Half Moon Bay and the Cliff House

A wonderful week in San Francisco was capped off by a weekend exploring the Pacific
Coast. First, on Saturday, my husband’s cousin, Fred, picked us up around noon and drove us along the shore to his home near Half Moon Bay, about 25 miles south of San Francisco. (And yeah, that’s my newest hat… which I got at Bloomingdale’s while we were in SF.)




Fred and Karen’s house overlooks the Pacific Ocean. Surfers (in wet suits—the ocean is still cold in May) danced on the waves as we passed by.

Here’s Bill with Fred and Karen in their front yard.



For lunch we drove down the road to Sam's Chowder House, which sits right on the ocean. The chowder was great, and the views were beautiful.







I’ll just let the pictures speak for themselves. We sat inside, but the multi-layered patio offered everything from tables to beach chairs overlooking the ocean.

The sand isn’t white like on the Gulf coast, but the picnicking families and love-struck couples walking along the ocean’s edge didn’t seem to care.





After lunch we drove down to the Ritz Carlton at Half Moon Bay, just to enjoy the view and take a tour.








What a haven for golfers!

At the end of the day Fred and Karen drove us back to our hotel, where we watched a movie in our room and crashed early.









On Sunday we had reservations at The Cliff House, a restaurant (several, actually) on a cliff on the far western edge of San Francisco. It started out as a “bath house” in 1863, and went through many renovations. Destroyed by fire in 1907, rebuilt again and again, until today it’s a must-see for visitors to the Bay area. It has magnificent views of Mt. Rainier, and the Puget sound.

Actually, we ate there on Mother’s Day, and were happy to see quite a few locals chatting with the staff and one another.

We got the exact table I had seen in their ad in the hotel room, right by the window in Sutro’s, the newest restaurant in the facility. (I scanned the ad, circling the table I hoped we would get.)


The views were the highlight of the meal…








Watching one brave bikini-clad swimmer…









And several folks climbing the rocks out in the ocean…













The “pool” in this picture is the site of a huge pool in the original structure…










During the taxi ride back to the hotel, we passed the Orthodox Church were the relics of Saint John Maximovitch are. (We made a pilgrimage to his shrine a few years ago.)

A beautiful afternoon, topped off with drinks in “The View” atop the Marriott, watching the sunset. (We tried to get reservations at the Cliff House for sunset, but they were booked between 4:30 and 8:30, so we ate a late lunch at 3:45.)

It’s good to be home for a couple of days before driving back to Seagrove (yes!) on Thursday, this time with my daughter, Beth. Meanwhile I’ve got more books to review and an essay to write for a workshop the first weekend in June, so stay tuned for those reviews!