We kicked off our trip by visiting with good friends (and the adorable addition to their family) in L.A. Being in the company of a little one meant lots of time spent at their apartment, ordering take-out, and taking short walks for ice cream and mango lassis. What a treat! Sadly, this kind of relaxing quality time with friends is a luxury these days and I loved every minute of this rare indulgence.
Two days into our trip, we had a lovely homecooked breakfast with our friends (by the way, Trader Joe's blueberry juice really is heaven in a glass), filled our gas tank, and hit the road. With our GPS mounted securely to the windshield, we headed north with no real plan. Lunch in Santa Barbara? Wine tasting? Nope, decided to switch it up and check out Solvang, the quaint Danish town that made an appearance in the movie, Sideways. I tried to see only the cute flower boxes and gaslamps without the throngs of tourists walking along the cobblestone sidewalks. I tried to get excited about eating ebelskivers in the shadow of a big windmill without feeling as if I had just entered Epcot Center. Eh, I couldn't really do it. Maybe next time I'll just pay a visit to the ostrich farm on the edge of town and call it a day.
While Solvang left much to be desired, I knew that our next stop would not disappoint. Back in December, a friend gave us a lovely gift of cookies from Brown Butter Cookie Company. The cookies were good. Really good. So good, that I made a mental note to order some cookies online...I've made a lot of online purchases before, but never cookies. That's how good they were. So, as luck would have it, Brown Butter Cookie Company is located in Cayucos, just a stone's throw from the main highway. It was one of the "must stop here" locations that I programmed into the GPS, and stop we did! Loaded up on cookies, enjoyed the smell of ocean air, and continued on our way to a B&B in Cambria.
Cambria, ahh lovely Cambria. Love the stretch of coastline that fronts the row of inns and B&Bs here. Love the long walks we took on this boardwalk. Love the tidepools and seals that we discovered when we veered off the boardwalk and made our way down to the beach. Is it odd that I can travel a couple thousand miles from my island home and still be enamored by the same beautiful ocean?
Our time in Cambria was too short, but I squeezed every drop of serenity I could from the time we spent there. And I knew the road ahead held lovely promises of its own.
This is NOT the much photographed Bixby Bridge that's included in every photo montage of Big Sur. It's Big Creek Bridge, just south of Bixby Bridge. It's smaller, doesn't have the same dramatic coastline backdrop for picture-taking, but I think it's just as beautiful. And I didn't have to jostle my way to edge of the mountain to get a good shot. Because I did that at Bixby Bridge and ended up with only one photo without someone's elbow in it...and all of them had cars in it. I think this bridge is perfect.
After leaving the rugged beauty of the Big Sur coastline, we stopped for a quick lunch of cinnamon rolls and calamari in Monterey, and made it to the Peninsula before the worst of the rush hour traffic. Spent some time visiting my old haunts in Mountain View and Palo Alto the next day, and went on an impromptu 15-mile bike ride along the bay.
Have always loved this long boardwalk at the Palo Alto Baylands Preserve and always make it a point to check it out.
We winded up our California adventure with a couple days in San Francisco where we ate our way through North Beach, Cow Hollow, and Sunset districts. Found some new loves in Hayes Valley this time around including Nancy Boy (am officially addicted to their signature scent to freshen up our home) and Miette (I think I could sustain myself on their Chocolate Fleur de Sel Caramels alone).
Love vacations.
And these guys...never get tired of seeing elephant seals and thought they deserved a mention:
2 comments:
oh, wandering up the cali coast is one of my favorite road trips! happy you discovered cambria which just happens to be my favorite spot on the central coast . . . did you find any moonstones hidden along the sandy shore or have a chance to savor one of linn's home baked sweets?
nope, no moonstones this time around. and linn's? wish we had this on our "must eat" list as we're both suckers for dessert. well, we're suckers for anything divinely delicious. you've just given me two great reasons to go back to cambria!
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