California ~ Driving The Pacific Coast Highway
California was a whim for us. I really don’t want to talk about the pandemic at all but this trip truly stemmed from it. We are travelers by nature, and I always need to be planning. We need to go and explore and honestly, to eat good food. So finally, with the world slowly starting to open up last December, we decided to go to California. We started in Napa and drove down the Pacific Coast Highway, with stops along the way and ending in Newport Beach, flying home out of LAX.
I feel like I need to lead with an explanation on how we like to travel: we want to experience as much as we can. We rarely stay in one place for more than a couple nights, we move and find new restaurants, new hotels, new cultures, and new people. Very few trips do we stay put, it’s just how we like to travel.
So that being said our itinerary starts with us flying into San Fransisco. We rented a car, making a stop at the Golden Gate Vista for a gorgeous view of the Bridge and some Instagram worthy pictures. We then continued on to Napa and stayed at The Lodge at Sonoma Resort, Autograph Collection. When we stay in a hotel, we usually stick to Marriotts, as we have the Bonvoy card that we use for everything to earn points for hotel stays, so that is what we did for The Lodge, we used our points. I can honestly say I didn’t look too hard at other accommodations in Napa because we wanted to use points but The Lodge was beautiful and close to everything. Our first night we drove into downtown Napa and ate at Oxbow Public Market. Oxbow is a 40,000 square foot gastronomy, sitting on the Napa River. It’s a stunning space, with outdoor seating and everything from an oyster bar to a spice shop. There are several choices for meals and if you’re feeling adventurous you can snag a bottle of wine and put together a picnic to take with you as you go explore the Napa Valley. I HIGHLY recommend stopping here (we went twice), you will definitely find something (or a lot of things) that will make your mouth water.
The next morning I had found a local restaurant for brunch called Boon Fly Café. We started with the Boon Fly Donuts, because who can ever resist warm homemade donuts. I ordered the Eggs Benedict (my brunch staple) and Matt ordered the Triple Stack (three pancakes with Vermont Maple Syrup, berries and fruit compote). I also had a Bloody Mary (again a brunch staple) and oh my word, those Bloody Mary’s, yes ok I had two. It felt so good to be out of the house and in a gorgeous setting eating really good food that I didn’t have to cook. We sat and enjoyed being away, and talked to the staff who were so nice and super helpful. This is something I will always recommend to anyone traveling: talk to the locals. The hotel staff, the wait staff and hosts at restaurants, your Uber or cab drivers, these are the people that KNOW, they know where to eat, where to shop, things to do. We have had so many incredible meals and been to a lot of cool shoppes because I am always talking to the locals, asking where to eat and what do to. You really do gain so much by chatting it up with people. My kids and my husband know that when we travel we are throwing ourselves into the culture and the community, (this works about 90% of the time), but sometimes they just need McDonalds or Chiptole, and it is their vacation too so I try to be a little understanding. But, I also really like the idea of giving back and supporting that community, keeping the money I am spending local. But really, how better to immerse yourself into a culture than eating like a local, with the locals, sharing a table. The rest of the day we walked and explored downtown Napa and Sonoma. We spent the next day hiking the Sonoma Overlook Trail, shopping in a local market and eating from food trucks, all of which were excellent. We opted not to do a wine tour this time out so I didn’t have to research that aspect of the trip, but honestly we saw so many gorgeous vineyards I’m pretty sure you can’t go wrong.
The fourth day was our travel day, we were driving to Carmel-By-The-Sea to stay at Mission Ranch. We intentionally drove Highway 1 the entire way so we knew it was going to take longer but who knew the Pacific Coast Highway has these incredible little stops called “vista points” which are places you can park, get out and really just be shocked at how beautiful the coastline is. We stopped at so many, then we zoomed over Bixby Bridge, with me realizing about halfway across what it was, so Matt kindly turned around and we got some gorgeous shots. We did stop in Pacifica, since there was a really cool local skate shop / surf shop that I wanted to stop at for our eldest son, Nor Cal Surf Shop. This led me to the best discovery because the shoppe next door is Traveler Surf Club and Coastal Outpost. I fell in love with this shop immediately, they have everything from surf gear to camping gear, candles, clothes, jewelry, and blankets. I bought my most favorite trucker hat, and really wished I knew how to surf. Not only do they have all this gear but you can have a membership for daily rentals and they have showers and changing rooms, restrooms, and surfboard storage. There are shops also located in Santa Cruz, Ventura, and Malibu (when I took Maddy to Malibu in May, we actually did the day pass and it was so nice, we had clean bathrooms and a place to change and lockers to keep our belongings so we didn’t have to take everything to the beach or go back to the hotel). Traveler Surf Club is a must stop for me.
“Founded by former pro surfer, Julie Cox and clothing designer, Rel Lavizzo-Mourey, Traveler's mission is to build an inclusive community through educational events, the Surf Club, and quality products.” Traveler Surf Club about page
Let’s talk about Mission Ranch in Carmel. I found it in a random search and thought the pictures looked amazing. The history was fascinating, dating back 150 years, but the current owner purchased the property in 1986 to save it from becoming a condominium development and had it restored / replicated to match the original style. Most of the rooms looked out over a meadow where their sheep live. It is a big gorgeous meadow, and you can see Point Lobos from our room and the sunsets were spectacular. I loved it at Mission Ranch so much, it was cozy and comforting and peaceful. We stayed in the Meadowview Triplex, in the upstairs room. We had our own balcony with two rocking chairs, a whirlpool tub, gas fireplace and a comfy king size bed. All three mornings we got up and walked a couples miles ending up at Point Lobo and sat on the beach for a bit, as the houses and neighborhoods are really just perfect and fun to walk through. On our second day at Mission, California was starting to shut down again, and we were supposed to have two nights there then head to Big Sur to stay at an Inn there. Instead, we received an email that afternoon from the Big Sur property stating they were closing down, so without hesitation Matt went to the office and asked if we could add another night to our stay and explained what happened. They were able to accommodate us and we got another night in our own little cozy paradise. We ate at the Mission Restaurant that night, and while it was a little pricey, the food was absolutely worth it. The patio looks out over the meadow and the sheep, and you can see the Pacific and the Santa Lucia Mountains in the distance. The next day we wandered around downtown Carmel shopping in the local shops, eating delicious food and just enjoying the sunshine and California air. In the afternoon we made our way down to Carmel Beach, we walked it a little but mostly laid back and soaked in the sea air. The Pacific is truly stunning. You can see the Pebble Beach golf course (Matt knows which hole it is, I have zero clue) from this strip of sand, and we made plans the next day to drive 17-mile Drive and eat on the course. I highly recommend driving 17-Mile Drive, it is $10.75/car, however, if you spend $35 or more at any of the restaurants or shops they will reimburse that gate fee. Remember those Vista Points? 17-Mile Drive is teeming with them as well, with scenic overlooks that definitely suck up the storage on your camera. We had a quick lunch at The Terrace Lounge overlooking the fairway on the first hole at Pebble Beach. It was quick, easy, and really good. The rest of that afternoon we wandered Carmel and the neighborhoods again, wrapping up the day by stopping over at Carmel Beach for a gorgeous sunset. We went back to the Ranch and ordered Vesuvio, an Italian restaurant my grandparents had eaten at and loved. We ordered it to go and sat in front of the fire in the room in our sweat pants and enjoyed delicious food, good wine and a perfect fire in the stone fire place. We packed it up after dinner because the next morning was the big trip down the Pacific Coast Highway.
I cannot speak highly enough about Mission Ranch, the staff, and the property. This is a truly beautiful and special piece of Carmel, and in the midst of unsure times, ever changing policies, and government mandates - they were amazing. I felt safe, it was clean, and honestly I would say this is my favorite place I have ever stayed. I hope to come here again and again and would tell you to not even hesitate. In fact, I will book another trip just to stay at Mission one more time.
Ok, so here we go on the Pacific Coast Highway Drive. We were driving from Carmel to Ojai. This trip should’ve taken about 5 hours. It took us almost 9, but remember those Vista Points? Seriously, you cannot help but stop at each of them. I won’t break down each stop but I will highlight a few: Bixby Bridge. At Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park, we did walk a little, but most of the trail heads were closed off still from the fires, and I would’ve liked to do a little more hiking around this area but it just wasn’t possible. Pismo Beach is a great place to get out of the car and stretch your legs, it’s a very cool coastal town with fun shops and a boardwalk. I found a local place, Splash Café, which serves up amazing sea food, chowders, hot dogs and sandwiches. This is a place I would love to stop at again to try more food. After this we continued on our way, and our last lengthy stop was in San Simeon. I don’t even know how we found this but we stopped at The Piedras Blancas Rookery which is open year round and free to view the Elephant seals on the beach, it was really incredible. There is a long boardwalk, educational information, and warnings not to go down to the beach because they are “faster than you think”. It was really kind of mesmerizing. And there were huge rocks out in the Pacific that the waves were breaking on and between that and the seals, it was kind of just surreal.
The whole drive down the Pacific Coast Highway was really unbelievable, sometimes scary, what with the switchbacks, curves, and turns. This is definitely a road that needs to be respected, but in doing so you can absorb so much more (well, your passengers can). I felt bad for Matt driving, because you really cannot take your eyes off the road much and I’m next to him with my face plastered against the window, or my head out of the window freaking out. Which is why the Vista Points are key, stop, at as many as you can! At the end of all of this we just kept looking at each other in shock at how truly beautiful it was. The water, the rugged cliffs, the mountains to our left. But what was also sad was you could see a lot of charred land left over from the fires. It’s painful to see knowing what was destroyed, but also seeing what can grow from it, it is really inspiring too. I know I cannot do it justice with my words, so just please make this drive at some point in your life, you will not regret it.
Eventually we made it to Ojai, late enough that our host at the Caravan Outpost had to leave our key for us. Caravan Outpost is also a must when in California. It is an Airstream camp set up in a smaller little section of Ojai. (I’ve since taken Maddy because it’s unique and just fun). Our first night we arrived after dark and we were the only ones in the camp. It was very dark, very quiet, and we had no comprehension of our surroundings because you could see NOTHING. So what did we do? We ate! We ordered Ojai Pizza Company and ate in the airstream. The next morning we woke up and basically it was like “whoa”. Ojai is in a valley and it is a picturesque, small town in California with just stunning views. We wanted to hike and Paris, the manager of Caravan, recommended Luci’s Trail. Her words: “it’s not too bad and if you’re not avid hikers it should be ok to manage. It goes up at first and then levels off”. OH MY GOD, no. Yes, it was gorgeous, and yes I have since hiked it again, but I was not prepared. We ended up doing 3 trails in the one hike that essentially formed a loop, Luci’s Trail to Foothill Trail to Fox Canyon Trail that made one big circle back to the trailhead, approximately 2.5 miles through the mountains. When you start you look up into the mountains and it’s like “wow thats really high” then when you realize half way (ok 1/3 of the way) that you’re actually walking, crawling, dying, and going all the way up, you’re like “oh hell no”. But, I promise you’ll live, I promise it is worth it, I promise that if you fall and slide down the side, they will have to call a helicopter to get you out. I told Matt if he went down it was every man for himself. I’m truly glad we did it and when I took Madelyn in May, we hiked it, she loved it, and I was more prepared this time. However, when we got back to Caravan and I found Paris, she just looked at me, my very red face, my sweat soaked clothes, the utter exhaustion that I am sure was plastered all over my body, and said “yeah after you left I thought maybe that one wasn’t the best first time hike for you guys”. I then informed her that she owed me a drink, probably two. She gave me something better, access to a hot shower in the main shower-room instead of the tiny airstream shower. We became quick friends. After running to a local family owned market for sandwiches, drinks and guava (literally to die for, I cannot tell you how many I ate) we went back to Caravan to eat at our little picnic table then sat with Paris all afternoon talking and learning about the area and just having a relaxing and easy afternoon, which we very much earned. We learned that her sister had recently opened a restaurant called The Nest, but it closed early because everyone was on shortened hours. So we had lunch there our last day, again ordering it to go and eating at the picnic tables at Caravan. It was really really good, both the drinks and the food. Local products, fresh, and just perfect. Ojai is a great stop for anyone that wants to get out of the touristy high profile cities, it’s about 85 miles Northwest of LA and only about 35 miles from Santa Barbara.
After eating we shopped in the Caravan Outpost that sells local goods, including some Ojai candles that smelled incredible, then we packed up and headed to Newport Beach down Highway 1. We stayed at The Lido House Autograph Collection in Newport. Marriott was offering a very generous discount for healthcare workers and then the staff upgraded us to the Executive Suite. It was just spectacular and if it wasn’t now frowned upon to hug people I definitely would’ve walked back down and hugged the manger. There is a really nice area right by Lido House called Lido Marina Village, which includes restaurants and shops all in a beautiful setting right by the Marina. We ate at Bear Flag Fish Company, the sushi was incredible, and Matt had the fish tacos which he wouldn’t share. The next day we walked the beach, stopping in the local shops and we ordered dinner from Arc Butcher and Baker to eat in the Hotel, because day by day more and more of California was getting shut down, so we hunkered down for the night in our amazing room and ate some really good food and packed up. We headed to LAX the next morning to fly home.
I’ll be the first to admit that California surprised me. We ended up looking at this trip as a blessing, and it opened our eyes because we basically had our hand forced to travel within the US, and the experience we had in California was incredible. I feel like leaving the US to travel and explore is always our initial thought, so I now understand all the incredible things we could have missed by continuing to have that mindset. And now we plan on discovering so many more incredible places the US has to offer. (After Mexico City and Istanbul of course ;)
California is spectacular, with a little bit of everything - the mountains, the Pacific, the people . I cannot wait to go back and would LOVE to plan your custom trip there. It is something you need to check off your bucket list, send us an email to get started!
