Our American Road Trip A-Z ... Part 1.

America has always been somewhere that's completely fascinated me, so when we were deciding on where to have our Summer holiday this year, we thought why don't we make it a little bit extra special and head over to the States for a three week road trip – Cue me daydreaming of waltzing around Hollywood like a movie star or running through New York al la Carrie from the opening credits of Sex and the City – I was sold, there was no need to ask me twice! 

We flew into San Francisco where we collected our car and drove over to Yosemite, then onto Monterey, down the Pacific Coast Highway and along to Hollywood via Ventura and Malibu.

From Hollywood we travelled down to LA and the beaches before setting off to Death Valley en route to Las Vegas. From Vegas we flew to New York to finish off our trip with 3 nights in the Big Apple! Phew!

We knew we'd be on the go quite a lot so did a lot of researching before we left and booked tickets for most of our attractions from the UK so as not to be disappointed.

Apart from Death Valley, we pretty much knew where and what we wanted to see in each place, which really helped us free up time to enjoy everything to it's full potential.

So seeing as though our 3 weeks, 3 plane rides, 4 states and 9 hotel stops saw us take over 7000+ photos, summing it up in one blog post was probably going to be impossible - I'm thinking of writing a post for just the Food alone!

So saying that, I've decided to sum it up into an A-Z (forgive me for some of the cheating ... you'll understand when you reach K!) as I literally could sit and talk about this trip all day long so thought it was best to split it up a bit if I could  … so here we go with part 1!

A - Alcatraz - If you'd have asked me before we set off what I was most looking forward to, Alcatraz probably wouldn't have been at the top of my list. Don't get me wrong, I wanted to make sure it was on our list of things to do but I just didn't expect it to be quite the experience it was. We pre-booked tickets before we left the UK as we only had 2 days in San Francisco and we were told it sells out quickly.

Ask me again now and it's up there in the top things we did. We were on the island for about 2 and a bit hours, but you can stay longer if you want as a boat leaves every 15-20 minutes to take you back to the mainland.

We had a little wonder around and headed up to the old Jailhouse where we picked up our headsets for the guided tour - in my opinion the tour would have been useless without it.

The guided tour made the trip what it was, you hit start at the designated point and the tour directs you around and stops you at various points to explain why Alcatraz was and is the unbelievably fascinating place that it is today. They use the voices of the inmates, which are actually quite eerie, but also adds a little something to the experience as you feel like you are in your own little world experiencing it first hand for yourself. A definite must for anyone visiting San Fran!

Rocking the Tourist look perfectly at Alcatraz!


B - Bears - Before we set off for Yosemite, I had researched how to prevent bear attacks so much that I started to dream of Bears! I was pretty nervous as the sight of a single moth can send me into a bit of a marathon hissy fit so I wanted to make sure I was prepared for any surprise visitors.

Obviously, putting my fears aside, we hoped we'd see some in the wild but little did we know that our first encounter would have been before we even hit camp in Yosemite! Cue me screaming (David Attenbrough I am not!) BEAR! BEAR! BEAR! just as we drove past a little Black Bear having a dip in the River.

Sadly my camera couldn’t pick up a clear photo due to the dusky light and mass of trees between us but luckily over the next three days we spotted three more Black Bears - 2 Adult and a little baby. These Animals are absolutely gorgeous and I can't believe we were lucky enough to see them in the Wild with our own eyes!

"We're going on a bear hunt, a bear hunt, a bear hunt"


C - Car - We knew this Road trip was going to be a once in the life time opportunity and what better way to get around than in a Mustang Convertible. From the minute I laid eyes on that beast, it was love. 

Seeing as I currently drive a 1.2 Corsa, it did scare me a bit at first but as soon as I got behind the wheel, I didn't want to give her up! We hired the car from www.usrentacar.co.uk and I couldn't fault their service. We went for the Platinum package, which covered us both to drive, and came with a full tank of fuel you didn't need to refill and allowed us to drop it off over state lines in Nevada. I do admit to having to hold back the tears when we dropped her off again!

The Mustang - what a beaut!

D - Death Valley - Death Valley was somewhere we had discussed visiting but originally had left off our plan. A Friend recommended we at least stop for one night and recommended a little hotel called Stovepipe Wells so we added it in between LA and Vegas. We arrived around 9pm and it was too dark to appreciate the view but seeing as it was still in the high 30's at that time of night, all we were interested in was getting in the pool which stays opened until midnight. The next morning we were met with amazing views as far as the eye could see and a hotel that looked like it had come straight from a Western. We quickly googled the top 5 attractions and set off to literally "The hottest place on earth!” – phew!

Badwater Basin is a huge salt plain, which is just over 200ft below sea level and was where the hottest ever verified temperature of 135f was recorded. I can safely say I've never been that warm (!) in my entire life and I think it was only around 109-110 when we got there around mid day.

Feeling toasty at Badwater Basin!

E - Eating - Pancakes, Waffles, Hot Dogs, Garlic Fries, 2500 Calorie Nachos, Macaroni Cheese, French toast, Lobster, Coconut Shrimp - The list is endless, you name it, we probably ate it!

I can't remember feeling hungry for the entire three weeks but it was worth every single mouthful! I don't think I can do it justice in a few sentences and with that in mind, I think it does in fact deserve it's own post! 


F - Fountains - We had 4 nights in Vegas and The Fountains at the Bellagio were on top of our list of things to see - Cue getting there too late one late night and one very hung over girlfriend the next (I blame the daytime slushy cocktails for my state that evening) meaning we originally missed the fountains but thankfully we managed to catch 2 showings on the third night and the only way I could describe them is WOW!

First up was a showing to Michael Jackson - Billy Jean followed by a Chicago/Cabaret mix - I couldn't choose which was my favourite between the two, it was literally mesmerizing, a must for anyone visiting Vegas.

Fountains at the Bellagio

G - Gherkins - I have to chuck this one in just for the pure fact I've spent 26 years of my life telling everyone I hate Gherkins with a passion. A week in to our trip and I was addicted. Hence me packing my clutch bag full of Heinz Gherkin relish sachets (whilst very drunk I may add!) just so I had my fix when I got back to the UK as I didn’t think we could get it back home – that was until little parcel arrived late last week - Thank you Amazon!

H - Hollywood - Hollywood was just as glitzy and glamorous as I hoped it would be. I'd heard mixed reviews, which I thought, might have left me disappointed but far from it! Within minutes of arriving in Beverley Hills I'd already purchased a map to the stars homes (obviously the best $10 spent all trip!!) and off we went cruising around the hills in our convertible. The next 2 days saw us dining at the Grove, walking Hollywood Boulevard, taking in the views from Griffith Observatory, driving down "Rodeo Drive Baby!" and taking a tour around the Warner Brothers Studios.

Hooray for Hollywood!

I - IHOP - Being a huge pancake lover, IHOP or International House of Pancakes for those who've never heard of it before was one of the first places we ate after our arrival in San Fran. These pancakes are every thing a pancake should be - thick, fluffy and the size of your head! I've always had eyes bigger than my stomach and I'm ashamed to say the 5 stack defeated me on day one - The pain of sharing my pancakes with Richard will be one that haunts me for life.

Defeated by a Pancake!

J - Jude Law - I had to put this in just because I'm a huge Celebrity Geek and Mr Law shoots straight to the top of my celeb-spotting list.

To cut a long story short - we spotted Jude Law in the Security queue at Newark Airport - which meant I spent the entire time in line acting like a giggling schoolgirl! We got through to Departures and sadly, however hard I tried to keep tabs on him; he had disappeared from my sites. Fast forward one plane journey later when my prayers were answered, as Jude Law himself appear in Heathrow Terminal 2 right next to us! This however, was just as I've been told my case has gone missing! Now, my case going missing has been a life long fear of mine but at that moment, quite frankly I didn't care less. I was sat on the floor of Terminal 2, charging my phone next to Jude Law – what girl would be missing a bunch of dirty holiday clothes at this point?! Luckily my case did get back to me eventually but United Airlines have Jude Law to thank for distracting me and stopping me going into one almighty hissy fit (OK more than I already did) at their absolutely incompetent staff! 


I can assure you this is Jude Law - Trying to take a photo when you are bordering on stalking is tricky!

K - or AK47?? - Ok so I'm cheating with this one slightly but I have to mention the Shooting range we visited in Vegas. Battlefield range is the number 1 tourist attraction in Vegas and I'd recommend it in a flash. I didn't have any interest in shooting a gun whatsoever until we arrived at the range and I thought I'd probably never get the chance to do this again so took the chance while it was there.

Rich and I shared a package of 4 guns and then brought an extra round on the AK47 (The names of the guns were like gobbledy gook to me!)

It might sound stupid, but I was shocked how loud the guns where, even through my ear defenders so I let Rich go first while I adjusted to the noise (or just hid at the back with my hands over my ears!) until it was my turn. Fast-forward to the part where the guy tells me I could be an Assassin with my aim - oh yes, I have found my calling in life and it looks like it's right in the middle of the shooting target! In the words of Carlos himself "Not only has she hit the x, she's taken out the middle of the target!"

So in true Arnie style “I'll be back” ... on my next visit anyway!

Heather the Pink Assassin? I think it's got quite a ring to it!

L - Los Angeles and Laguna Beach - We had three days around Los Angeles and Hollywood so decided to split up our time with 1 night in central Hollywood and then 2 nights over on the Coast in Hermosa Beach. Hermosa Beach is about half an hour or so south of Santa Monica and Venice Beach. We arrived late on day one so spent our evening sampling the delights that Olive Garden had to offer followed by a few beers and a dip in the Hotel hot tub, very rock and roll some might say.

Day two saw us taking a drive down to Laguna Beach to give me the change to channel my inner Lauren Conrad for the day. We spent the day sunning ourselves on Laguna's main beach followed by an afternoon of pampering in a local salon and dinner at a restaurant called Watermarc, AMAZING! Having two days to relax and chill by the beach felt like a holiday within a holiday, the perfect way to prepare ourselves for the madness that Vegas had in store for us! 


A beer with a view on Laguna Beach

M - Monterey - Monterey was our pit stop between Yosemite and our trip down the Pacific Coast Highway. We had two nights in the Hilton Garden inn and to be honest, we arrived a lot later than expected and like a mirage in the desert, the idea of a comfy bed and a hot shower was like heaven to us!

Our first night was filled with steamy showers, room service and trashy American TV - just what you need after 3 nights camping in a tent. The next morning we headed down to the Wharf and had breakfast at a little place called Lou Lou's Griddle in the Middle and without a doubt I'd rate this as my favourite breakfast of all time - The pancakes (Or pancake in our case) was bigger than your normal dinner plate and just incredible and soaked up almost half a bottle of syrup!

That afternoon we decided that surviving three nights on a camp bed well and truly meant we deserved a massage. We came across a little spa called The Spa on the Plaza at the Portola Hotel. Our entire experience was perfect from start to finish. I chose a full body massage and Rich decided upon a full body sports massage. We booked into a double room so we could enjoy the experience together. I think the masseuse I had was called Paula but whatever her name was, I'm pretty sure she had some kind of magical powers! We came away feeling full relaxed and pampered and topped it off with a lovely romantic meal and cocktails at Schooners Restaurant at the Monterey Plaza Hotel – One of our favourite meals of the trip – The Lobster Mac n Cheese is to die for!

Monterey Beach - Ready to walk off that giant pancake!

I hope you've enjoyed my little insight into our trip, as you can tell, I wasn't lying when I said I could talk about it all day long. Part two will be up later this week!

Heather xo