Waves, Missions and Cocktails

It’s been a short night. Up early this morn to pack and to pick up our rental car - this time a VERY small car, smallest we've ever had. Downtown offices aren’t necessarily the best choice to get a rental and, also, booking through tour operators isn’t necessarily a good deal. We have made our own experiences with that now.

Anyway, drove the tiny little Ford back to the hotel, loaded our luggage with a lot of cursing and departed. We skipped the thought to still stop at Golden Gate Park for a Georgia O'Keeffe exhibition in the DeYoung Museum since it took us a good hour to get out of town. Traffic is crazy in San Francisco and drivers aren't the best ones in the U.S.

Stopped at Pigeon Point Lighthouse - great views! - and drove partly on Hwy. 1, partly inland on Hwy. 101 to make up time. Hwy. 1 is mostly 45-55 mph only and that takes time. We noticed extended monocultures in the Salinas Valley, mostly cabbage, artichokes and strawberries, some oil pumps, and towards Paso Robles vineyards of enormous dimensions. Back to the coast at Morro Bay, which was our first overnight stop on the coast during our very first U.S. trip in 1982.

Having driven almost 300 mi. to San Luis Obispo we arrived at the famous Madonna Inn - about which even Umberto Eco has written about - at 4:30 pm, and checked into our „Travelers’ Suite“ - huge hall (esp. compared to the room we had before in the San Remo), oversized furniture, fireplace - sort of strange, but memorable. We were given a tour on the property shortly after check-in and then had about 1,5 hours to freshen up, write down notes and dress up for dinner.

Explored the nice little town „SLO“, very clean, attractive main street, some historic buildings. Main attraction is Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa , a Spanish mission founded in 1772 by Father Junípero Serra, which we visited before dinner at Luna Red.

Wouldn’t have thought that it’s still possible to exceed our culinary experiences. Here we had six different „tapas“, very creative - partly vegetarian, fish, meat and cheeses, mexican, peruvian, californian - each of it a piece of art and highly delicious. Dishes went well with their „hand-crafted cocktails“...

Another World: Oakland

First thing tuesday morning we had a tour in the new Exploratorium on Pier 15. It's much more attractive now than before in the old Pan-Pacific Exhibition building in the Presidio district, and, also, it's conveniently located on the waterfront. Besides all the usual kids' hands-on stuff they have an interesting bay observatory gallery, indoors and outdoors.

Walked along the waterfront – the promenade is expanded now all the way from the Golden Gate Bridge to the baseball stadium – to the Ferry Building and had fresh baking goods and coffee for a late breakfast there before we took the ferry over to Oakland. In the past, we always took the subway (BART), but the boat trip underneith the bridge and with the SF Skyline and Alameda's and Oakland's harbor is much more spectacular.

Oakland has enormously changed since our last, long ago visit. Jack London's cabin and Heinold's Last Chance Saloon are still there, but now surrounded by modern highrises.

In the new visitor center at the ferry harbor we talked to a very frently gent. He confirmed our observations: in SF rent and property are so expensive (prices are even higher than in NYC!) that people who can't afford it, move out, e.g. to Oakland. On the other hand the regular blue collar people and the high percentage of Afroamericans in Oakland are pushed further outside.

Oakland isn't a tourists' town. Not at all. Nevertheless it's worth an excursion. We took the free B Bus to the new, spectacular catholic cathedral and walked south from there: to uptown with its two historic theaters, the Fox and the Paramount, and great renovated historic architecture, on to old town and chinatown, then to city center/downtown. Very clean and "polished" now, and, also a sign of the changing population, there are many new fancy restaurants and shops.

We took BART to Rockridge, though nominally part of Oakland a very different neighborhood, a mix of SoMa and Haight Ashbury. Went to Bourbon & Beef for dinner - central american food - and it was well worth the ride over. Perhaps best pork belly we've ever had, plus chiles rellenos and steak and dessert . The "small-plates-to-share" principle seems to become more and more popular nowadays. And, cocktails have become an art of its own.

Left at 6:30pm to attend the Golden State Warriors basketball game (NBA) in Oakland's Oracle Stadium. It took us a bit to find the media entrance, but we made it in good time. Just had to struggle not to fall asleep during the game, and later on BART and the bus back to our hotel. Arrived there at 11 pm - it's been a looong day...

San Francisco neighborhoods by bus

Today was supposed to be our special „SF Beautification Day“, our mandatory visit to the fancy „Barber Lounge“ in SoMa for a hair shave/beard/mustard trim (P.) and a manicure/pedicure (M.). We've made this appointment a long time ago, but they cancelled on short notice. Pretty disappointing! Have been there for the last four years for services and were really looking forward to it, especially after having been on the road for over three weeks...

As sort of a compensation we got excellent chocolates at a new tiny little chocolate store - Chocolatier Blue, on Market Street – for breakfast and a whole bag to take with us, and bought red (!) Levis Jeans at a sale in the Levis Store for only $ 16 for P. Wished I would have a more common size myself.

The cancellation gave us more time to „re-explore“ the city, mostly by bus today. Not too many tourists take the busses, but ALL take the cable cars, standing in lines at the turntables forever and paying $ 6 per ride. Sometimes they are adventurous and take the historic streetcar on Market Street (F Line), but almost never the busses. And yet they allow to reach more remote neighborhoods as Mission/Noe Valley, Haight-Ashbury or Golden Gate Park.


We covered many miles in different busses today: first to StrEAT Food Park, a „food truck village“ in SoMa, where we grabbed a bite and a Guiness because of St. Patrick’s Day and because of our frustration about the Barber Lounge cancellation.

On to the Mission District, where a gentrification is noticeable, but slow. Phantastic murals are the main attractions here besides the mission (Mission San Francisco de Asís, founded in 1776) and authentic mexican restaurants and markets.

In the afternoon we had a tour in the new SFJAZZ Center in the booming Hayes Valley neighborhood, close to the SF City Hall.It’s the first freestanding facility built for jazz presentation and education in the U.S. Afterwards we took a bus to Haight-Ashbury. The neighborhood was the nucleus of the 1960s hippie movement and still nowadays there are many shops reminiscent of the „flower-power generation“: smoke shops, vintage/2nd hand clothing, asian/tibetan shops, Goodwill Store etc. And, there are still many weird people walking the streets.

Think we have never seen that many street people as today - bums, druggies and other poor creatures of all ages with their whole life in one big backpack or one shopping cart. Seems like the city doesn’t get a grip on dealing with this problem. In Tenderloin - always a problematic neighborhood - numbers even seem to have increased again.

Back to the Financial District for dinner in a french seafood bistro (Plouf) on invitation of the owner. Other than yesterday not too many guests, not too fancy, but good food: calamari with fennel and aioli, mussels/clams and butterfish. We took the bus back to the hotel where we soaked our tired feet and backs in the only bathtub in the hotel, an old clawfoot tub which apparently nobody is using besides us, and had a glass of wine.

Walking San Francisco

It’s 9:30 pm and we just came back by bus from an excellent meal in „Verbena“, a new restaurant we've been sent over to by a long-time contact in San Francisco's restaurant business. Some of our friends would call it „chi-chi food“, but, though portions were small, it was highly creative and interesting: small plates with items called „Koji quail. Sonoma grains cooked dirty. Bacio di Satana brown butter“ or „Sardine cauliflower, horseradish, trout roe“. We had four different plates plus two desserts in total, very delicious. The restaurant operates its own farm in Berkeley where most of the ingredients come from.

Boy, we did a lot of walking today! Not only that we checked out various neighborhoods on our own – like Chinatown (Stockton Street was packed on a sunday and asparagus was $ 1 a pound!), Union Square, Cow Hollow, Marina, but we also had an „Urban Hike“, a tour with a pretty new company offering hikes in the city. Johnny guided us for about 2,5 hours and 5 mi. plus a couple of hundreds of stairs in the Presidio neighborhood.

We hiked in the Presidio National Recreational Area (similar to a National Park), mostly through an Eucalyptus forest, stopping at a couple of magnificent viewpoints. When we heard the foghorns again we remembered how many different microclimates San Francisco has: it was clear, warm and sunny in the city center, but foggy and cool at the waterfront. The Presidio was settled by Native Americans, then it became the Spanish empire's northernmost military outpost from 1776 to 1821 and later, in 1846, an U.S. Army Post. Now not only a hotel, the Presidio Inn, but also the Walt Disney Family Museum are situated here.

When we drove into San Francisco on saturday afternoon we marveled again how spectacular the setting is, especially without fog and in the sunshine.

Stopped at the Marin Headlands Vistapoint at Conzelman Road and since the parking lot was crowded we had to hike up to enjoy the view.Since it was a weekend and St. Patrick’s Day in addition, roads were packed and traffic was crazy. Crossed the Golden Gate Bridge and drove to our hotel in North Beach to check in. They've recently introduced a new strange toll system: no cash anymore, but pre-payment on the internet. Not sure how the rental car company will handle it...

The „San Remo“ where we have stayed during one of our very first trips in the 1990s has some sort of 68s-flair: rooms are small, if not tiny, bathrooms and showers in the hallway, very clean, good location, but somehow „different“. Mostly hippie clientèle, at least our age...
We were fortunate and got two rooms, one serving as our „luggage room“, one as our bedroom with a queen-size bed and a sink. After check-in and unloading it took us about 40 min. to get to the airport to return our rental car, then almost another 1,5 hours to get back into town by public transport.

We went directly to Pier 39 where we had dinner arranged at one of the rather touristic, but pretty good seafood restaurants (Fog Harbor Fish House) on the waterfront where we enjoyed Lobster Mac&Cheese and Grilled Fish. Service was quick and therefore we got to enjoy the sunset with incoming fog...

Capitol and Museums, High Heels and Fast Cars

Sacramento - our stop for two days - was founded in 1848 on the banks of the American and the Sacramento River. August Sutter, a swiss adventurer, had big visions first but they were destroyed by the first discovery of gold. In 1854 Sacramento became the State Capital.

A great source of information about the history of the city, about the gold discovery and other occurrences in town is the Sacramento History Museum which also offers Underground Tours.

After a flooding in 1861 the buildings in Old Sacramento were all lifted. Also in Old Sacramento, with its historic buildings „wild west style“, is the California State Railroad Museum, where original trains anad cars in excellent shape and in an amazing quantity and quality are to be seen.

Leland Stanford was another big name in town. He was one of the „Big Four“ - responsible for the intercontinental railroad construction among other things - and his very ornate, (at the time) top-of-the-notch mansion can be visited in tours.

To stick with museums: the Crocker Art Museum is one of the top 10 art museums in the West if not in the U.S.A. The old mansion of former railroad baron Crocker was recently expanded by a modern building by Gwathmey Siegel Kaufman from NYC - which probably caused a lot of discussions in town, but fits very well in our opinion. One highlight is californian art from 1850 to present times, as well as the ceramics collection (incl. Meissner) and the most extensive collection of german-austrian paintings in the U.S.A., brought over from Europe by the Crockers on Grand Tour.

Top museums are one special feature of the city, a lot of greenery, especially on the Capitol grounds another one. Land Park - a residential neighborhood - combines architecture of many different styles and is often used for movie shootings. The promotional slogan in the city is "Farm-to-Fork“, referring to local produce being served in restaurants, sold in shops and on markets. And, there is a growing number of breweries and wineries in the area.

Especially the popular restaurants in neighborhoods like Midtown or in the Historic R Street District are not only famous for their excellent food - like Lucca or Zocalo’s for italian and mexican dishes - but also for their clientele.

Never have seen that many fast, expensive cars like Maseratis, BMWs, Porsches etc. - and so many extremely high-heeled, dressed up young ladies at a time! Perhaps the best burgers we ever had (they come in about 20 varieties) we ate at Burgers and Brew and good coffee was being served in Temple Coffee, a fair trade coffee roastery. Perfect for us was that the café was just a few steps away from our hotel, the Citizen Hotel - a beautifully restored historic hotel in downtown.

Farewell to Oregon and Welcome to California

Ashland is a quaint little town (20.000 people) which breathes Shakespeare and has a lot of young and hip people. Main attraction is the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) from February to October. It started in the 1930s and now Shakespearean and non-Shakespearean plays at three theaters attracting people from all over the world. Ashland is also home of Southern Oregon University (SOU) and that explains the vivid, colorful scene on the streets.

The best hotel in town is the Ashland Springs Hotel which we got a chance to see as well. We were invited for dinner there and it was well worth getting dressed up again after our horseback ride. Local cheeses as a starter followed by very creative entrés: Dug leg confit, polenta with blood orange sauce and coconut-creamed leaks; red trout with red spaetzle and kale. Focus in "The Larks" - the hotel restaurant - is on seasonal, fresh ingredients from the season.


On to California on thursday morning after another dip into the healthy mineral water and a hot breakfast in the Lithia Springs Hotel. In full sunshine it's been a wonderful drive on Interstate 5 from Ashland to Redding, always with the majestic, snow-capped Mount Shasta in view.

South of Redding the Central Valley starts and it gets flat and more monotonous with endless plantations of almond, pistachio, olive and fruit trees and rice fields. With two stops (at an outlet mall and at an olive oil factory) we arrived to Sacramento at 4:30 pm having driven a little over 300 mi (480 km).

Oregon’s backcountry: valleys, rivers and mountains

From Coos Bay we drove the Umpqua River Scenic Byway, a winding route passing through beautiful wooded landscape.

Following a pre-arranged, tight itinerary we checked out different places on our way and succeeded to always be on time, though we experienced a couple of no-shows and mix-ups this day. Met with interesting people like Nancy from Big K Ranch, a beautiful historic Guest Ranch in Elkton, visited the Douglas County Museum, an amazingly huge and multifaceted museum in an unusual building, we stopped by at Seven Feathers Resort and Casino,operated by the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians. This is one of nine federally recognized Indian Tribal Governments in the State of Oregon with nearly 1600 members.

Final destination: The Weasku Inn in Grants Pass – built in 1924 as a fishing lodge on the banks of the Rogue River, was a popular vacation retreat for stars as Clark Gable, Bing Crosby, and Walt Disney.

After our hosted dinner at Roux 26 in downtown night was short. At 8 am on wednesday morning we met with Dave West, Native American and Professor of Native Americans at Southern Oregon University in the Lodge. Only wished we would have had more time to discuss the situation of the indians in Oregon with him! Beautiful drive through the Applegate Valley with its many wineries and institutions like the Pennington Farms – a berry farm which focuses on rare and flavorful varieties of berries like loganberries, marionberries, huckleberries etc. Mike, co-owner at Valley View Winery, then gave us a tour through his winery and vineyard in a beautiful setting. They produce a variety of wines like Tempranillo, Cabernet Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Blends (one for only $ 9,95!).

Jacksonville is a quaint little (wild west) town, the second oldest city in Southern Oregon, over 150 years old with its entire downtown area on the National Historic Registry.

Neat shops, restaurants (Back Porch Bar & Grill - texan-style BBQ) and hotels (as the Jacksonville Inn), excellent coffee (Bold Bean Coffee Roasters) and great beer (Schoolhaus Brewhaus). And, they do have a very popular openair concert series: the Brit Festival.

Adventure next: A horseback ride on the Flying L Ranch in Ashland. Leslie Hunter, the owner, had the horse trailer ready when we showed up. Fortunately she had chosen the perfect horses for us: Sophie (nicknamed "Sofa" because of being so big and comfortable) and Forrest, Quarter/Paint Horses. The fact that both were bridled in English style (and saddles were sort of "english" as well) was a bit confusing to us at the beginning, having just ridden western style before. Since the horses always stopped to eat fresh grass it’s been tough for us to get them walking very fast. Kicking didn’t help much, but it gave us time to marvel at the rolling hills around Ashland.

We were happy that our hotel, the Lithia Springs Resort in Ashland, had a nice large hot tub inside the suite. It consists of cottages on nicely manicured grounds, has a spa, offers afternoon tea service, hot breakfast - and that all for reasonable rates! Already the indians appreciated the place for its healing waters. Mineral warm springs (94°F) are piped from deep underneath the hotel into private soaking tubs deep. Exactly what we needed after the ride!

A blessed and peaceful part of Oregon

Eventually it stopped raining!!! Tuesday sun slowly took over and ate up the clouds. What a different perspective now! We drove out to the ocean beaches again to see them in the sun now!

At 8 am we met for breakfast with Rick from the Egyptian Theatre Preservation Association - another success story: A movie theater with egyptian decor from the beginning of the 20th century is - thanks to fundraising and private initiative - right now under restauration and will reopen in summer.

The director of the Coos Historical Museum, Frank, will probably need steady nerves until the new museum will open in January 2015. It must be a pretty tough job to bring together all the different opinions and views - industrials, workers, business people, indians etc. - to create a „people’s museum“. But Frank is a man of visions and apparently a good tactician. We got a hardhat tour in the new museum building at the waterfront and are now looking forward to see it again, once it’s opened.

It’ll sure be a great addition to the cultural scene in the city which is in the progress of „reinvention“. Lumber industry is gone, fishing industry is stable but not too enticing for younger people, tourism isn’t important yet and jobs are rare. Though the „metro area“ - consisting of Coos Bay, North BEnd and Charleston - is situated at the popular Hwy. 101, not too many visitors stop and stay. Even we passed through the area a couple of times before, not knowing that we are missing. On the other hand, thanks to not being very touristic, there are no kitschy kite/souvenirs shops or overpriced restaurants. The town is still breathing the atmosphere of a harbor/lumber/fishing town with „real people“, down to earth, hard working and hospitable.

The Shark Bites Seafood Cafe was - like the brewery - initiated by locals. Before it opened a couple of years ago there was no seafood place in Coos Bay and it would have been impossible to get such delicious Shrimp Tacos or Halibut Sandwiches like the ones we had for lunch. Oregonians in the Coos Bay Area (and in most other places) are so blessed to have fish, seafood, mushrooms, berries in abbundance, can hunt and fish, go clamming and crabbing, can brew their own beer and make their own wine.

In the afternoon we met with Don Ivy, a Tribal Elder of the Coquille Indian Tribe at the Tribe’s Community Plankhouse in a pretty remote, peaceful place a little outside town. Don is quite a character, very eloquent, prolific and intelligent. Learned a lot while talking to him and touring the „indian village“ which is (unfortunately) not open to the public.

With him and Katherine, the tourism rep of the area, we discussed later, over dinner (wine, oysters in a sauce to die for, shrimps and salmon)at the Hilltopp House Restaurant, Karl May and his influence on the Germans in regard to their perception of Indians.

"Cranberry Sweets" - in this Coos Bay shop/production site visitors can eat their fill of different samples of different goodies, many of them made with cranberries, growing in abundance in the area, but also a lot of chocolates. The House of Myrtle Woods is famous for its beautiful carved myrtlewood bowls and plates and decorative things. It was so nice of the owner to present us with a salad bowl and cutlery.

After a gorgeous sunrise and an early breakfast this morning at the Pancake Mill - huge portions of delicious pancakes of different kind - we got a tour in the Marshfield Sun Printing Museum at the waterfront.
This was a working newspaper office and print shop from 1891 to 1944 and is today essentially as it was left in 1944. All operated by volunteers it’s another well-hidden secret. Left Coos Bay late morning, would have loved to stay some longer.