It’s not often that my work takes me out of town for business, but when such opportunities arise I like to take full advantage.  This year I was particularly fortunate to have a client uproot from Michigan and move to the San Francisco Bay Area.   And the nature of my work requires at least a day or two visit to their office.  Hmmm…. I had never been to California.

My flight arrived on Sunday afternoon, so I quickly picked up my rental car and headed north into the city.

A quick word about the car, I was supposed to get a CLA250 but it wasn’t available at my arrival time.  What they gave me instead was a brand new Buick Cascada convertible with a mere 257 miles on it.  It was a fantastic little car for maneuvering around the city and twisty roads in the hills.

With only 3 hours until sunset, there wasn’t much to time to explore so I headed straight to Fort Mason to try for a view of the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz.  It wasn’t the best vantage point, but it was a quiet place to sit, relax and reflect.  The air was cool and fresh, with a calming smell that you normally get oceanside.

I also had a little time to run down to Fisherman’s Wharf for a light supper.  Yes, the wharf is kind of cliche’ and a general tourist hot spot, but quite honestly I enjoyed my short time there.

Out of relative randomness I chose to eat at Lou’s Fish Shack.  Well, mainly because they had a table available outside.

Not being terribly hungry I ordered a cup of dungeness crab bisque and a couple of raw oysters.  This bisque was fantastic; the oysters… well, I guess I just don’t understand the point.

It wasn’t until I walked further down the strip that I realized that I missed one of the highlights of the wharf — long row of stands selling all sorts of seafood options.  Crab rolls seemed to be the popular choice.

After (sort of) catching the sunset by the Golden Gate Bridge, I went on a mission to find an obscure destination that I saw on YouTube.  Located inside the beautiful Fairmont Hotel, where their pool used to be, was the Tonga Room.

The Tonga Room is a large elaborate tiki bar that harkens back to the 1960’s.  Corny, yet fun.  A complete mismatch to the elegance of the old hotel.  In the center was a lagoon (pool) with a floating stage for live performances.  Although, I was too early for the band, the Tonga Room still put on a show.  Every 30 minutes lights would flash, thunder would roll, and rain would fall onto the lagoon.  Again, corny, but was still pretty fun.

Staying with the Polynesian theme, I ordered some tuna poke tostadas and a beef stir fry with honey and black pepper sauce.  To drink… pina colada, of course.  The service was great, and the food fantastic.  For me, it was definitely worth the effort to find.

Each of my two work days, I found myself with 3 to 4 hours of usable sunlight to go out and get more familiar with the bay area.

View from client’s office lot

Monday, I headed for Silicon Valley to tour around the Google Corporate campus.  Although it looked like a fun place to work, I was a little disappointed.  I’m not really sure what I was expecting, but what I found wasn’t too impressive.  Mostly it seemed like a college campus, but for 8 year olds.  I did take advantage of some nice nature trails that they have for their employees.

My next idea was to drive toward the Big Basin Redwoods State Park with the hope of getting a glimpse of the majestic giants.  With the sun setting quickly in the mountains I never did reach my goal, but the drive by itself was spectacular.  Tearing through the winding roads at breakneck speed, testing out the tires and handling performance of my little convertible was exhilarating.  It reminded me much of the times we used to shred the Smoky Mountains between Tennessee and North Carolina – but on motorcycles.

Tuesday, after a grueling day at the office, I drove up toward Half Moon Bay.  A man without a plan, I often count on luck.  For most of my adventures, I usually go without adequate research or forethought.  It was by luck that I made a random turn and ended up at the Ritz Carlton and Half Moon Bay Golf Links.

Although I am not an avid golfer and was merely a pedestrian, it was easy to appreciate the draw to this course.  The ocean to the west carved out magnificent bluffs right up to the fairways edge.  A slice or hook on a few of the holes would certainly put your ball into the drink.

Here, and down the coast, I found common plants with beautiful flowers.  It was difficult to pass on a couple of the photos ops.

Also, very notable in my opinion, was the fragrant aroma that ocean breeze carried off of the many clover(?) fields that lined the road.  At times it was so concentrated, it smelled almost like honey.

I had to stop many times during the cruise down the Pacific coast highway; too many views and things to see made it impossible to simply drive on.  Every couple of miles there seemed to be another breathtaking vista that forced me to pull off the road and hike toward cliff’s edge.  I wondered if the locals here actually take for granted this stunning scenery.

Lighthouse at Pigeon Point

I had reached Santa Cruz a little before sunset and had found the place where most of the people seem to end up in the evening.  Walkers, joggers, cyclists, and a few nuts and fruitcakes crowded the path along Natural Bridges State Beach.

The day ended, as so many days should end, with a few street style tacos and a chile relleno in Santa Cruz.

Although touring and exploring were not the main point of this trip, California’s bay area and coast really seemed to make business an afterthought.  I look forward to my next work trip.  Although, I think next time I will certainly bring Beth.  🙂