San Francisco

CALIFORNIA ROAD TRIP-DAY ONE (PART 3)

luxorlivingandstyle

the Marina Motel

    We found this motel by chance, after running into a lot all day that were already booked. It’s like a tiny floral oasis !

     We were not planning on spending the next day in San Francisco, or for that matter, in a hotel room, so this was a nice place to relax and stay for the evening before jaunting off tomorrow on new adventures.


     We found the old time setting to be quite cozy! There was garage parking, and then you walk up to the second floor to get to your room.

Marina Motel in San Francisco

     I won’t even report what the price was, because it was so low, since it was after 6 when we arrived…I can only say it was extremely inexpensive compared to other places a few minutes closer to the wharf! It was also on a Thursday evening, which will always be lower than a weekend rate.

san francisco, Marina Motel, cool place to stay in San Francisco

     If you want to check it out, here’s the link for the Marina Motel.  It’s been around since 1939, the website will tell you all about it, and has more pictures and information.  We thought it was a very cool find!  We were so jazzed about the place, we decided to stay there again when we came back through San Francisco on our last night!

(Next post will be on Day 2)

September 2, 2012

–SDS

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California Road Trip -DAY ONE (PART 2)

luxorlivingandstyle
Lombard Street , California Vacation , Luxor Living & Style , Personal Blog
     After our afternoon on the wharf, pigging on some seafood snacks, 

we decided to leave in the car and tour a bit while simultaneously looking for a hotel with a vacancy…. Driving up and down steep hills, enjoying the crisp, cool air, it occurred to us  to look for Lombard Street.  
      That is the world famous, winding road in San Francisco, peppered with wonderful foliage and homes. I am all about beautiful plants and landscapes, so we went!

 
 
     It was a very touristy thing to do, but yes, we got out of our cars and joined the masses collected along the street to take photos.
     My favorite flower is the hydrangea, and there were plenty so I was in heaven!

 
     Side note:  remember the blog about the Pink & Pepper heels I just bought ?  I’d purchased them with our trip in mind, and don’t they look great?!?  I got so many compliments when I wore them. I do think I was the only person in SF without a sweatshirt on, and people were looking as if I was a Martian, but oh well !
Stephanie Dawn Sjoberg , personal blog, Lombard Street, San Francisco travel
 
     I was perfectly comfortable in my black tiered shorts,  flowing polka dot top, blazer and scarf.  This entire outfit was from Forever 21, and the scarf was from Macy’s. The gold bag is Michael Kors and of course, the shoes are Pink & Pepper. (Which you can’t see in this picture, due to the photographer 😉 LOL )

 
     After the Lombard Street event, we continued on to China Town…which was interesting and funny.  My husband loves hole-in-the-wall Asian restaraunts , so we stopped into one eating establishment… (and yes, we did just eat a bite on the wharf, but hey, that was two hours ago!) but we were there only briefly….and I won’t go into the story, just noting that I think our hole-in-the-wall experience cured him of his addiction.
     We went to various C-Town shops, but by this point, we really needed to focus on a place to stay for the night.
 
     Every single hotel was booked, due to the America’s Cup race being in town. So we got extremely lucky when we happened by a motel, that had only one room left!
 
     It was only about 7 minutes from the wharf area, had a Walgreen’s next door (for snacks and all the little things you forgot to pack) and a Mel’s Diner and an Ihop just down the block for breakfast in the morning!

 
 
 
(to be continued)
September 1, 2012
–SDS
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DAY ONE: CALIFORNIA ROAD TRIP BEGINS!

luxorlivingandstyle

San Francisco Bridge, california road trip, travel blogger

     So, with no itinerary in mind, we flew in to San Francisco to begin a week long jaunt along the California coastline !  No hotel reservations… nothing but a ticket back home one week later.  The plan was to end up where we wanted, when we wanted and not be tied down to a schedule.


     This enabled us to stay at some great places, and get some last minute great deals! ( We also learned what to NOT ever do again!)


     So there will be a chain of blogs on this trip with photos , videos and other snippets of information on some great places and things we came across from Sausolito to Carmel !

     Our plane arrived in San Francisco on Day One of our journey , around one, and that was after a two hour delay!  This gave us plenty of time to enjoy the rest of the day in San Francisco before heading on to the next stop, the following afternoon.

     After picking up the rental car, we headed straight to Fisherman’s Wharf for lunch and then decided it would be romantic to take a freezing cold, windy boat ride underneath the Golden Gate Bridge, and viewing Alcatraz up close and personal.

     

  

      After the boat ride, we strolled around a bit, snacking on street vendor clam chowder and crab and people watching.

     

     After hanging around there a while, we decided to seek shelter and find a hotel. Unfortunately, the America’s Cup race was being held in town, so most places were either sold out, or had raised the pricing due to the busy weekend, UGH!

     So, the point here, is that you should check out any events that are being held in town, and that will let you know if there will be issues finding lodging.

     As we drove around, we decided to stop and take photos of the famous Lumbard Street and then hit China Town (my husband LOVES asian food) before ever finding a hotel…..

(to be continued in next post!)

August 31, 2012

–SDS

 

 

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Day 1 of California Road Trip!

luxorlivingandstyle
California Roadtrip Begins

     
     So, with no itinerary in mind, we flew in to San Francisco to begin a week long jaunt along the California coastline !  No hotel reservations… nothing but a ticket back home one week later.  The plan was to end up where we wanted, when we wanted and not be tied down to a schedule.

 
     This enabled us to stay at some great places, and get some last minute great deals! ( We also learned what to NOT ever do again!)

 
     So there will be a chain of blogs on this trip with photos , videos and other snippets of information on some great places and things we came across from Sausolito to Carmel !
 
     Our plane arrived in San Francisco on Day One of our journey , around one, and that was after a two hour delay!  This gave us plenty of time to enjoy the rest of the day in San Francisco before heading on to the next stop, the following afternoon.
 
     After picking up the rental car, we headed straight to Fisherman’s Wharf for lunch and then decided it would be romantic to take a freezing cold, windy boat ride underneath the Golden Gate Bridge, and viewing Alcatraz up close and personal.
 
CALIFORNIA 026
California Road Trip – DAY ONE – San FranciscoPersonal BlogTravelLuxor Lving & Style Blog

     

 
  
      After the boat ride, we strolled around a bit, snacking on street vendor clam chowder and crab and people watching.
 
     
 
     After hanging around there a while, we decided to seek shelter and find a hotel. Unfortunately, the America’s Cup race was being held in town, so most places were either sold out, or had raised the pricing due to the busy weekend, UGH!
 
     So, the point here, is that you should check out any events that are being held in town, and that will let you know if there will be issues finding lodging.
     As we drove around, we decided to stop and take photos of the famous Lumbard Street and then hit China Town (my husband LOVES asian food) before ever finding a hotel…..
(to be continued in next post!)
August 31, 2012
–SDS
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