 |
| Home
|
|
| Our
Service |
|
|
|
|
| The
California Region |
|
|
|
|
| Quintessential
Tours |
|
|
|
|
Quintessential Tours Clients - The Davis Family
|
| About the Davis Family
| About their Trip | Letter
from Janice |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
| Trip Length: |
7 Days |
| Pickup Date: |
July 29th |
| Drop-off Date: |
August 4th |
| Rough Distance Traveled: |
476 Miles |
| Pickup Location: |
SFO (San Francisco Intl. Airport) |
| Drop-off Location: |
SFO |
| Overnights: |
San Francisco, Santa Rosa (Sonoma
Wine Country), Monterey |
| Group Size: |
4 adults, 1 teenager |
| Vehicle: |
Passenger Van |
| Guide: |
Deke Sinclair |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| San Francisco |
2 nights |
| Guide, Deke Sinclair,
picked up the group of 5 ladies at SFO
late in the morning, and took them straight
to "the City," where they
spent the next two days seeing the city
highlights. |
|
| San Francisco
Highlights |
|
•
|
First day "get to
know each otherlunch at Max's
Opera Café on Van Ness Avenue |
|
•
|
Touring the San Francisco highlights,
like Golden Gate Bridge, Coit
Tower, Fisherman's Wharf and Pier
39. |
|
•
|
Saw the "Women Impressionists
of the 20th Century" exhibit
at the Legion of Honor/ |
|
•
|
Dinner at In 'N'
Out Burger at Fisherman's Wharf
(they just HAD to eat there) |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| Marin, Muir and
Sonoma Coast |
Visited en route
to Sonoma Valley |
|
The group departed San Francisco
after 2 days of touring, and headed
over the Golden Gate Bridge. Less
than an hour outside of the big city,
the group found themselves walking
among some of the largest living things
on the planet; the coastal redwoods
of Muir Woods.
After a walk through the giants,
the day continued with a drive out
to the coast, where they took a leisurely
pace, stopping at overlooks and beaches
along the way.
North of Bodega Bay, where the Russian
River meets the coast, Deke took the
group inland, following the course
of the river, ultimately arriving
in Santa Rosa.
|
|
| Highlights
|
|
•
|
Excellent lunch
at the Olema Inn and Restaurant,
Marin County |
|
•
|
Up Hwy. 1 through
Marin County to Muir Beach Overlook
and Stinson Beach |
|
•
|
Goat Rock State
Beach, south of Bodega Bay on
Hwy. 1 |
|
•
|
Turned inland just
north of Bodega Bay, continued
east through Guerneville on to
Santa Rosa |
|
|
|
|
|
| Sonoma County |
1 night (2 days) |
|
In Sonoma County, the family did
stop at a couple of wineries, but
eschewed a fully wine-focused agenda,
in favor of some countryside activities.
The highlight of these was an early
morning hot-air balloon flight over
the wine country.
|
|
| Sonoma County
Highlights |
|
•
|
Hot air balloon
ride left from Charles Schultz
Airport in Santa Rosa in the early
morning hours and landed at the
Kendall Jackson Winery a few miles
away |
|
•
|
The kids got to
go to Lake Sonoma (west of Santa
Rosa), where they used paddleboats
on a beautiful sunny day |
|
•
|
Stopped at Dry Creek
General Store for a deli lunch,
eaten at their picnic tables |
|
•
|
Went wine tasting
at gorgeous Lambert Bridge Winery
near Healdsburg |
|
•
|
Took the kids to
Johnson's Beach in Guerneville
(just West of Santa Rosa) for
a swim in the Russian River on
a beautiful sunny day (they didn't
want the hotel pool!) |
|
|
|
|
|
| Monterey
Peninsula |
2 nights |
| The Davis family followed
up their visit to the Sonoma Coast and
the Sonoma Wine Country with a visit
about 3 hours south to the Central Coast's
crown jewel: The Monterey Bay. From
Santa Cruz to Montery and Carmel by
the Sea, the ladies truly enjoyed a
relaxing time in this picturesque seaside
destination. |
|
| Monterey Peninsula
Highlights |
|
•
|
Toured the Monterey
Bay Aquarium |
|
•
|
Ate at a Mexican restaurant
right across from the hotel |
|
•
|
Toured the 17-Mile Drive at
Pebble Beach and saw the sea otters |
|
•
|
Stopped at the
Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk for
a brief visit on their last day |
|
•
|
Stopped for lunch at Buck's
in Woodside (where the big deals
are made) on their last day |
|
|
|
|
|
| Return to San
Francisco |
1 night |
|
Tours of infamous federal prison
on Alcatraz Island are offered 7 days
a week. However, one special version
of the tour is only available 5 days
a week. The Alcatraz Evening Tour
offers a chance to experience the
prison as evening falls across the
Bay, experiencing a different mood,
and allowing you a glimpse at what
prison life here must have been like,
as the reality of nighttime on the
island sets in.
Janice was very gung ho to take the
ladies on this version of the tour.
Unfortunately, the two nights they
planned to spend in San Francisco
at the beginning of their tour fell
on the two nights of the week when
the tour is not offered. A little
creative thinking, and we realized
that, with the group flying back out
of SFO at the end of their trip, here
was another opportunity to take the
tour, and jogged the itinerary to
fit this activity in as the last attraction
of the family's week in California.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Guide, Deke Sinclair, recalls two special moments
from the Davis's trip to the Sonoma Coast.
Muir Beach Overlook
If you were from the East Coast and hadn't experienced
the natural beauty of California, all you'd have
to do is stop here. High above the blue Pacific
on bluffs overlooking 50 miles of coastline and
thousands of square miles of ocean, you would
think you'd come to the end of the world. We walked
down the staircase to the edge of the bluff overlooking
the ocean. You could see all the way down the
coast to San Francisco and all the way north up
the Sonoma Coast to Stinson Beach. If you looked
straight ahead, you could make out a cargo ship
off in the distance. We were there on a magical
day, with the vistas startling in their beauty.
This area has remained unspoiled and was just
waiting for us to discover it.
Goat Rock State Beach
Just south of Bodega Bay on the Sonoma Coast,
this beach provided us with a spectacular visual
experience. The beach is not made of sand, but
is a gently downward slope of tiny pebbles that
make a rushing sound when the constant waves crash
upon the narrow beach. Large rocks lie at the
water's edge, interrupting the waves' short trip
to the beach. A cacophony of sun, crashing waves,
mild breezes, moderate temperatures and the azure
Pacific in late afternoon made for an almost surreal
experience. It was made even sweeter by the fact
that we literally stumbled upon this beach; we
didn't even know it was there! You just had to
be there to appreciate the show that Mother Nature
put on! We left this beach stunned by its natural
beauty and with the inner realization that we
had frozen in our collective memory a vista that
would last a lifetime.
|
|
|
|
