CALIFORNIA DRIVIN’!
The legendary road trip from LA to San Francisco makes for an epic family holiday, says STEPHEN WRIGHT
FRANKLy, it was with some consternation that we stood at the foot of the Hollywood Hills with our daughters, aged 16 and 18. Back home, it can be challenging enough to get them to run a simple errand upstairs.
So what chance of us hiking up to the iconic Hollywood sign overlooking Los Angeles in the scorching summer sun?
We needn’t have worried. The digital age can have its advantages when there is a picture to be taken and posted back to friends within seconds.
As we trekked upwards, the sense of urgency of our usually lethargic girls took us by surprise. Then a man dressed as Darth vader sped past us on a set of motorised roller blades. And so began our two-week family road trip travelling up the Californian coast from Los Angeles to San Francisco.
Our first base was Santa Monica. Five nights there allowed us ample time to relax on the beach, sample the seafood and explore more of LA. That included an obligatory trip to universal Studios where, thanks to us having Front of Line passes, we did not have to queue for long. It brought out the children inside us older ones.
My favourite attractions were the Walking Dead (prepare to jump out of your skin as you walk through a post-apocalyptic world), Revenge Of The Mummy (a thrilling ride that catapults you through Ancient egypt up to 45 mph) and Harry Potter And The Forbidden Journey.
California is geared towards the tourist industry. The customer always comes first. That was no more evident than at universal Studios. The guide who took us on a tour of the film sets had probably done it hundreds of times before, but you would not sense this from his wonderful attitude.
As we drove north to Santa Barbara, we stopped at Malibu, the preserve of stars such as Halle Berry, Jennifer Aniston, Tom Hanks et al. Our arrival coincided with the Old Spanish Days Fiesta, celebrating the city’s heritage.
THe streets were bursting with music, dancing and authentic cuisine. There was also an opportunity to join in the tradition of cascarones — cracking a confetti-filled egg on a friend or relative’s head.
Had it not been for the fiesta, which dates back nearly 100 years, we may not have properly appreciated Santa Barbara’s history. The parade through the streets was a joyous occasion.
From there, we travelled about 300 miles north to San Francisco on the Pacific Coast Highway, one of the most beautiful drives in the world with its unspoilt beaches and amazing rock formations, particularly along the Big Sur coast between Carmel and San Simeon.
Some of the vistas will be familiar to readers watching the Tv series Big Little Lies starring Nicole Kidman.
My only regret was that we were not in a red Ford Mustang ConvertibleC for the true Californianni experience.
In San Francisco, the weather was warm, rather than hot — ideald for walking. And we did plentypl of that as we explored the cityci from our hotel near Fisherman’s Wharf. One exception was when we hopped on a bus to vi visit possibly the biggest vinyl re record store in California — A Amoeba, in the hippie district of Haight-Ashbury.
Afterwards, as I took a picture of my eldest daughter, two completely naked men walked into shot. But ‘peace, man’, we were in the ‘feel the love district’ of San Francisco. So we sneakily put a suitably censored picture on social media as a reminder of a momentous family holiday. TRAVEL FACTS DIALAFLIGHT ( dialaflight.com, 0330 100 2220) offers a nine-day Western Panorama tour of the U.S. from £1,025pp. Includes car hire and flights from London Heathrow with Virgin Atlantic.