On our first day in Monterey Bay we decided to scratch a little bit off of the list of ‘places to see along the Pacific Coast Highway’. That was before we found out that due to heavy rain and stuff, the road needed repairing. A detour was impossible so you could drive towards Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park, and that’s it. From that point on, until San Simeon, the road was closed.
But still we got to see some points that are worth mentioning.
The Point Lobos State Reserve was the first encounter with the State Parks along the Pacific Coast. And we liked it! We didn’t know what to expect neither, so we kind of just went with the flow. The entrance to the park was blocked, because the parking lots were full. But you could easily park your car along the road and enter the State Reserve by foot, which was free. Then you just have to decide where to walk and what to do. We did a few short walks, but I can’t remember which onces. But it’s definitely worth visiting!
After visiting the Point Lobos, we went back to Monterey Bay, passing by Carmel. But we didn’t stop there. So not much to tell.
When we left Monterey Bay, and finished the 17-Mile Drive, we headed towards the Garrapata State Park. We only did a short walk here, the Whale Peak Loop, but it gave us some beautiful views over the Pacific Coastline. The Whale Peak Loop just climbs towards Soberanes Point, where it’s windy and cold. But the view makes up for all of that.
Next stop was the Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park. On our way to the Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park, we also crossed the Bixbie Bridge. Well, we saw a bridge, thought it was the Bixbie Bridge, took forever to take a good picture, drove further, saw the actual Bixbie Bridge, but already went over it, made a U-turn, to go back over the bridge, to finally take a picture of the real Bixbie Bridge. I have no idea what’s so special about that bridge, other than it’s photogenic position. But we have a picture.
In the Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park we just took a quick “look around” through shade redwood groves before deciding to go back. We still had a long way to go to our hotel, the Quality Inn & Suites in Santa María. I cannot remember anything about this hotel. So it wasn’t good, but maybe it wasn’t bad either. Great help, I know :-).
Before arriving at our hotel, we took a detour on the detour to get to San Simeon. I read that you could see sea lions or sea elephants there. Didn’t see any of them. But, we saw some pelicans! It wasn’t worth the detour, though. Same goes for Morro Bay, where we searched for the Morro Rock. To actually go near the rock, we had to pay. It was already getting late so we didn’t want to lose even more time. So we just search for a place where we could take a picture, snapped one and left again.
Our second day on the Pacific Coast Highway, was a shorter one. We just went from Santa María to Solvang, a small city, founded in 1911 by a group of Danes who wanted to establish a Danish Colony. For me it felt rather fake. I don’t know, it was really touristic, really small, but there wasn’t actually anything to be seen, but the charming buildings. But it’s not worth a detour. Really, it’s not.
Next stop of the day was Santa Barbara, home of the rich and famous. Maybe it was the misty weather, but it couldn’t charm us neither. The harbor was kind of okay, but it’s also way too touristic for what it is and what you can see. Now, to be fair, we’ve only saw the beach and the harbor, we didn’t go into the city. So maybe that’s the reason you should go there. Now we’ll never know…
Around the world in a lifetime 