Day 7 & 8

There has been a bit of delay in getting this final instalment of MANifest Destiny up, but you try and be productive after a week off in California.

From San Jose we bypassed San Francisco to the east and arrived in Napa around lunchtime for some wine tasting. Having not planned ahead in the slightest, WE’RE MEN, we ended up at The Hess Collection. It was a beautiful place up some windy tree lined roads. Definitely not a Parent Trap style vineyard, but not too far from what I was imagining. We had a flight of wines and explored the grounds before it was off to the city by the bay for our final two nights.

Not knowing much about San Francisco I booked a hotel near the wharf. I figured it to be touristy, which it was, but also fairly easy to get around from. It was and we found a nice little sushi place walking distance to grab dinner and sake and a beer and you can imagine where this is going.

I couldn’t tell you the part of town we were dropped off in because my friend was navigating and I can’t look it up because I don’t remember a lot of the night and all the bar stamps have since washed off. It was, however, a very fun area with bar lined streets and a very youthful crowd. Honestly, the extent of what I remember. I’m not proud, but I’m not ashamed either since it was a great night. The next day I was awoken around noon to my friend ordering pizza and realized the night before was more aggressive than I thought at the time. So much so we didn’t leave the room all day or all night because he was tired and I physically couldn’t.

We didn’t leave the hotel again until it was time to hit the airport. Like that MANifest Destiny came to an end and as I laid flat enjoying my upgrade and a glass of wine I was incredibly thankful I wasn’t having to make this journey by wagon.

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Day 6

Carmel to San Jose provided us with the shortest segment of the drive which was greatly welcomed as the previous day’s six hours still weighed heavy on us. After a short nap when we got to the hotel we were ready to explore San Jose.

Staying close to San Jose State University I was excited to check out the campus that supplied so many of “The Price is Right” contestants I watched as a child. It was a beautiful campus that had that distinct university smell which made long to back in school and that feeling made me want to drink.

Posting up at one of the better sports bars I’ve been to in terms of TV’s it was time to catchup on the NBA and NHL playoffs I’d fallen behind on. It was an odd sensation watching games at 6pm that were already nearing the end on the east coast, a sensation I could never get used to. Honestly, it has to be so frustrating catching live shows often on tape delays or sports incredibly early in the day.

After a few bars we found ourselves buying some ice cream sandwiches and stumbling back toward the hotel where we’d be waking up soon to head to Napa.

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Day 5

Santa Barbara to Carmel is a drive that everyone must make once in their life. Note that I didn’t say “at least once,” but once. It’s a beautiful and fun drive, but also long and miserable. I’m not talking the quickest route here, but up California’s coastal highway 1.

Google projects the 244 mile drive at five hours, but thanks to uber cautious drivers it’s more like six. Although having done it, caution is not something that should be thrown into the wind off the Pacific. Hairpin turns, narrow lanes, and loose gravel on the road make the drive one of the most harrowing ones I’ve done to date, but it didn’t stop me from enjoying it. Given a straight I was punching the gas and breaking hard into the turns, making others on the road put the passing zones to good use by pulling over.

We hit Carmel nearing sunset and checked into a quaint motel, Carmel is not a young person’s town, and headed to the beach before dark. I popped my shoes off and walked to the ocean only to be greeted by freezing cold water. It was at that point I realized everything in California was trying to kill me. The sun was out to burn me, the water to freeze me and the sand to drive me insane.

After the very anti-climactic beach trip (the only time I’d touch sand or water the whole time) it was time to eat. I knew Carmel to be composed of people in much higher tax brackets, but I didn’t think that meant the whole area around us would be art galleries, expensive restaurants, and old women clothing stores. However, the plan all along was to use this stop as a rest day before continuing to San Jose the next day, so nothing was really lost by the lack of life in Carmel.

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Day 4

We caught up with an old pal for lunch at Beverly Hills Deli before we headed up to Santa Barbara. Oddly the place was identical to a bodega back home and equally as cheap and good. With a full belly  we were back on the road with a couple modifications being made to my driving attire in light of recent sunburns. A hat, a very healthy dose of epicuren sunscreen, Arnette Dropout shades and Fox Dynomite boardshorts have become my driving attire. Why the suit? I’m a sweaty hot mess driving all the time so why burn clean clothes just to sit in a car.

A very nice La Quinta welcomed us in Santa Barbara which was a pleasant surprise considering the rate, not to mention it was walkable to all the bars and restaurants of State St. I’ve always been a sucker for cities that revolve around a main street, so needless to say this excited me greatly and it didn’t disappoint. From a buy one get one for .25 cents to a nice meal at Finch and Fork and a Monday night dance party at a bar, the main strip of Santa Barbara is as diverse as the homeless that crowd it.

In the blink of an eye or dance induced haze, our time in Santa Barbara came to an end and it was off to tackle the windy roads of the Pacific Coast Highway up to Carmel the next day.

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Day 2 & 3

I know movies, I know TV and I know way more about pop culture than most, but I know nothing about LA. Don’t believe me? It took numerous attempts at trying “Las Angeles” in the navigation before giving up and typing in West Hollywood. That’s right; we didn’t even attempt Los Angeles (the correct spelling in case there are more of us out there). However, we made it to LA now with an IQ worthy of our own Bravo show.

I’d previously spent one night in West Hollywood and knew two things: it’s trendy and celebrities. Friends of LA laughed at my choice, but with a limited time in LA that’s the lifestyle I wanted to see. So, we bar hopped our first night from the trendy overpriced bars of the Sunset Tower, The Standard and finished our night at Bar Marmont. And while only one local friend reluctantly agreed to meet us I enjoyed every second: great views, drinks, and food. Plus, it reminded me of that feeling I used to have when I first moved to New York where anyone could be somebody important and while they still could, reality of the city has set in and now I just want to drink more than I care.

Having two nights in LA we checked out Santa Monica for lunch and then drove through Beverly Hills. Beverly Hills has big homes which are always cool to see, but the shopping area and Rodeo Dr. were quite a letdown. Sure, there were expensive stores and I’m sure good restaurants, but the whole area had the charm and character of a suburban strip mall.

Having been privilege to a heat wave we were pretty burnt out by night fall and retired early to rest up for the drive to Santa Barbara. I also had to tend to my burns I obtained driving to LA in my effort to achieve a “base tan.” I guess you could say it worked.

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Day 1

I departed JFK and arrived around 1:00pm at LAX where I would pick up the car. Our (I will be meeting up with a friend in San Diego) wagon for the week is an Audi S5 Cabriolet. I ballpark the drive from LA to San Diego at two hours taking into account a little traffic, but it’s 1:00pm on a Friday afternoon, how bad could it be? And road rage would become my first quintessential Cali experience. Stop and go leads to 15 over the speed limit to stop and go and back again with no apparent rhyme or reason. The only thing I noticed is that no one respects the fast/passing lane and it’s infuriating.

I arrive safely in San Diego some three plus hours later (I forget as this would not be my last battle with traffic). We’re staying in the Gaslamp Quarter which I’d heard had a lot of bars so it’s a quick shower for me and then off to explore the bar scene. The area doesn’t disappoint with great food options and bar after bar lining the streets. Unfortunately, it seemed all the attractive girls were trying to usher you into bars they worked at rather than partying themselves. All in all a night out in San Diego was no different than any other city for me with two exceptions: beer pong was played with a weighted cup verse liquid in them and everyone dresses casually. The latter I enjoy as I’m not a particularly formal man, but I like being able to go around a room and know where I stand. The casual lifestyle brands gave me nothing to make assumptions of people based on and that bothered me.

The next day we sleep in till checkout (this will become a recurring theme), grab some lunch and with traffic in mind hit the road back up to LA for two nights. It’s on this leg of the drive that a guy who hasn’t been tan since seeing the first Twilight movie learns about the importance of sunscreen in a convertible.

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