Friday morning, we asked for late checkout at the
Holiday Inn Fisherman's Wharf, then walked over to Pier 33 where our
Alcatraz cruise would depart. I pre-purchased tickets
online, highly recommended as they sell out days in advance. Kaleb and I had tried to go to Alcatraz
last year with Jarrett and Kate but they were sold out.
We got breakfast nearby at the
Alcatraz Landing Cafe; it wasn't the best but it was edible. They were having some funky electrical issues that morning with the lights randomly turning on and off. Sorry, no pictures of our grub.
Kaleb and I had visited Alcatraz
a few years ago, so I didn't take as many pictures this time, but at least I was able to get a spherical photo in, now that I have the
Ricoh Theta S. (FYI: there is a new 360 camera out now, the
Ricoh Theta V. It can shoot 4K video and has omnidirection audio!)
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| view from the Bay Bridge to the City... |
|
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| ...to Golden Gate Bridge and the Marin area |
|
360 photo on Alcatraz, taken with the
Ricoh Theta S:
Alcatraz - Spherical Image - RICOH THETA
After our cruise, we walked back to the hotel, checked out and headed to Muir Woods.
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| complimentary fruit water in the hotel lobby |
Kaleb and I came here with Jarrett and Kate last year so I didn't take as many pictures.
360 photo on one of the trails:
Muir Woods trail - Spherical Image - RICOH THETA
A 360 photo of Kaleb taking a photo of Gerry and Sue inside the hollow tree:
Muir Woods - Spherical Image - RICOH THETA
After our visit, we had dinner at
Buckeye Roadhouse in Mill Valley. Reservations were made through
Yelp. It wasn't busy when we got there at 5:30pm, but it was a full house within a couple of hours.
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| menu |
|
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| complimentary bread on request |
|
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| crispy onion rings |
|
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| flat iron steak |
|
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| glazed quail |
|
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| s'more pie |
|
After dinner, we drove to San Rafael and checked into the
Embassy Suites. I redeemed
Hilton Honors points for two suites. Complimentary bottled water and snacks were in the rooms, a benefit of staying at Embassy Suites as a
Diamond member since breakfast was already included. FYI: I had gotten that status not from staying so many nights, but from
matching my IHG Platinum status. (obtained by having the
IHG credit card)
Another FYI: I collected many Hilton Honors points through sign-up bonuses on the
no-annual-fee Hilton and
Hilton Surpass AMEX cards, and also purchasing points at a discount on the
Daily Getaways site when they were offered a few years ago.
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| the usual Embassy Suites atrium |
|
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| suite living room |
|
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| sink, fridge, coffee/tea maker, microwave |
|
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| complimentary Diamond snacks |
|
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| decent sized bathroom |
|
|
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| inside the bedroom |
|
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| comfortable king bed |
|
On Saturday morning, we enjoyed a complimentary hot breakfast in the atrium. You could get an omelette cooked to order, but I stuck with the buffet offerings as I was still full from last night's dinner.
Then we were off to Napa Valley! Our first stop was the
Castello di Amorosa, located between St. Helena and Calistoga. The last time I had been here was at a
company party with my cousin Sheri many years ago. There was no availability for the guided tour, so we just walked around the grounds and explored the public parts of the castle.
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| watching a video about the castle |
|
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| complimentary oil and vinegar tasting |
|
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| Great Hall |
Our next stop was to
V. Sattui winery for lunch and wine tasting.
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| the pizza was pretty good |
|
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| bought bottles of wine afterwards |
|
We felt tired from all the traveling so we decided to end our Napa tour and head home.
After a day of recuperation, we continued sightseeing by heading out to
Gold Country. Lunch was at
Old Town Grill in Placerville...pretty good.
Sue and Gerry did some souvenir shopping at
Placerville Hardware, the oldest general store west of the Mississippi.
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| the store had practically everything (part of it shown here) |
Afterwards, we drove to
Marshall Gold Discovery State Park to visit the museum and check out a replica of
Sutter's Mill.
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| pretty empty on a Monday afternoon |
|
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| there's gold in them thar hills |
|
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| replica of Sutter's Mill |
The following day, we headed down to
Old Sacramento. Lunch was at
Fanny Ann's Saloon. There were lots of interesting memorabilia all over the walls on every floor of the place. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures, but the food was good.
After lunch, we visited the
Sacramento History Museum and the
California State Railroad Museum. I only took a few pictures at the history museum as I had been to the railroad museum before.
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| old Sac Bee printing press |
|
|
We then got some frozen yogurt at
Boxcar Eats; it really hit the spot.
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| Old Sac is great for playing Pokemon Go |
The rest of the week was spent visiting local areas such as the
Folsom Prison Museum,
Historic Folsom, and
Folsom Lake.
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| the prison is technically a bed and breakfast... |
|
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| animatronic Folsom Prison inmate |
|
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| museum display of inmate crafts |
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| Rainbow Bridge |
|
|
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| sunset at Folsom Lake |
It's nice to have out-of-town visitors since it gets us to explore the local surroundings. Funny how one can live in an area for many years and not have gone to places that tourists go.
Speaking of local places that I've never explored, next up is a weekend trip to Oakland - meeting with an out-of-town visitor to watch the Giants play the A's. Stay tuned!
Missed the first half of the road trip? Click here.
***
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Another disclaimer: The intention of this blog was to remind Future Me in full detail about where I went and what I did. I could have made it private, but I frequently get questions from family, friends and internet folks about how I planned things, got deals, etc., so instead of repeating the story over and over, I direct them here. If you are offended by anything I say or do, save yourself the discomfort and kindly click away from my blog. Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day!
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