This day started a bit differently than the past few. We woke up from our slumber in San Luis Obispo and found a small local donut shop for breakfast. It was called Twisted & Glazed and was actually pretty good. From there it was a short hop to the highway and to make our way back to California Highway 1. We slowly made our way through the hills and passed by many a local winery too.
When we finally made it to Highway 1 and saw the coast it was definitely worth the wait. There was nothing but ocean for miles to see. The road was quite winding as it hugged the hills along the coast and, even though I was driving, I took my eyes off of the road every chance I had.
Myself and Andrea never tired of seeing the coastline, the ocean, or the hills to the right. Then we came across the famous Bixby Bridge.
The bridge has been labeled as one of the most photographed features on the west coast. It is not a normal straight bridge, as it is curved at both ends. The area around the bridge was beautiful too.
After looking around for a few minutes it was time to get back on the road. We had an appointment to make. Appointment, you ask? That sounds odd for a vacation, doesn’t it? We had to be in San Jose at what may be one of the most famous homes in America, at least for the weirdos that believe in ghosts. If you haven’t guessed yet, we were on our way to what is now called the Winchester Mystery House. It was one of Andrea’s top choices to see as she had heard of and read about the home many times.
The mansion began being built in 1884 by Sarah Winchester, the widow of one of the guys that started the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. At some point, she began to believe that the mansion was haunted by the ghosts of the people that were killed by Winchester rifles and had construction going on non-stop adding rooms haphazardly. At one point the home was seven stories high, though, as you can see, now it is not. Here are some highlights:
There were many beautiful glass panes throughout the mansion.
Some oddly small staircases. Mrs. Winchester suffered from arthritis.
That staircase on the left does indeed lead into the ceiling. There were many such odd things about the house. Check out of some more of the highlights below.
And then there was this room near the front of the house. The damage is from the infamous San Francisco earthquake of 1906. Supposedly, Mrs. Winchester thought that the ghosts haunting the mansion became angry and that is what caused the damage. She never had the room repaired and it still looks like it did after the earthquake.
I took a ton of pictures while we toured the mansion, but I don’t want to spoil all of the fun if you decide to go there. It was definitely worth the trip!
Now it was finally time to get back to where our trip started: San Francisco! Somehow, we ended up following the same road that we took on the way out of the city on our first day in California. Our first stop was to be at Fort Point. Just check out the view from next to the fort.
And some of the outside of the fort itself.
As you may be able to tell, the Golden Gate Bridge was built OVER the fort! How awesome is that!
Here is some of the inside.
The fort, as you can imagine, had a rather large powder room and plenty of spots to hold cannonballs and cannons. The fort itself was finished in 1861 just as the Civil War was beginning. Fortunately for the troops stationed there, there was never any action at the fort during the war. And now for some photos from the outside of the fort.
Who are these dorks?
After visiting the fort we crossed the bridge and the bay to the north side. The reasoning for this was two-fold. One, to see the city from an overlook and, two, because our hotel was to the north.
We walked about half-way across the Golden Gate Bridge. During this time, some fog was rolling in. From here we took a short drive to another nice spot closer to the Pacific coast.
We tried to go to the Point Bonita Lighthouse, but the door that would have taken us there was shut and locked. Oh well. It was getting late so we decided to go to the hotel in Tiburon and then find something to eat. There was a pizza place within walking distance, a small shop called Waypoint Pizza, that was surprisingly good. It wasn’t far from the water either.
I’m pretty sure I went to sleep early that night. We had a long day of driving of sightseeing and a lot planned for tomorrow too! Come back later for the next day from our trip!
Hollar if you see Us 