The sights & sounds of California – BHJ style…
Week two is underway and mainly consists of a lot of driving! The quintissential roadtrip you might say. Everytime I have come to California I have done some kind of road trip. Mainly because there are so many great places to see!
San Luis Obispo
This was the second visit to SLO, as the locals call it. It so happened that we arrived on a Thursday, a great day to visit so it turned out, as Thursday is the weekly farmers market.
The town also has one of the original California missions, which is great to look around.
The Big Sur
The Big Sur is famous the wold over as one of the most spectacular drives in the world. And rightly so. You drive along miles of roads cut out of the side of huge cliffs. Spectacular scenery everywhere, as the road hugs the coast for miles and miles.
Hearst Castle
Hearst Castle is an explosion of wealth and extravagance. The land it is built on was bought by the Hearst family in the 1800s. Originally a simple ranch, it was turned into the huge house that you see today by the famous media magnate William Randolph Hearst.
It is relatively expensive ($25) to visit, but definitely worth it. You learn about the history of the estate in the twenty minute ride up which was very interesting.

Monterey and Santa Cruz
Monterey consisted of a two hour stop, but it’s worth longer if you have the time. It’s very famous for it’s huge aquarium, which is stunning, as it the location of the town. We walked down through fishermans wharf and admired the view out across the Pacific Ocean.
We stayed overnight in Santa Cruz. Apparently it is a big university town, and it shows, as there are lots of interesting characters around. We ate dinner at fabulous vegetarian diner called Saturn Cafe, and during the course of the meal, two people decided to cycle a bike around the place, as you do. It feels like Brighton in many ways.
The town has a large boardwalk full of rides, and a long pier. We walked down the pier and encountered a whole host of squabbling seals, making the funniest noises! How any of them get any sleep is anyone’s guess!
I liked Santa Cruz, more run down than Monterey but more a reflection of the real America perhaps too.
Alameda Island and San Francisco
Alameda Island is on the east bay of San Francisco bay, near to Oakland and it is probably not somewhere you necessarily think to visit. I have spent two days here visiting my friends Paula and Mike and their two children Freya and Bethan. It is a lovely little island, very suburban, but drive five minutes away and you literally ‘cross the rails’ and you are in a rough part of the city of Oakland. I think that opitimises a lot of America, rich areas sat right next to poor ones.
We went to Oakland to get the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) to see a baseball game (San Francisco Giants). Well, it was fun but I really had no clue what was going on ha!
Most people did not even seem to be watching the games, though there was the occasional cheer! Mostly people ate and talked. It is more a social event than a sporting event. The stadium is amazing though with a stunning view across the bay.
