May 10, 2021 Monday, Day 6
We had to wait for the step daughter to return to the hotel, so pretty early, about 8:00 am, I took a walk through the financial district. I was shocked at how empty, almost ghost like the area was.
I ended up at the Salesforce Tower and park. This is the tallest building in San Francisco and I had seen it all lit up the prior evening, so I thought that it might have an observation deck. However the building was closed to visitors.
I went next door to what is a combination Transit Center and park. The bottom floor is an entry way with pieces of art and some food stands. The second floor is a bus terminal. The third floor is a lush park with a playground. I was surprised and amazed at this 5 acre urban piece of respite 70 feet in the sky. It had a curved walking trail which circumvented the park and lots of signage identifying the plants. It has 13 different botanical areas, including a redwood canopy, 600 trees and 16,000 plants, as well as grassy areas and lots of benches. It also had fountains which were activated by the arrival of buses below. It was impeccably maintained. I had a very pleasant time walking around that park.
I walked back to the hotel. The girls already had eaten so we got the car, loaded up and took off south along the coastal route. We drove through several beach cities until we reached Half Moon Bay. We stopped for gasoline, an ATM visit and a small bite to eat, but we didn't go into the main part of town because we were meeting friends of the step-daughter in Redwood City (This part of the trip was turning into a reunion "week" for her).
We visited with the stepdaughter's friends in Redwood City. They were very nice and we spent an enjoyable afternoon in their nicely landscaped backyard. There are virtually no redwoods left in Redwood City.
We then drove about 1 hour to Santa Cruz and checked into Chaminade Inn. This is an upscale, 4 star hotel. I ended up here because I received a very large discount, although that was offset to some extent by "resort fees". However it was a very nice place. The room was large, the grounds well landscaped and the service was first rate. There is a large pool, a nice hot tub and firepits as well as an arrey of lawn games. It also had Sunset restaurant with a breathtaking view of the town and the bay. It also had multiple charging stations, both Tesla and non-Tesla. Alas, all four of the non Tesla charging stations were not working. I brought this to the front desk's attention, along with the fact that two Teslas were parked in the spots adjacent to the non-Tesla charging stations being blocked from charging stations by ICE cars, but never by another EV. (How ironic, I am accustomed to there were 4 Tesla charging stations) who claimed that they were unaware of the problem. He also said that he had to call the external service company as there was nothing the Inn's staff could do.
I took a swim before dinner, but then learned that the Inn's restaurant could not accommodate us until 9:00. We sat out on the deck for a wile, had a drink, took in the view and listened to the band before leaving for downtown to eat dinner. It was a short drive. We ate outdoors at Kiantis Pizza and Pasta Barn. Pretty good food at reasonable prices. Then drove back to the Inn.
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