Seconds With Steff

If you know me or have read past blogs, you know I love Carmel-by-the-Sea. The adorable village magically transformed off the pages of a childhood storybook. It has a delightful combination of the easy breezy west coast vibe with a Hamptons chic kicker but in the best way. Welcoming to all visitors, I’ve been to this sleepy town twice, so with the aquarium not opening until 10:00am, I started the day taking Hunter to a little restaurant I’ve always wanted to visit but never had time. I give you The Tuck Box. With the notes of “Blackbird,” “Say a Little Prayer,” and “(Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay” playing, Hunter ordered the waffle and I got the homemade scone service. Not a scone, but more of a Johnnycake with olallieberry jam and marmalade to spread and a generous portion of clotted cream, it was delicious and oddly completely reasonably priced at $10 with unlimited coffee.

Hunter entertained my need to explore and show him the rest of the fairytale town, but somehow I don’t think it holds the same enchantment over him, as it does for me.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium is now officially, my second favorite aquarium! Built on the footprint of an old sardine factory that Cannery Row in Monterey is famous for thanks to John Steinbeck, every turn held a new surprise. It was staffed incredibly well with incredibly knowledgeable employees. And the exhibits…the exhibits were not your typical shark tank. If you ever go, get there for opening because Hunter and I practically had free range of the Open Sea exhibit where I got some really nice pictures of him. Not 20 minutes later, the floor was packed with cross-legged littles watching the water in front of them as their bigs stood watched on. We never would’ve been able to get up close like we did. 

Outside on the bay side of the aquarium, binoculars were provided as well as free monoculars (because who has a quarter?).  A kids scuba diving class was in full swing as well! Lastly, was an art exhibit with trash from the oceans … heartbreakingly beautiful!

Hunter, I stopped at a bunch of Vistapoint along the way, including an obligatory stop at Bixby Bridge, where I bought a print from an artist who was painting. 

There is a moment as you drive south into Big Sur where the bright and sunny becomes shadowed. Enormous trees loom above you. Just south of the Andrew Molera State Park, you can feel the change in the road. The views of the ocean are gone and suddenly you genuinely slow down not because of a speed limit or hairpin turns but because the air tells you to do so. There is something completely transformative about Big Sur.

The first time I came through in 2019, I vividly remember a young man practically bouncing across the street sans shoes m, obviously camping and having to run to the lodge store for something. But I feel like he was the very personification of the area. Campgrounds and trails and breathing fresh air. And I am the last person in the world who wants to stay in a campground or walk on a trail or I dare say sometimes breathe in fresh air, but this place makes me want to.

When I was planning my first California trip in 2019, I was told by several people to go to Nepenthe! I was passing through too early, so I ate the best breakfast of my life at their Cafe Kevah.  It was so good that in 2022 not only did I drive straight from San Francisco airport to get the famous Ambrosia Burger, I also went back the next morning for the same breakfast.   Nepenthe is a Big Sur icon and the food doesn’t disappoint. 

I finally stopped at the Henry James Library which is a funky bookstore/art installation.

And lastly, I got to see McWay Falls which I have somehow missed both time I previously drove this section of the road. McWay Falls is special because it’s a tide fall…a waterfall that empties into the ocean. And the way that the park system has it set up is that you cannot reach the beach so it is pristine and untouched by man.

In January of 2022 a spot on PCH called Paul’s Slide washed out and PCH had been closed ever since. What did that mean for us? A year’s worth of checking the road conditions in California and planning a detour if necessary…a two-four hour detour. At first, Paul’s Slide was supposed to open and the end of the spring, and then on the last day of May, they updated stating the Paul’s Slide would open mid-July, so I hopefully thought that gave them one month’s breathing room until I arrived. And it happened! On June 23rd, Paul’s Slide opened, and I celebrated! So excited until the following night when I was trying to nail down timing and Google Maps still had the area as impassable. I looked again. I had spent so much time focusing on Paul’s Slide, I was blissfully and heartbreakingly unaware of Regent’s Slide had fallen this past February. It was and still is closed and last week CalTrans stopped all work on it as they are trying to figure out what to do with it. So today’s portion of the trip went as far south as McWay Falls, returned back north to Monterey, detoured on The 101 until we arrived at Route 1 to again head north to Ragged Point.

But before we jumped on the 101 we stopped at Lula’s Chocolates. I discovered these in 2019 at Nepenthe and bought myself three individual caramels. I wished I had bought more. I got another bag in 2022, and I just bought two more bags today. They are just THAT good. The woman working there was absolutely lovely and for some reason I didn’t get her name or any pictures of the store, but I really hope she reads this tonight because she was just so so so nice and a much-needed point of adult conversation for a few minutes. If you have never had this caramel or even heard of it, click the hyperlink and definitely order it. They ship all over the country and you will not regret it!

Obviously, the trip down 101 is not what I wanted to do, but it was very pretty with mountains on both sides and we even passed Andy Boy and Foxy Farms!

In the homestretch of the day, we just l needed to get to Ragged Point. When I researched for my first California trip in 2019, I had found an art installation called The Portal to Big Sur located at The Ragged Point Resort. When I happened upon the resort, I excitedly stopped and followed a pathway to what appeared to be a pagoda of sorts where I assumed the art installation would be housed; however, it was not there. Disappointed, I continued on with my trip and when I went back in 2022 I again excitedly stopped at Ragged Point. Once again, I meandered down a pathway to the same pagoda but there was no art installation anywhere to be seen. I convinced myself that the art installation was no more, and I would never see it.
In preparation for this trip, I of course watched a ton more YouTube. And one day I happened upon a video of a woman at Ragged Point videotaping and meandering down the same path I had twice worn. When suddenly I see her camera fall upon the pagoda which is empty; however, she continued on maybe 20 or so more steps beyond some trees to, yes, you have guessed it …The Portal to Big Sur.
So even though we took a three-hour detour, we still went north past San Simeon to get to Ragged Point, so I could finally see with my two eyes, The Portal to Big Sur!

And now that I have seen it, I am morbidly embarrassed at how close I was to the Portal to Big Sur both times I was there. I have no idea why I didn’t see it because right from the pagoda. There was no tree line in the way there was one tree one tree… No idea what was wrong with me.

With my obsession fed, it was back down to San Simeon and the Elephant Seals Vista Point for Hunter with a few pics along the the way.

We checked into the hotel, which had a really nice room for us very big and lots of floorspace. And went next-door for a delicious dinner.

Vertullo Summary – Aquarium, Big Sur, and Detour.