Every year, my parents go to the Poinsettia Bowl and the Holiday Bowl (football games) in San Diego. This year they decided to add one more to the list: the Fight Hunger Bowl in San Francisco. They also decided to take Diane and me along and make a weekend out of it. We left super early in the morning on the 27th and drove up to Fremont to my uncle's house, where we were going to be sleeping that night. After catching up a bit and eating dinner together, Uncle Dennis drove us to the BART station where we rode into San Francisco to the AT&T Park, where the San Francisco Giants play. Kinda weird to be watching a football game in a baseball stadium, but it worked!
After the game, we hung out with Uncle Dennis and Aunt Carolyn for awhile before going to bed and waking up bright and early, oh so early, to get ready to go into the city. Before going on this trip, we had all discussed some things that we wanted to do. My priorities were a couple of bucket list items: the house from Full House and Lombard Street aka The Crookedest Street in the World. We ended up doing BOTH of those PLUS seeing Coit Tower AND the Painted Ladies, which are 7 beautifully painted row houses in San Francisco. It was awesome!
The Painted Ladies behind me
Standing in front of the house from Full House
(just painted a different color)
After San Francisco, we headed back to Uncle Dennis' house and, on the way, stopped in Niles. Niles is a place where lots of old silent films were made and we took a tour of a very old theatre where people used to go to watch movies in the silent era and where they have resurrected this tradition and, again, show old silent films on Saturday nights. Surprisingly, there are enough nostalgic people in the vicinity to make these movie nights quite popular; I kinda wished that I could've joined in the fun, since we were there on a Saturday, but we were leaving before showtime. Maybe some other time...
We also stopped and saw Mission San Jose, which is in Fremont. We didn't go inside because we were short on time and all of the missions I've been in thus far have been exactly the same, so we took a look and called it a day!
After having lunch at Uncle Dennis and Aunt Carolyn's house, we packed the car and headed down to San Jose to go to the Winchester Mystery House. A few years back, Mom and I went on a road trip and toured it, but Dad and Diane had never been. It was beautifully decorated for Christmas and the tour was just as good as last time. Such an interesting place!
We spent the night in San Luis Obispo and then drove back up a bit to San Simeon to Hearst Castle. This was a bucket list item for me and something that both of my parents had always wanted to see. It did not disappoint! Beautifully perched up on the tippy-top of the mountain, overlooking the ocean, is an exquisite mansion with two bell towers, breathtakingly beautiful pools, and lush green gardens. The architectural features are impressive and extremely old, taken from various countries over numerous centuries. We also got to see a movie that explained the history of the mansion and how it came to be what it is. William Randolph Hearst felt that it would be a great place for people, who did not have the privilege of seeing the world, to see great things from far-away cultures and lands. After his death, his family gave it to the State of California and it's now a state park. If you ever have the chance to visit, do so! It was awesome!
After Hearst Castle, we went to Solvang, where we walked around a little bit and went to a smorgasbord for dinner. I also got to visit one of my favorite stores ever, which can only be found in Solvang. It's called Jule Hus and it is a Christmas store all year-round. They have unique and beautiful nativities set up and if you see one you like, they'll pack it up for you and you can buy it right off the shelf. This time, I found an adorable one in which all of the characters are children. I think it'll be cool someday to use it to teach my kids about the first Christmas and the role of each of the people there. I'm excited to put it up in my own apartment/house someday soon.
After Solvang, we drove home. Though we had a great time, we were all exhausted and ready to get home! It was nice to have a little adventure to end the year on a good note!
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