Our Honeymoon: A USA Road Trip
Well there you go! We got married and now we've come back from our dream honeymoon destinations. We wanted a honeymoon that was action-packed, and not one where we spent two weeks lying around a pool doing nothing. We wanted to make the most of our time and do something that was out there and that's exactly what we did. From San Francisco to Hollywood in both a Jeep Wrangler and a Ford Mustang, here's where we went and what we did on our USA honeymoon road trip!
San Francisco
Starting in San Francisco, the first thing we did was go and catch some glimpses of the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz. We didn't have far to walk before we saw it ahead of us. We staying in Fisherman's Wharf, so we managed to walk, pretty much, everywhere.
That included walking all the way to the Mrs Doubtfire house. It's nowhere near anything else that a tourist would want to visit in San Fran, but it was so worth the hike there! See if you can spot in and amongst the pics.
There was one day where we walked around 20km, and I think it was the first day. We had a ride on the trolley buses, walked around Fisherman's Wharf, visited China Town and Little Italy (where I had the best pizza of my life) and we finally visited an amazing bakery called Boudin.
They're known for their authentic sourdough bread and clam chowder. I just had to have the clam chowder in a sourdough bread roll, whereas Tom had chilli. I then bought a little sourdough turtle to eat later on in the day - it was divine! It would have been rude not to pay Hard Rock Cafe a visit either. We had a couple of drinks and listened to some amazing live music. Of course, I bought the cocktail glass!
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This was a long day, but we visited Alcatraz, walked up Coit Tower and tried In N' Out for the first time. We were down at the Alcatraz pier, waiting for our ferry, at around 9am. It set off at about 10:10am and we were out there and on the island no later than 10:45. It's incredibly efficient and is run by exceptional staff members.
Alcatraz itself was so interesting. You couldn't help but appreciate the history of the place. From the time it was used in a military capacity right through to its closure in 1963, Alcatraz is bursting at the seams with residual, negative energy. It's not some where I felt comfortable, but it was still fascinating.
You couldn't help but imagine scenes in your head of how the place used to be, but then comparing the quietness of it all as a museum to the chaos and upheaval of the Battle of Alcatraz. It was almost impossible to visualise it operating in the way it did, but it was so much fun and such a great experience to at least try. I'd recommend you visit it if you ever find yourself in San Francisco.
We were then famished, so we went over to In N' Out and had a burger. We've never had one before and, apparently, it's only exclusive to California, so it would have been rude not to try it. So what did I think? Personally, it's no different, really, to other fast food burgers on the market. I would say that Five Guys is leaps and bounds ahead of the game.
Once we had the energy behind us, we walked all the way up to Coit Tower. It's a tall tower that sits in the hill of San Fran. You can walk up there fro the mainland, but you will need to walk up steep hills and many, many steps.
When we actually got there, the lift was broken, so we had another couple of hundred steps to walk up after getting there in the first place. But it was worth the trek because the views were stunning. If you ever find yourself in San Fran, then I'd suggest making your way up there, even if you drive instead of walk!
The next day, it was time for us to pick up our hire car. We drove it over to somewhere called Krissy Park. It has fantastic views of the Golden Gate Bridge, but it's also a great way of walking to the Palace of Fine Arts and the Walt Disney Family Museum. Both places were incredible to experience.
The Palace of Fine Arts is far bigger in reality than it looks in the pictures, and it's also far more beautiful than the photos give it credit for. Tom says it reminds him of a scene from Star Wars, and I can agree with that! It's not much of a coincidence.
The reason why I don't think it's an accident is because the LUCAS Film offices were just around the corner from there, about 10 minutes, to be exact, on foot. I know this because we went in there! Take a look at the pictures below of the Palace of Fine Arts and the Walt Disney Family Museum, including a model of Disneyland, CA .
After visiting the Walt Disney Family Museum and walking around the Palace of Fine Arts, we drove the car over the Golden Gate Bridge. We found a small car park at the other end and walked to the halfway point. It's so much larger and taller than it looks in any photo or picture.
The scale of it in reality is immense, to the point where there's nothing, really, I can compare it to. It was such a wonderful experience to be able to see it and walk along it in real life - something else I can tick off my bucket list!
Our last night consisted of us going to watch a baseball game. I haven't ever seen a baseball game on the telly, let alone in a stadium, so it was such an amazing experience to be able to watch it live, in the action and with avid fans.
We caught up on the rules and how the game actually worked pretty quickly, so I'd be in a much better position to watch it in the TV now, if the opportunity came about. But when we went to watch the Giants, we ate great food and shared a drink which was served in a souvenir cup.
We brought that home with us. We also bought a foam finger and a Giants blanket, both of which are also at home. We couldn't have watched the match without bringing something back from our travels to commemorate the experience!
Yosemite
Yosemtie consisted of two days: the giant sequoias and Yosemite Valley. The first day we hiked around 6.6 miles to see the giant sequoia trees and when I say they were some of the most amazing things I've ever seen, I really do mean it. It's so worth the long walk there and back just to be in their presence.
Not only are they thousands of years old and steeped in history, but it reminds you that, just as there were things before you existed, there will be things that will be around way, wayyyy after you're gone. It's such a humbling experience that I think everyone should get a chance to see.
We then stayed over in Yosemite in a cosy little lodge that I just didn't want to leave. It was such a shame that we were only there for one night. As part of your stay, they include all of the ingredients that you'll need to make smores on the fire pits outside.
They provide you with Graham crackers, Hershey's chocolate bars, marshmallows and wooden sticks to melt them on. It was those small details which made the stay all the more special. We then finished the night off, after a glass of wine, at the chess board. I beat Tom at chess 99% of the time, and that night was no different, haha.
The next day, it was time to do the valley tour. It takes you along the bottom of Yosemite, whereas we had been along the top the previous day. This was where we left the giant trees behind and swapped them for immense, sheer rock formations. We saw El Capitan, Half Dome, Tunnel View, Bridal Veil and Yosemite Falls, among other famous Yosemite landmarks.
Las Vegas
To be honest, Vegas was basically a stop over to enable us to get to the Grand Canyon. But it was still an amazing experience nonetheless. We spent the first day having a look around and then finished the evening off with dinner at Hell's Kitchen as a honeymoon meal.
I had lobster tail risotto as a starter and Tom had a bowl of soup. As a main, I had the salmon and Tom had a short rib on a bed of potatoes. For pudding, we shared a sticky toffee pudding, which was actually on the house as they found out that we were on our honeymoon, how sweet!
Just to top the night off, we had an espresso martini and then decided to call it a night :) It was then time for us to go back to the hotel room, get changed and go and have a look at the Fountains of Bellagio. It was worth the visit to Vegas just for that!
The Grand Canyon
Visiting the Grand Canyon made up part of our Vegas trip. But we first visited the Hoover Dam. It was only 40 minutes away from Vegas, so it made sense to take that sight in along the way. But going back to the Grand Canyon, there's really nothing else to say about it other than it's stunning.
It's one of the Seven Wonders of the World, and for good reason. You're in constant and complete awe of the whole thing. You can't grasp its vastness, even being there in the flesh. It's something that I am unlikely to experience again, but I would so love to!
We visited the side owned by the Native Americans, complete with the Sky Walk, which makes your knees weak because you can see right underneath you. That gives you an idea of exactly how high it all is, and that's not even the highest point. The side owned by the US government is actually taller than this side, believe it or not.
After the Grand Canyon, we went back to Vegas, got changed, again, and headed out for dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe and drinks at Vegas' Brewdog rooftop bar. It wasn't busy, but that was probably because it was a weeknight, to be fair.
It was all the more special for us though because it was so quiet, so I'm not complaining. The next morning, we also had time to stop and see the Vegas sign, which was a bonus as we weren't planning on doing that initially but I'm so glad that we did.
LA, Hollywood & Beverley Hills
We didn't spend a great deal of time here because we just didn't have the time, in truth. We just about managed to squeeze in a couple of Big Bus Tours in order to see all of the sights in quick time.
Once we finished, we had a bit of time to walk around the a spell, I went to Hard Rock Cafe to get a hoodie and then we walked up to a viewing point for the Hollywood sign. That, together with everything we saw on the bus tour, was our experience of LA and Hollywood.
Universal Studios
Universal Studios, Hollywood, was fantastic. It's unlike Disneyland in the sense that everything is more fast-paced and it all goes from 0 to 100 miles an hour in terms of their rides. They're a lot rougher than those in Disneyland, if we're going to compare the two. However, both parks are just as family-friendly as the other.
The main events at Universal Studios were: Super Mario World, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter and the Studio Tour, which is what sets this park aside from the one in Orlando. The studio tour was celebrating their 60th year, which meant that they were letting you off the bus and giving you a ride in one of their 1960's Glamour Tram replicas. What a great experience!
Disneyland, California
Towards the end of our honeymoon, it was only right to visit Disneyland, the original Disney park. Although small and sweet, it still offered the same pazzazz and awe as the bigger Disney World in Orlando. From Cars land and San Fransokyo to the Matterhorn and Big Thunder Mountain, there's something for everyone there.
We spent the trip riding all of the rides, eating amazing food and enjoyed all of the entertainment that was offered, including fireworks and a water colour show in Disney California Adventure. I want to do a separate blog post on the food and drink that we had, both at Disneyland and the rest of the honeymoon, so watch this space for some mouth-watering pictures and descriptions.
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Carmel & Monterey
After we finished up our time in Anaheim, it was time for us to start our road trip back down the coast to San Francisco, which is where we were flying home from. Along the way, we managed to see stretches of the Big Sur, despite much of it being closed due to rock slides.
We spent most of the day travelling only to arrive in our next stop over location - Carmel. It was late when we arrived, so what did we do? We hit the pub of course! Although they called it a Tavern, which was different. We then spent the time in there playing games and drinking wine, haha. What a way to finish off a day of driving and travelling!
The next day we were up bright and early to try some of the independent cafes and restaurants in the area as we were told that they did some smashing breakfasts in Carmel, and they weren't wrong. We went to a little place called 'Village Corner', where I had avocado on toast and Tom had steak and eggs. It did not disappoint! If you ever find yourself in Carmel, then that is a top notch place for breakfast.
There was nothing else left for us to do from here, other than to go and explore Carmel. We spent time in small shops and boutiques and even went down to see the beach, which is filled with white sand and the bluest, clearest of water. I wanted to jump in and go for a swim, but I didn't have any swimwear bits with me, sadly. Take a look at some of the sights of Carmel below, together with Monterey. This was also a small seaside town, but the biggest difference? Monterey had a Starbucks, haha!
Monterey info
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I hope you enjoyed this blog post? Let me know in the comments whether you've been to any of the places we visited on our honeymoon and I'll see you all again very soon with some brand new content!
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