Wisetrips Travel Blog

Friday, May 1, 2026 After returning from work, Inna and I quickly packed and set out on our long drive to Cambria, CA (on California's central coast). We had planned to visit Hearst  Castle  and  enjoy the area for the weekend. Our route was mostly on US-101, and there was heavy traffic. We arrived a bit later than we expected, at around 19:40. The 180-mile drive took us 3.5 hours and used up 70% of our Tesla's batter…

Inna and I decided to explore  Half Moon Bay , which we have been neglecting. She has made a lunch reservation for 13:15 at the By The Teashore teahouse (which had recently opened to rave reviews). We started our drive to Half Moon Bay at 11:15 on a lightly drizzly Sunday morning. Traffic was light, and we parked on Half Moon Bay's Main Street at around 12:15. On the way there, we saw some demonstrations and some unexpect…

On the spur of the moment, Inna purchased two tickets to  Angélique Kidjo' s concert at Stanford's Bing Hall, for Saturday, April 25, at 20:00. Before the concert, we stopped by for dinner at the newly opened Zaytinya Palo Alto (Mediterranean Restaurant).  Right before dinner, we learned of a shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner. It made us a bit anxious at dinner, and we were happy to learn t…

I have always enjoyed listening to the 3 Italian Tenors ( Il Volo ) and was delighted to learn of their concert in San Jose. I purchased tickets for O1/2 seats in section 101 (excellent seating) of the San Jose Civic Center. In general, the San Jose Civic Center is not the best place for musical concerts, as the acoustics are mediocre and the seats are flat, but it is conveniently located nearby. After a short drive, we foun…

I had really enjoyed reading Andy Weir's bestselling novel Project Hail Mary , and was delighted to learn that a movie was being made (just like The Martian). Since it had excellent reviews, Inna and I decided to see it at the Cinemark CinéArts Santana Row  movie theater. We chose the 15:25 showing and stopped by at the Augustine cafe (for cappuccinos) before the show. The cappuccinos were not bad, and the apple turnover …

On Saturday, March 28, 2026, Inna and I drove to San Francisco to see the play " Our Class " at Z Space (in the Mission District). Before seeing the play, we decided to park at Crissy Field and stroll along the waterfront. Hungry, we stopped for lunch at  Cracked & Battered  (one of our favorite local eateries). We were finally able to get a table (inside), as our past 2-3 attempts ended in failure (Cracked & Bat…

After our amazing dinner at Tattu, we rode the elevator downstairs and walked across the street to the Dominion Theater, where our musical ,  The Devil Wears Prada,  was playing.  I had purchased tickets for the 19:30 showing.  Outside, there were lots of girls all dressed up in expensive outfits, queuing up to enter the theater. This wasn't my first choice of a musical (I would have preferred Hadestown), but…