Passion 4 Travel

United States

Days 3-4: Santa Cruz to LA - Day 3 started in Santa Cruz, which was like California's answer to Blackpool with amusements and rides. At 9am however it was cold, misty and dead. Moving swiftly on we headed for Monterey, which used to be the capital of Alta California, home of a large jellybean shop and where we viewed some sea lions. The weather was still drab so we left there to head for Carmel Beach with beautiful sands before the very very very long drive south along the Pacific Coast highway to Santa Barbara. It doesn't look far on the map but it was some 300 miles! The scenery was great but the road left quite a few people feeling travel-sick. We had a couple of stops along the way - Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park to see a waterfall and Solvang, a Danish settlement, before finally reaching Santa Barbara for a wander round. Hollywood Sign

Day 4: It started out misty again but when we reached LA (97 miles away) the sun was shining. We did the usual sights - the Hollywood sign, Hollywood Blvd including the Walk of Fame & Chinese Theatre, Sunset Blvd (@ 11 miles long, the longest road in America also housing the Viper Club, Johnny Depps club), Beverly Hills & the Beverly Hills Hotel, Rodeo Drive and the toilet facilities of Regent Beverly Wiltshire hotel where Pretty Woman was filmed before heading down Santa Monica Blvd to Venice Beach for some relaxing in the sun and viewing some market stalls. We went out in Santa Monica that night for a meal and as it was after 12.00 am as we were travelling home, I was treated to a rendition of Happy Birthday!