San Francisco Off the Beaten Path Tips by newsphotogirl

Half Moon Bay is a quiet town near the coast (about 45 minutes south of SF). Famous for their annual Pumpkin Festival and Mavericks surf competition which are a lot of fun.

The drive along the coast is amazing. There are a few places to stop and take pictures. Or you can stop at the beach before heading to the downtown area. The main street in Half Moon Bay has cute shops and restaurants. It has a quaint small town feel to it. People are friendly. For me it's a nice break from the city.

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If you want to get away from the city and the fog take a trip south the Palo Alto where it's usually warm and sunny. The Stanford campus is beautiful. Lots of palm trees and old buildings. The main drag is University Avenue where you can find some great restaurants and shops. One of my favorite restaurants is a vietnamese place called Tamarine. They have artwork on the walls from vietnamese artists and a creative menu. I like the comfy chairs.

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Los Gatos is a small picturesque town located south of San Francisco just before the Santa Cruz Mountains. It actually reminds me of a small mountain town in Colorado. The name Los Gatos comes from "El Rancho Rinconda de Los Gatos," a ranch established in 1839 by a Mexican land grant and named for the large number of mountain lions in the area at the time. You will see statues of mountain lions throughout the area.

Our first stop was Gilley's Cafe for breakfast (we are all about food). They have the best homemade salsa and perfect hashbrowns. And if you have a dog they offer free dog treats and a water bowl just outside the restaurant.
Then we walked to the park at the end of the main street. The park has just enough trees for shade and a water fountain for kids to run through. After that we walked around a neighborhood with some beautiful homes.
Next stop was Cold Stone Creamery for ice cream. Then we took a detour to Old Town which originally was built as a school but is now a shopping center with a bookstore and some chain clothing stores. After some more window shopping it was time to go home. We didn't want to leave.

Los Gatos also has some nice trails but we didn't allow enough time for hiking. Maybe next time. One thing I did notice right away......free parking! After living and working in the city for so long I couldn't get over the fact that parking was free. Free!

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It took me three years of living in San Francisco before I actually went to Lake Tahoe. I don't really have a good explanation except that it's a three hour drive. And I used to live in Colorado and I didn't think anything could compare to that. Well, Lake Tahoe is gorgeous! The water is a beautiful blue/green and crystal clear. We did a lot of nice hikes and a little bit of laying out by the beach. We aren't casino people so we just took a very quick walk through of Harrah's and Harvey. I can't really recommend anything there. There are some good places to eat and lot's to do so check out my Lake Tahoe page if you're interested. We were only there for a long weekend but I hope to go back and add more to my page.

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