Tag Archives: West Coast cruise

October 24, 2012 · 5:40 am

Cruising the West Coast — Mission Santa Barbara

After twenty-four hours (five spent stranded in the middle of the bay because of some idiot at Homeland Security), it was time to weigh anchor and head south. Our next destination was Santa Barbara, a coastal gem I had yet to adequately explore before this voyage. Our last cruise stop to Santa Barbara was spent visiting wineries and the charming Dutch community of Solvang. This time Ursula was insistent upon viewing what Santa Barbara had to offer.

We took public transportation inland and then hoofed it to the Mission Santa Barbara, established by Spanish Franciscans in 1786. The current mission you see below was started after the great earthquake of 1812 and completed in 1820.

The church itself is not the only attraction on this walk, however. The area through which we made our approach on foot is repeat with splendid examples of homes in the California Spanish Colonial Revival style.

As Santa Barbara presents plenty of photographic opportunities, we’ll see more of this California coastal gem in another blog or two. Meanwhile, enjoy the views:

: Mission Santa Barbara

: Spanish Colonial Revival home

: Mission courtyard view

: A mission door

: Mission Santa Barbara

: A prickly stairway to a unique window

: Spanish Colonial homes

: Saint Francis in the garden

: A tree with a twist

: Mission Santa Barbara

: Spanish Colonial Revival architecture

: Inside the mission chapel

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Filed under Photography, travel

Tagged as Mission Santa Barbara, photography, Santa Barbara, Sapphire Princess, travel, West Coast cruise

October 22, 2012 · 5:40 am

Cruising the West Coast — Muir Woods

The day following our ridiculously silly five-hour Homeland Security Quarantine and Alcatraz at Night Adventure, we awoke very early for an organized tour to Muir Woods and the artsy community of Sausalito.

The featured trees of Muir Woods are prime examples of the prehistoric coast redwood, or sequoia sempervirens — a direct ancestor of the tree that dominated North American forests some 150 million years ago. Many examples here are between 200 and 300 feet tall. The tallest reaches 379. Age wise, these trees can live up to 1,800 years.

Along the way we stopped for some spectacular views of the Bay area and, of course, the Golden Gate Bridge.

Photographically speaking, Muir Woods can be a bit of a challenge. The thick growth overhead blocks most of the sun. As a result, you’ll be hard pressed to produce handheld shots even at ISO 800 to 1600. Make sure you take at least a monopod (preferably a tripod) or be prepared to use something else to steady your camera for slow shutter speeds.

: Fallen tree

: Don’t forget your trunks

: That’s a LOT of patio furniture

: Deep in the forest

: The remains of a 1,021-year-old coast redwood

: Up the creek

: Beauty everywhere

: Entry into the Muir Woods National Monument

: A bridge like no other

: The giant coast redwood

: Not a coast redwood, but surprisingly colorful

: Marin County, just over the Golden Gate

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Filed under Photography, travel

Tagged as Muir Woods, photography, Sapphire Princess, Sausalito, travel, West Coast cruise

October 15, 2012 · 5:45 am

Cruising the West Coast Aboard the Sapphire Princess

If it appeared that last week’s blogs were a bit canned, there’s a good reason. They were. I wrote them a week in advance and scheduled them for automatic posting because I was headed out of town.

Friday after work we loaded onto a flight to Los Angeles. Saturday found us aboard Princess Cruises’ recently refurbished Sapphire Princess. This was our second voyage aboard this particular ship, with the previous cruise taking place in May of 2009 for a Costco Wine Cruise. Alas, this cruise had little to do with wine and a lot to do with nonstop sightseeing — San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Catalina Island, San Diego, and a trip to Mexico’s Northern Baja Peninsula and the quaint little town of Ensenada.

I must say that she’s a handsome ship.

Sapphire Princess

One of the first things I sensed upon boarding was the unnerving realization that either the crew lists to port or the ship lists to starboard:

The Crew Lists to Port

And if that realization weren’t startling enough, we then stumbled upon the Black Box (which are never black, by the way).

The Orange “Black Box”

At any rate, the retrofit that the Sapphire Princess underwent earlier this year really shows in the ship’s interior, most notable in the massive three-story Piazza.