburg. Directly out of the history pages. It was amazing.

A little known fact:

There is a little town in California named Johannesburg and directly next to it 1 mile down the road is another little town called Randsburg. Coincidence? Actually no. Johannesburg, CA was named after Johannesburg, South Africa by some eager prospectors that had been in SA for the gold rush and had returned to California on hearing of the discovery of gold there. See some of the street names I have taken pictures of.

What I find the most amusing about the whole thing is that it due to it’s location it is known as, Johannesburg, CA - Gateway to Death Valley! Foresight?

Johannesburg is old Western ghost town, with only 100 current inhabitants. Gold was discovered here in 1894 and was the third largest discovery in the US. There is still an active mine producing lots of gold daily. ~GoNomad.com

I have taken heaps of pictures of both Johannesburg and Randsburg so please be warned for all those bandwidth cautious people, it could take a while to open. I have put a couple before the “(Click for more)” this time just in case. You see? How considerate am I?

Again, and it goes for all the pictures, if you want an original full size then please just let me know and I can mail it to you.

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2nd and last warning - 51 pics below

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I’m not entirely sure when it was that we hit the Californian state line but when we did, I don’t remember going whooppee.. It was pretty uneventful I guess. Oh look, there’s a sign. But then again, what’s there to expect? Dancing girls? Red carpets? Free beer? Schwarzenegger waving us through offering us free drinks at Planet Hollywood? Nope. It was just another really long stretch of motorway that had to be traveled before we could move on to the next exciting bit of the journey.

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We were done with the ballooning at around midday so we shot off to this little diner up on the hill overlooking Monument Valley for lunch. It is said that the little museum there used to be John Wayne’s office while filming many western movies in the area. The big idea for us was being able to sit down, grab the maps and plot the next stage.

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1AM is early in any language, in any part of this wonderful planet. It’s frikkin early. No matter how many times you have done it and no matter what time you go to bed the night before, when that alarm goes off it feels as though you have merely blinked. It’s painful but there was no time to waste. We had to get up.

After fumbling around, getting stuff thrown back into suitcases and other gizmos and gadgets packed away, we loaded it all into the car. It was almost 2am. I had a call to make. HAPPY BIRTHDAY KT! I hope you had a great day and a lovely time with your friends and family. While I was on the phone 5 drunk youngsters stumbled past slurring and yelling profanities at each other while trying to make their way home. Thank God I was never like that when I was young!

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Needs no explanation.

Something I have always wanted to do.

Call it “Too many movies”