"San Francisco has only one drawback. 'Tis hard to leave." So said Rudyard Kipling, and we have to agree!
We knew we had to leave, but we really enjoyed San Francisco so much. It is where we honeymooned 23 years ago, it reminds us both of New York, it is where our friends live, and it’s a fantastic city!
We left the campground this morning and returned the rental car to ENTERPRISE. This is the second car we have rented from ENTERPRISE on our trip, and both times we have had a completely positive experience. They are great!
We went back to NOE VALLEY a third time (we really love that neighborhood – and it turns out that’s where Nancy, Donna and Joshua live!). Since we were in the RV, we figured it would be easier to park there than in THE CASTRO. We had lunch at JOE’S 24th STREET CAFÉ. I had a falafel wrap and Eric had a BLT.
This adorable girl is on the website at AMBIANCESF.COM.
A store across the street caught my eye immediately. It is called AMBIANCE and the window was beautiful -- filled with vintage Asian ceramic figurines, a leopard-upholstered seat, a 50s lamp with a leopard shade, and some beautiful clothes. The other side of the window had some vintage mannequin heads, vintage ceramic dishes and some hand-painted furniture.
When I walked inside, they had crystal chandeliers and more great vintage items, but they weren’t for sale! They were the display accessories and the items for sale were all new shoes, purses, and clothing. They were beautiful, but I’m not really into new!
I got my Starbucks for the day and, as we drove down 24th Street, I photographed another transformer box (one of the nicest I've seen) and some beautifully hand-painted murals we had been admiring for days. Enjoy!
This series of photos are all of one building and depict different periods in history. I'm sure it has significant meaning, but I really didn't have the time to figure it all out!
After that, we drove about 20 minutes to Burlingame to visit the PEZ MUSEUM.
Gary Doss, owner of the fabulous PEZ MUSEUM!
We got a spot right in front (sweet!) and went inside to find shelves and shelves of PEZ for sale. They’re all in their original packages, in mint condition, but some are brand new and some are older, and have been discontinued, so if you’re trying to fill in your collection, this is the place to go (or you can visit their website, which is great!).
A lovely woman greeted us (I never got her name) and then Gary Doss, the owner, curator and collector helped us pick out Pez dispensers to buy. We looked them all over (and there are a LOT, so it took a while). I got the Yosemite Sam and Eric got the Tazmanian Devil (Taz). I haven’t had Pez in a long time, and they’re as good as I remembered!
The flag Gary is pointing to is made completely of Pez!
After we made our purchases, we went into the “inner sanctum” – the Pez and Classic Toy Museum. They have over 550 Pez dispensers – the world’s largest display! The museum has been featured on CNN, The Discovery Channel and in Ripley’s Believe it or Not, amongst many other places. They’re even in the Guinness Book of World Records, because they now have the world’s largest Pez dispenser (over 7 feet tall!).
Gary showed us all around the museum, filling us in on the history of Pez. His collection of Pez dispensers is beautifully displayed and also includes all kinds of ephemera – posters, magazine ads and original advertising.
He also showed us his collection of classic toys – Mr. Potato Head, TinkerToys, Lincoln Logs and the original Easy Bake Oven! It was so much fun. Eric and I reminisced about toys we had as a child (I had the TinkerToys; Eric had the Lincoln Logs). I also saw the View-Master I had as a child (which I still have) and Colorforms, which I loved.
They even had curtains made from Pez fabric!
It was so much fun – a real blast from the past – and we thoroughly enjoyed it. It is adventures like this that have made our cross-country trip so memorable. If you’re ever in the San Francisco area, we highly recommend it!
The collectible Elvis Pez set!
We left Burlingame and headed south to California 1 (Pacific Coast Highway), which was the route we drove down on our honeymoon. It is so scenic and we had a great ride. There was a lot of fog at one point, and we could only see about 20 feet in front of us, but when the fog cleared the waves were crashing on the rocks below and it was amazing!
This picture was taken about 3:00pm in the afternoon!
We saw lots of pumpkin patches, fields of strawberries, garlic, artichokes and many vineyards, too!
Lemos Farm, in Half Moon Bay, was absolutely adorable!
We arrived in Gilroy, California, where the GARLIC FESTIVAL is held every year. We are staying at the GARLIC FARM RV PARK on Garlic Farm Way. It’s all about garlic here! Meanwhile, we just stopped stinking from our meal in San Francisco at THE STINKING ROSE, and now we’re in the Garlic Capital of the World!
The campground is really great. They have a big-screen TV and pool table in the main building, but it closes at 6:00pm. We visited our site, and then went back out to eat dinner. We went to TASSO’S OLD HOUSE RESTAURANT, specializing in American, Italian and Greek Cuisine. We started with the Dungeness crab cocktail (like shrimp cocktail). I had Salmon Florentine, grilled salmon on a bed of spinach with mushrooms, string beans and cauliflower. Eric had Chicken Jerusalem – sautéed with artichokes and mushrooms in a white wine sauce, and a baked potato.
We shared a tiny dessert of chocolate mousse, which was really light and delicious and just enough to satisfy our sweet tooth (or should I say sweet teeth?).
We drove back to the campground and relaxed, watched the news, looking for stories about the fires in San Diego and the earthquakes in San Francisco. We haven’t seen anything about either, so we’re thinking things are getting back to normal. We sure hope so!