California's Best Trips 2 - Full PDF eBook

claptrap, it’s worth

strolling down to step

inside the mesmerizing

Monterey Bay Aquarium

(%tickets 866-963-9645;

http://www.montereybayaquarium.

org; 886 Cannery Row; adult/

child $33/20; h10am-5pm or

6pm daily, extended summer

hr; Wc), inhabiting

a converted sardine

cannery on the shores

of a national marine

sanctuary. All kinds of

aquatic denizens swim

in giant tanks here, from

sea stars to pot-bellied

seahorses and comical

sea otters. Afterwards,

explore historic Old

Monterey on our self-

guided walking tour (see

p176).

5 p47

The Drive » It’s a relatively

quick 45-mile trip north to Santa

Cruz. Hwy 1 traces the crescent

shoreline of Monterey Bay,

passing Elkhorn Slough wildlife

refuge near Moss Landing boat

harbor, Watsonville’s strawberry

and artichoke farms, and a

string of tiny beach towns in

Santa Cruz County.

9 Santa Cruz

Here, the flower power

of the 1960s lives on,

and bumper stickers on

surfboard-laden woodies

shout, ‘Keep Santa

Cruz weird.’ Next to the

ocean, Santa Cruz Beach

Boardwalk (%831-423-

5590; http://www.beachboardwalk.

com; 400 Beach St; admission

free, rides $3-5; hseasonal

schedules vary, call for hr; c)

has a glorious old-school

Americana vibe and a

1911 Looff carousel. Its

fun-for-all atmosphere

is punctuated by squeals

from nervous nellies on

the stomach-turning

Giant Dipper, a 1920s

wooden roller coaster

that’s a national historic

landmark, as seen in

the vampire cult-classic

movie The Lost Boys.

A kitschy, old-

fashioned tourist trap,

the Mystery Spot

(%831-423-8897; http://www.

mysteryspot.com; 465 Mystery

Spot Rd; admission $5, parking

$5; hdaily, hr vary; c)

makes compasses point

crazily, while mysterious

forces push you around

and buildings lean at

odd angles; call for

directions, opening hours

and tour reservations.

4 p47

The Drive » It’s a blissful

75-mile coastal run from Santa

Cruz up to San Francisco

past Pescadero, Half Moon

Bay and Pacifica, where Hwy

1 encounters washout-prone

Devil’s Slide (see p161). Merge

with heavy freeway traffic in

Daly City, staying on Hwy 1 north

through the city into Golden

Gate Park.

a San Francisco

Gridlock may shock your

system after hundreds

of lazy miles of wide-

open, rolling coast. But

don’t despair. Hwy 1

runs straight through

the city’s biggest, most

breathable greenspace:

Golden Gate Park (www.

golden-gate-park.com;

admission free; c#). You

could easily spend all

day in the conservatory

of flowers, arboretum

TRIP HIGHLIGHT

Start: a San Francisco

A rough-hewn beauty, Point Reyes National

Seashore (www.nps.gov/pore; admission free; hsunrise-

midnight; c) lures marine mammals and birds, as well

as scores of shipwrecks. It was here that Sir Francis

Drake repaired his ship the Golden Hind in 1579 and,

while he was at it, claimed the indigenous land for

England. Follow Sir Francis Drake Blvd west out to

the point’s edge-of-the-world lighthouse, whipped by

ferocious winds, where you can observe migrating

whales in winter. The lighthouse is about 10 miles

west of Point Reyes Station off Hwy 1 along the Marin

County coast.

POINT REYES

DETOUR:

NORTHERN.CALIFORNIA

1

(^) PACIFIC COAST HIGHWAYS