In the car and heading south!

Tuesday – San Francisco to Morro Bay!

Hello!

Well, we’re back on the road and heading south!  Up this morning around 6, and down to breakfast at 7:30 a.m.  We’re going to check out of the hotel, and take all of our belongings (those which they aren’t already storing for us…as well as everything that we left in the car…) downstairs, so the hotel will keep an eye on things. We will then take the bus (those handy 3-day passes!) to the Asian Art Museum for a 10 a.m. showing of the Cyrus cylinder.  We will then head back to the hotel, pick up the car from the parking garage, head down the street to load it up, and voila! We’ll be on our way out of town!

So…we walked from the hotel through Union Square and down to Market Street, where we again caught the #5 bus heading west.  This time, though, we only had to take it as far as City Hall, as the museum is on the street directly across from it.  Have to admit that SF’s city hall is quite lovely and it’s a very nice morning; not warm, as we were in jeans and needed jackets, but sunny with blue sky.  Well, we were so efficient that we arrived at the museum about 9:20 a.m. … and they don’t open until 10!  (I HATE to be late!)  Decided to find some place where R could have some coffee – and wouldn’t you know, there wasn’t a Starbucks in sight!  So strange!  We did, however, find Philz Coffee, a thriving coffee shop with seating and out of the wind.  (I know that Chicago is known as the “windy city” – but San Francisco must certainly get an honorable mention; the wind just sings between those buildings and up and down those streets!)  Robert had a great cup of coffee, and I had a chocolate chip cookie, and we killed time until almost 10 a.m.

We were, of course (surprise!) the first folks in the museum.  We picked up our pre-purchased tickets at Will-Call and then headed up to the second floor for the special exhibition.  It was very small (one small room; about a dozen or so pieces) – and all pieces that were on loan from the British Museum (which we weren’t able to see when we were there in February!!)  But we did have the room by ourselves for the first 10 minutes or so, which was nice.  Additionally, they don’t have a problem with photography (except flash)!

So…the significance of the Cyrus Cylinder.

 

Basically, the cylinder is a clay foundation marker from a building in Babylon.  It goes on to talk about the capture of Babylon by Cyrus, a Persian king.  Cyrus, unlike many other ancient rulers, decided to release all of the Babylonian captured peoples and let them return home.  According to the Bible, this included the release of the Jews back to their homeland, where they went on to build the Second Temple.  Cyrus was held to be a truly enlightened ruler, who worked to be inclusive of all races and religious beliefs, something very rare at the time (and not very common today!).  The cylinder also sets out the rules of conduct for the king – how he is to treat people – all people, that is, with respect and consideration for them and their individual beliefs.  In other words, it is a very, very important artifact.

We finished with the exhibition about 10:40, and then headed out the front door of the museum, directly to a #19 bus stop.  Bus came along in about 10 minutes, and whisked us up the street to California, where we got a cross-town cable car back close to the hotel!  (Robert is truly amazing when it comes to buses and public transportation.  This time, he was insisting that we walk only downhill, as he didn’t feel like walking uphill – which can be tough to do in San Francisco, with all those hills!) Found the California street cable car, and we were able to ride right in front all the way back to Powell, where we hopped off.  Then, to the car park – which, truly, was filled to overflowing, apparently as a location for National and Alamo rental cars!  The line was literally out the door and around the street!  (We figure that if they ran out of cars, they might just possibly start renting out the parked cards, so we were glad to be able to rescue our little red Toyota!)  

Back to the Cornell Hotel, where we loaded everything back into the car, and we were off in just minutes!  Headed for the 101 freeway, and pointing south; haven’t made that trip in years and years!

We had thought about staying in Monterey, but decided that it is well and truly time to get HOME; we’re both homesick!!  So, instead, we drove through Monterey, and then directly down the coast road to Big Sur and one of our favorite restaurants, Nepenthe, right on the coast.

Got to Nepenthe about 2:30 and no problem being seated – inside, as it was fair to partly brisk outside! The view was just spectacular, and we also watched as acorn woodpeckers went about storing acorns in the beams outside the restaurant windows; they were quite a show!  We both ordered Ambrosiaburgers with cheese (Swiss for R; Cheddar for me) and green salads with their wonderful blue cheese dressing – it’s still wonderful!  Also, we split a basket of French fries – again, still yummy!  Fortunately the food came quickly, as we were really hungry by that time!  We did consider dessert, but honestly, we were full!  Walked around the Phoenix shop – didn’t look too hard, though, as we 1) don’t want any more STUFF as we’re afraid the car will EXPLODE, and 2) don’t NEED any more stuff, exploding car or not!!  Back on the around about 3:30 p.m.

Lovely drive down the coast, and traffic really wasn’t too bad!  Beautiful sunny and breezy day; white caps on the ocean, lots of surf breaking on the beaches. 

We did stop near San Simeon to see the elephant seals – and there they were, all over the beach! (Which fortunately has been blocked off to the public!)

 

Then on in to Morro Bay, where we are now at the Best Western Tradewinds – with a view of the ocean AND Morro Rock from our BATHROOM window!!  Who knew?!  So, will close now and get this posted!  Tomorrow takes us from here to Sierra Madre and a visit with the Vaughans; then, pushing home to Tucson bright and early Thursday morning!

Love,

m

xxx