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Visitor’s Center
At the base of the mountain drive is The Hearst Castle Visitor’s Center. Parks in the parking lot and check out the center. You can buy tickets, eat lunch, and shop in a fairly large gift shop. Once ticketed for a tour, hop on a charter type bus to ride up to the Caste, known…
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Heart Castle
Seventh grade Stephanie eventually gave way to 12th grade Stephanie (the boy was still cute but never knew I existed). When I watched Citizen Kane in Mr. Scherer’s film criticism class, I became enthralled as soon as the newscaster announced, “Legendary was Xanadu where Kubla Khan decreed his stately pleasure dome.” And thirty one years…
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Elephant Seal Vista Point
Within miles of Hearst Castle is an Elephant Seal Vista Point. Just stop to watch and listen for a while.
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Big Sur
Big Sur is the craziest coolest drive ever! I strongly suggest going North to South, with mountains on your left and ocean on your right, through pine forests with throw back gas stations and lodges. There is nothing not to love! What surprised me the most about the drive was that I really had to…
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Nepenthe & Cafe Kevah
Everyone who has driven Highway One told me I had to stop at a restaurant called Nepenthe‘s. During my first trip in 2019, I would be driving past before they opened at 11:30, so instead I stopped at the outdoor café that serves crazy amazing delicious breakfast, On my return trip, I drove straight to…
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Bixby Bridge
Between Carmel and Julia Pfeiffer State Park, the bridge is not nearly as daunting as it appears.
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Julia Pfeiffer State Park
Note to self, when driving to Pfeiffer Beach on the two mile windy side road in the future be careful of the pothole that almost took out your MiniCooper. Oh, and Purple Sand!!!! Remember to bring a small Ziplock baggie 🙂
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Pacific Coast Highway
San Francisco to San Diego? Carmel to Dana Point? Seattle to San Diego? There are lots of definitions as to where PCH begins and ends, but for our purposes, we’re going with only Cali (at least until 2024)… ohhhh that is such a hint of things to come! I have gone Half Moon Bay to…
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Monterey/Carmel-By-The Sea
The first time I went to Monterey and Carmel, it was a foggy 56 and my lodging was less than desirable. Although immaculately clean the only thing that separated me from the world outside my door was a knob and a button lock… like in a bathroom. So when I repeated my trip in 2022,…
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San Diego
I started today without a plan…ok…not entirely true. I did have a five page itinerary for San Diego, but I couldn’t tell you if I did anything on it. I left the hotel to be in San Diego by 11:00, but there was a HUGE Pride parade in Balboa Park, so I didn’t arrive until…
