So here we are, the final leg of our honeymoon! It’s all downhill from now as we head south towards Los Angeles. Geddit? We can’t believe we finally did a road trip in the USA. It has been on our bucket list for such a long time.
We really enjoyed our time in San Francisco and wished we stayed a bit longer but it was just not possible this time as we have already stretched our work leave to the maximum time without risking getting the sack!
Here’s our itinerary for our drive down to LA. Not all of the places we stopped at are named as it seems that you can usually stop as long as there is an area for your to park your car.
Day 1: San Francisco to Monterey
Driving to Monterey from San Francisco was meant to take 2.5 hours but it ended up taking 4 hours as we were stopping at almost every lookout. We were definitely two kids on candy. So it probably isn’t surprising that we didn’t arrive in Monterey until late in the evening. Here are some pictures from the lookouts we stopped at:
Gray Whale Cove State Beach
Pigeon Point Lighthouse
Monterey
Seven Gables Inn
This inn was absolutely lovely! Our bedroom and the breakfast room overlooked the ocean. It was pretty spectacular!
Location: 555 Ocean View Blvd, Pacific Grove, CA 93950, USA
Price: From AUD$497/night. Book Seven Gables Inn on Booking.com
Red House Cafe
Read about our meal here.
Check out Pacific Grove
This was the area where we stayed in and we couldn’t believe how picturesque it is when we look out our bedroom window the next morning!
We felt like we found a hidden gem! We squeezed it a quick walk after breakfast to explore the area and it was absolutely stunning. It is only a 5 minute drive from Monterey and definitely a place worth checking out if you have a couple of hours up your sleeve.
Walk around Monterey Town
We walked around Monterey the day we arrived and gosh, we certainly didn’t think it was a popular tourist spot! We had a quick poke around but didn’t stay very long as we arrived late and had to quickly find a place for dinner since everything seems to be fully booked!
Monterey Aquarium
Monterey Bay Aquarium is the best aquarium we have ever been to, hands down! It’s a huge place so you’ll need a few hours to get around all the exhibit! We spent about 3 hours there ourselves! I did think that some parts of the Aquarium resembled scenes in Finding Dory but I didn’t know it until much later that they did use the Aquarium as inspiration for the show! How cool is that?
Day 2: Monterey to Cambria
17-Mile Drive
Our guidebook mentioned this turn-off during our drive that would lead us to where the well-heeled live so we decided to check it out. If you enjoy a good drive especially where the roads are quiet, this is a good detour to go on. The views are pretty spectacular and I can see why the anybody really would love to call it home!
Bixby Bridge
Julie Pfeiffer Burns State Park
Elephant Seals at San Simeon
J Patrick House Bed & Breakfast
We spent a night in Cambria at J Patrick House. So far, we have been blown away by the bed and breakfast places that we’ve stayed at on our roadtrip. Our room might look a little vintage but it was very warm and cosy which is the best thing to come back to when it’s cold outside. Not only that, our hosts left out cookies and milk for us when we returned from our dinner! Gosh, we did feel spoilt!
Location: 2990 Burton Dr, Cambria, CA 93428, USA
Price: From AUD$348/night. Book J Patrick House on Booking.com
Indigo Moon Cafe
Read more about our meal here.
Day 3: Cambria to Santa Barbara
Harmony Town
We saw a roadsign for Harmony and it stated that the town has a population of 18 people! Imagine that! We decided that a stop shouldn’t take long so we decided to check it out!
It is literally one street! There wasn’t really much to look at but we saw that the Harmony Glassworks shop was open so we ventured in and ventured out with a souvenir! There had some lovely stuff in there and it’s pretty cool to say that you got it from a town with only 18 people!
Morro Bay
Pismo Beach
Solvang
Day 4: Santa Barbara to Los Angeles
Los Angeles
We spent out time in LA shopping before our trip home and didn’t do too much sightseeing unfortunately. There was the obligatory touristy stop at Hollywood Boulevard and the Walk of Fame, which was pretty cool! It would have been amazing to have bump into a celebrity but maybe next time.
