Is It Weird
March 4th, 2008 @ 3:49 pm by Mrs. Tulip
… to be a little in love with an airline?
What if it’s one you’ve never even flown?!?
Virgin America came to the DC area about 6 months ago, offering flights to California and other parts West. I’m a sucker for anything “budget with style”, and Virgin America has that in spades. Extra legroom, advanced in-flight entertainment, and plug-ins at each seat for your electronics make me one happy girl. (Even better, word is they have in-flight Wi-Fi in the works.) And even their full fares run around $150 each-way between DC and SFO/LAX, with frequent sales.
So why is this relevant? Every time Virgin America has a sale, I start talking about how Mr. T and I should take a trip to California. We were struggling mightily with a honeymoon destination — too broke post-wedding to go anywhere too exotic, a bit worried about Spring Breakers in the Caribbean, and the places we thought of in the US sounded too pedestrian for a honeymoon…. And then Virgin America had a sale. And Mr. T had the inspired idea that we should fly out to San Francisco, explore the coast for several days, and fly home from Los Angeles.
And voila! A honeymoon is born!
(photograph of Big Sur courtesy of this site)
I couldn’t think of anywhere better than The Hive as a source of fabulous California knowledge…. What are your favorite spots / eateries / activities in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and along the Coast??
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35 Responses to “Is It Weird”
I went to Monterey and Pacific Grove (both about an hour from Big Sur) with my fiance last year. He’s originally from that area. It’s a beautiful town and Fisherman’s Wharf was very quaint. The weather was fabulous as well. About 75 and breezy everyday.
fantastic idea! Hopefully you can splurge on a convertible 
Start your honeymoon with drinks at Top of the Mark in San Francisco (the restaurant/bar at the top of the Mark Hopkins hotel). It’s super romantic with live music and has views of the whole city, including the Golden Gate bridge!
I also LOVE Santa Barbara (assuming you aren’t venturing to Sonoma or Napa, which are great too). My favorite restaurant of all time there is Stella Mare’s — it’s in a little cottage-y old house near downtown SB. http://www.stellamares.com/. Be sure to get the chocolate raspberry “ding dong” for dessert! The best — I ate there years ago and still think about that dessert. Giada DiLaurentis did a “weekend getaway” show there for Food Network recently — the restaurants she went to there look fab too.
You gotta go wine tasting! Whether it’s Napa/Sonoma, Paso Robles or Santa Ynez (Sideways fame).
If you get the change to ride the rails, the Pacific Surfliner route is the best and truly shows off California’s beauty.
My husband and I are going to fly on Virgin America to LA in middle of March. They had a super promotion when my husband booked this deal. Ticket was $250 round trip per person.
Oh my gosh, so many places. I am from the central coast where you will be traveling. Definitely check out big sur, huge cliffs and chrystal blue water (sometimes whales). I would also stop in cambria and cayocus. They both are really cute artsy towns with really good antiquing and shopping and lots of cute ma and pa restaurants. If you are going through san luis obispo on a thursday I would suggest going to the farmers market, its really really fun and starts around 5:00/6:00 depending on the time of the year. You could walk around for hours. Our favorite restaurant in san luis obispo is guiseppes. In Santa Barbara are tons and tons of fabulous restaurants, but the best is stella mare, its Oprah’s favorite restaurant too!! Walk on the pier and check out the seals at sunset, its very very beautiful view and the sun sets in a totally counter intuitive way because of the positioning of the coastline. The Santa Barbara zoo is as really cute small zoo and would be a fun couple hour excursion in santa barbara. If you are in ventura during lunchtime, I would suggest tony’s pizza which is basically a shack on the side of the road right next to the fairgrounds and c-street beach. It doesnt look like much but the pizza is awesome. I would take the Pacific Coast Highway between camarillo and Santa Monica because it is a really beautiful drive and there is a really fun seafood restaurant called neptune’s net right along the road, its kind of a biker joint but its really cute. In LA there are seriously too many things to try and see for me to even narrow it down but one thing I would suggest doing is going to sprinkles cupcakes, cause they are delicious. Hope this helps.
If you are in SF, try to ride the cable car. One word of advice, the lines can be long. You can take a ride from Market Street in front of Sephora and take it all the way down to the other side, just a few blocks walk you can reach Fisherman’s wharf. There you can grab some clam chowder and walk down to Pier 39 for a trip to Alcatraz?
Non touristy restaurants I like in SF are House of Prime Rib, or Crustacean (also in LA).
Def. go to Fishermans warf! Amazing clam chowder and lobster : ) and you have to go to the Boudin Sourdough factory! I love me some bread : )
umm also resturaunts, Stinking Rose (umm garlic lovers)!
So much to do…. I wont overwhelm you with things to do! Have a blast!
When in LA…Pink’s Hot Dog is a must try and for a fancier palate…Dolce is amazing ( and owned by Ashton Kutcher)
I’m glad to hear that you will be visiting California!
I’ve been living in SF for 6 years and I love it. It feels more like home than any other place I’ve lived. Here’s what I’ve learned in my time here:
I’ve compiled my favorite restaurants on a map here: http://www.wayfaring.com/maps/show/10728. There are also little descriptions so you can get an idea if these places are to your taste. I’m a grad student so these places have big deliciousness for the buck.
There are great hiking places. I’m not sure if you’re taking your honeymoon soon after your wedding, but spring is a great time for hiking. Everything is lush and green from the winter rains. Wildflowers all over the place. Waterfalls are gushing! http://www.bahiker.com/ has lots of info on hikes in the Bay Area. One of my favorite waterfall hikes (http://www.bahiker.com/northbayhikes/palomarin.html ) has a series of waterfalls and pools that fall eventually to the beach and the ocean. This page (http://www.bahiker.com/extras/best.html) has the best hikes sorted by season and feature (waterfalls, wildflowers).
Driving on Highway 1 along the coast is magnificent and spectacular.
My favorite museums - SFMOMA (spectacular building in addition to good collections of modern art), DeYoung Museum (great architecture as well), and the Monterey Aquarium.
Scenic spots in the SF - Palace of Fine Arts, Chrissy Field, Lands End/Sutro Baths.
Favorite activity in SF - Riding the cable cars at night! (Spectacular night views of the city and short or non-existent lines. It’ll be on the cold side (for SF) so bundle up!)
hmmm so much for you to do. even without napa, sf to la is a pretty big trip!
in sf you will prolly want to visit all the touristy spots like lombard street, fisherman’s wharf, union square, palace of fine arts, golden gate park. you can really see all the big sites in one day with a rental car. i’d definitely take a quick drive over the golden gate to sausalito - an art-centric town with the most spectacular views of the bay area.
monterey is a must stop. rooms are pricey here and book up fast, so i’d get on booking that right away. the town of monterey has a wharf, aquarium and the scenic 17 mile drive.
the view along the 1 is spectacular, but the drive down the 1 is twice as long as down the 5 (which has a hideous view). i’d consider maybe driving down the 1 for a small portion.
santa barbara has wineries if you can’t do napa. there’s a sideways tour i believe of some sort.
solvang is an adorable little denmark near santa barbara- definitely worth stopping through to get pancakes.
la - my hometown! what would you like to see? everything is so spread out. i personally love walking down venice beach (there’s also canals just like in venice, italy).
if you want specific recommendations on la, email me. =) i also used to live in the sf area and have been up and down the coast at least 50 times.
I was just digging into a sweet juicy pomelo and I realized that I forgot to mention the produce and farmers’ markets out here! I highly recommend Ferry Building - a food lover’s paradise. If you’re in SF on a Tuesday or Saturday, the farmers’ market at the Ferry Building is a great way to see and sample the delicious offerings that are available out here. The stuff at the Ferry Building is a little on the expensive side compared to other farmers’ markets, but it’s got the best and most delicious collection of produce and prepared food stands. If you can’t make it on a Tuesday or Saturday, there are a lot of permanent shops all week long (bread, chocolate, gelato, restaurants, cheese, mushrooms, oysters, caviar, more chocolate, bakeries, and more). Whenever I go to the Ferry Building, I always hit Miette for their sweet treats. Their macarons are amazing and the pink grapefruit ones are my favorite!
I love Virgin America as well! But just as a warning…they are NOTORIOUSLY delayed. But if you don’t have a tight schedule, you will be fine! The fun playthings will make up for it. =)
In San Francisco, I LOVE the food…so many places make their food with the freshest ingredients and you can taste the difference!
One of my favorites is Out the Door, a vietnamese restaurant. It’s an outpost of the original The Slanted Door which is located in the Ferry Building.
the 17 mile drive around Carmel and Monterey is fantastic.
You’ll have a wonderful time!!
if you’re interested in hearst castle in san simeon, that’s a nice stop as well. there is not really anything else in the area, but i really enjoyed hearst castle.
I’m so glad to hear that about Virgin America! My friends and I are taking a girls trip to NY this month and we’re all flying Virgin for the first time, now I’m even more excited!
i wasn’t all that impressed with virgin america (I flew from NY to LA). i prefer JetBlue much more. I didn’t find the seats any bigger and perhaps my dislike stems from the fact that the TVs didn’t work on our flight. so be prepared, you might not get everything it says!
If you’ll be in the Big Sur area, make sure to check out McWay Falls at Julia Pfeiffer State Park. It’s a waterfall that drops onto a secluded beach. (Do a search for ‘McWay Falls’ on Flickr and you’ll see what I mean.) Beautiful!
the central coast is my favorite. my (now) husband lived there, and i think that is the only thing that i liked about the LDR. definitely visit cayucos. it’s a cute little town. duckies has some great chowder, and there are some great fish tacos just down the way (can’t remember the name). and hit up the sea shanty for some dessert, and go to old cayucos tavern for some beer and shuffle board.
hearst castle is a nice tourist place, and it’s pretty interesting.
i also suggest spending some time in cambria. if you need more of a night life, downtown SLO is where it’s at, and if you want some sushi, give tsurugi a try! they also have a great farmers market every thursday night, and it seems like the whole town comes out!
paso robles is good for wine tasting, too!
hope you have fun…i’m jealous..it’s been too long since we’ve been out there.
I’m with Bee on Solvang.
Also a nice stop could be Santa Barbara.
In San Fran there’s a restaurant called First Crush very intimate, great wine list ! A very cozy place for a honeymooning couple to have a meal.
You may also want to have a picnic in Golden Gate park !
Also in San Luis Obispo (which someone mentioned stopping in before) I suggest either staying in, or eating at the Madonna Inn, they have themed rooms, and it’s practially ALL pink, the outside, their steak house all pink ! it’s a landmark.
I LOVE DRIVING DOWN THE COAST OF CALI it’s a GORGEOUS drive and you’ll be sure to come back with lots of memories !
In a word, Napa.
i live in san diego, go to school near san francisco, and have been travelling back and forth many many times for years.
first off, if you drive the pacific coast highway (highway 1) down, you’re set. the whole way is gorgeous! my favrite part of the trip is the monterrey/big sur area. i often choose the coast trip to get to and from school - even though it’s twice as long as driving inland, the beautiful drive makes me feel like it’s shorter.
in san francisco, you MUST go to the palace of fine arts. try going at dusk - they light it up at night, and its breathtaking. plus, its one of the very few things in the city with free parking. it’s also right by the entrance to the golden gate bridge, so you can drive over it at the same time - it’s also much more interesting (in my opinion) at night.
fisherman’s wharf/peir 39 is a very touristy place, so there will be crowds. if you want to go to alcatraz, you need to book a ferry ride/tour in advance.
i love golden gate park as well. go wander through the botanical gardens - cara’s idea of a picnic is a great one.
if you’re museum people, san francisco’s got a great share - from modern art at SFMoMA to the DeYoung in golden gate park.
if you’re up for travelling across the bay bridge to the east bay, berkeley could provide an interesting daytrip. depending on your budget, you should definitely do dinner at berkeley’s own chez pannisse - it’s listed in the book “200 things you must do before you die”, and has seasonal menus with to die for cuisine.
once you’re in southern california, i suggest you go down to san diego. i’m a little biased, but i find san diego MUCH more enjoyable than los angeles.
if you end up that far south, you should go to balboa park (my favorite place on earth. you could do the whole picnic thing here, too).
la jolla is beautiful. so is coronado - again with the budget issue, but you should consider a room in the hotel del coronado. every us president has stayed there, so have many kings. marilyn monroe’s some like it hot was filmed there. it is bustling with so much history, and it is a beautiful, ocean-front hotel.
no matter what you choose to do, i know you’ll have a fantastic time! i am very much a tourist in my own state, and am constantly rendered breathless by the beauty of the coastal drive.
So much to see and cover!
I love San Fran… just the coolest vibe and energy you’ll get from that city! Love the Farmer’s Market as was mentioned. Try “The San Franciscan” at the wharf for dinner, get there before the sunset and you’ll get an amazing sunset view! We also had the best time wandering around Golden Gate Park.
I will also reiterate that the drive along PCH/Hwy 1 is just breathtaking! Lots of little random places to stop along the way. Wine country - a definite must! I love the Pismo Beach area, my secret getaway - Sycamore Springs (with natural, secluded mineral springs) is muy romantico~
LA - so much to do - so little time. Depends on your interests really. hth
Dine at Chez Panisse in Berkeley. The food is great and inexpensive for it’s reputation.
Definitely eat at Alioto’s at Fisherman’s wharf. They literally invented cioppino and recently won best Cioppino in a Nationwide contest on Food Network. Yum!!!
Thanks for your GREAT advice, everyone. So many ideas about places to check out! Makes me even more excited than I already was, which I wouldn’t have thought physically possible…
if you do decide to visit berkeley (it’s only 12 miles from sf across the bay bridge), get a hot dog from top dog. i still dream about them.
it’s a really unique city and might be fun to walk up telegraph then around campus. i don’t think there is a place like it anywhere in the us.
everyone’s given you great advice…. i was born in SF and live in LA, so i love both of those cities. you’ll have a blast!!
i LOVE virgin!! i flew virgin atlantic last fall, and one flight was all it took - they are officially my favorite airline for anything outside of CA. i’m hoping to fly their american flights one of these days too.
If you like seafood, Cafe Sport up in the Italian district is by far the best restaurant I have ever been to.
My sister and I flew from Atlanta to SF just to eat there!
Here is their website: http://caffesport.ypguides.net/
I keep realizing that I’m forgetting stuff. I hope it’s not too overwhelming. But it’s really easy to gush about SF.
Flax! This is a Garden of Eden for people who love paper. This is an art supply store (near the Van Ness Muni metro station). They have a ton of fun stuff, but the best part is the gymnasium-sized room filled with racks and piles and drawers of paper.
i’ve returned to push san diego a little more.
if you make it down, dine at acqua al due in the gaslamp district.
there are two of these in the world - one in florence, italy,
and one in san diego - with identical menus!
it’s REAL italian food, and tastes absolutely amazing!
the tasting menu - at $50 a person ($54 with wine) allows the chef to literally choose all of their best and serve it all to you (in the form of 5 first/pasta dishes, three main course/meats, and four desserts!) it’s AMAZING!
I live in SF now, grew up in LA…but most of my advice is going to be for Norcal
1. If you love food, you have to go to the Ferry Building (Sat farmer’s market 8am-2pm); I absolutely love it…Miette for beautiful treats, Scharffenberger for chocolate (in love with their Lim.Ed. milk chocolate salted almond bar), Cowgirl Creamery, Acme Bread…oh I *heart* it all. FI and I like gathering things to eat there (whole roast chicken at Golden Gate Meat Co for $6) and then picnicking outside.
2. Chez Panisse in Berkeley or the cafe if you want a more casual affair; you’ll still get wonderful, fresh food.
3. Big Sur/Monterey. There’s a park near the MB Aquarium called Lover’s Point. In the spring when all the iceplant flowers bloom, the entire stretch is bright pink! Plus you can’t beat the view.
I’m from DC and I now live in San Francisco so I do the DC to SF flight a lot! Virgin is great. My favorite place in the Big Sur is where I actually got engaged. You have to check it out!
I flew VA in October to SF and loved it! I’m afraid to fly so I let them know beforehand, and they couldn’t have been nicer about it, which put me at ease. The TV’s only had 10 channels but they have videogames and MP3’s to occupy my time.
I’d recommend Pescadero and Santa Cruz if you love food and you’re headed south on 1. Pescadero has Norm’s Market where you can get fresh and hot artichoke bread and the town’s gas station has a mini mart with one of the best taquerias ever. Santa Cruz has a wealth of taquerias too, and I’d fly VA again if it was only to get a Mike’s Mess @Zachary’s for breakfast, though global warming keeps me in DC.
I’m pretty sure VA offers wedding discounts for your guests.
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Mrs. Tulip, DC
Age and Occupation: 36, Retired
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 33, Counsel/DOO for Small Gov't Contractor
Engagement Date: August 8, 2007
Wedding Date: March, 2008
Venue: Still Looking!
About Me: In all my dreams of the man I'd someday marry, I never pictured anyone as perfect for me as Mr. Tulip. So now we just have to make it through the craziness of the wedding and the moving in together! I love crafts, sewing, jewelry making, and photography, so am looking forward to this chance for DIY fun. When not wedding planning, I'm playing with our dog and 4 cats, Ebay shopping, or watching too much TV (often simultaneously!).
I love flying Virgin Atlantic– it’s seriously the best airline I’ve ever flown. So I’ve been dying for an excuse to fly Virgin America!
In California, I love San Francisco, Big Sur, Carmel, Santa Barbara, Laguna Beach, La Jolla.