Much of the beauty of Highway 1 can be condensed into the beautiful road along the Pacific Coast at Pebble Beach. Here, the true beauty of the Monterey Peninsula can be enjoyed at its best – apparently, it was this part of California that inspired Robert…Read More

Much of the beauty of Highway 1 can be condensed into the beautiful road along the Pacific Coast at Pebble Beach. Here, the true beauty of the Monterey Peninsula can be enjoyed at its best – apparently, it was this part of California that inspired Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island. The interaction between ocean and land at several alcoves and rocky outposts, as well as an abundance of seashore wildlife, certainly are inspiring.

A popular and well-signposted road is the 17-Mile Drive. As this area is privately owned, several names and designs are registered trademarks, while admission of $8.25 per vehicle is charged for access to the road. Bikes and hikers may enter for free but are not allowed onto the most famous stretch of the road. Admission is through any of five gates, with convenient ones close to Pacific Grove and Carmel. A map with condensed information on 21 points of interest is available for free – the "conditions of entry" are more comprehensive. According to this brochure, "Lexus is the preferred vehicle of Pebble Beach Resorts" – well, Chevrolet is not my preferred choice either, but what can you do if your car rental company has gotten a good deal from GM?

Entering from Pacific Grove/Monterey, the road is at first along rather barren flats, allowing you to concentrate on the beautiful coastline. Several stops with ample parking are available to enjoy views of the surf, as well as observe birds, seals, and sea lions. Picnic and toilet facilities are available at several stops, while expensive restaurants and several famous golf courses are available for the well-heeled.

My favorite part of the 17-Mile Drive is from Fanshell Overlook to Pebble Beach Golf Course – the section of the road closed to cyclists. Stop 14 – Cypress Point Lookout – has a large parking lot and is often confused with stop 16 – The Lone Cypress. On all three our visits, I saw people at stop 14 trying in vain to find the lone cypress tree here. The Lone Cypress tree "is revered as the eternal symbol of the Pebble Beach Company". Be that as it may, this around 250-year-old cypress tree, perched on its own on a rock, with the Pacific Ocean as backdrop, is an inspiring sight and the true highlight of the drive. It is followed by some ghost-like cypresses – trees with trunks bleached white from sea spray.

On this occasion, we found the parking lot at Pebble Beach golf course rather full and passed up on the opportunity to stop and shop here. Having done the inland drive through the forest back to the Pacific Grove gate on previous occasions, we rather exited through the Carmel gate for lunch. The cost, $8.25 for 17 miles, is a bit steep, but given the views, it's well worth the asking price.

Carmel is a lovely small town on the southern part of the Monterey Peninsula. In California, it is known for its up-market shops, restaurants, and hotels (most seems to prefer to work "inn" somewhere into the name). Internationally, it is probably best known as the…Read More

Carmel is a lovely small town on the southern part of the Monterey Peninsula. In California, it is known for its up-market shops, restaurants, and hotels (most seems to prefer to work "inn" somewhere into the name). Internationally, it is probably best known as the town where Clint Eastwood once served as mayor. (I doubt many realize just how small this town actually is.)

We loved Carmel from the first time we visited it years ago. Back then, sans children, we could enjoy all its pleasures at the fullest. We could wander into all the lovely, small shops without having to confirm the coverage of the all-events insurance. We had several memorable dinners in those smart restaurants where the average wine glass seems able to hold the full bottle, should you slip up and try to fill it to the brim.

Downtown Carmel is full of narrow alleys and courtyards to explore. A lot of greenery is ever-present, with many flower pots to complement the abundance of trees. This time round, with a toddler and a stroller, it was physically difficult to go into many courtyards and smaller shops, never mind mentally insane to try to do so in the first place. However, just walking the streets and doing window shopping are pleasures here.

Truth be told, downtown Carmel is basically a strip mall, but at the same time it's a poster child for showing how beautifully it can be done, even in America, if a little bit of planning and strict regulations are applied. Although it is shop after shop after shop, the whole area is beautifully done. You never get the impression that a whole block was built at the same time or specifically designed to look differently. Styles vary widely from the modern to Victorian and non-descript. Presently living in a country where half-timbered buildings often still serves as family houses, the mock-Tudor efforts left me rather cold.

The shops are the natural trappings of the rich, I assume. Most are art galleries, antiques shops, or small boutiques. We never bought much here, save for a few postcards and books, but we loved looking around here. (For no-holds-barred shopping, we preferred outlets such as those found in Gilroy.)

I enjoyed driving and walking along the back roads of Carmel – I guess it would have been suburbs if the town were bigger. Although these must be some of the most expensive and sought-after properties in the world, the area still offers a healthy mixture of small and large houses, older and newer abodes in different states of repair. Although we saw many fine cars – American, Japanese, and German – many houses also have older cars that would have been regulated off European roads years ago. I was not left with the impression that these served as transportation to the staff, either.

Years ago, I picked up a free brochure with maps of Monterey and Carmel that indicated scenic drives and walks in the area. Fortunately, I brought it with me on this trip, as I could not find anything similar this time, despite looking specifically for it at various hotels and tourist offices. Included was a drive along the Carmel oceanfront – a system of one-way streets and cul-de-sacs makes the best route less than obvious on most maps, or indeed once on the road. It is like a mini 17 Mile Drive - just gratis, and with fewer people. It is a lovely road and even better done on foot. We always visited in winter, and although it has never been cold, we have not exactly made it out of the car and onto the beach yet.

The Carmel Mission from Mexican times is interesting to visit and to the south of the downtown area. It only takes a few minutes to see but does offer a bit of history to balance out the commercial aspects of downtown and the natural beauty of the whole region.

California’s Highway 1, which for long stretches literally hugs the Pacific Ocean, must be one of the world’s most scenic free drives. We are only familiar with the road south of San Francisco to Big Sur and a short section from Los Angeles to…Read More

California’s Highway 1, which for long stretches literally hugs the Pacific Ocean, must be one of the world’s most scenic free drives. We are only familiar with the road south of San Francisco to Big Sur and a short section from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara, but we are always happy to find ourselves on these stretches of roads again.

The best part of the road for us is the 25 miles from Carmel to Big Sur. Here the road is free from major through traffic, and no one seems in a hurry. For long stretches, the road was very quiet, and many of the plentiful marked viewing points were devoid of other cars and travelers. We could pull of the road at will and enjoy the vistas of the Pacific Ocean and the surrounding mountains. In contrast to previous visits, this time we could stare to the horizon without simultaneously thinking of the ten-hour flight across the date line that we would have to take a few days later to get back home in Tokyo.

We drove south without a specific destination or timeframe in mind. It is generally not a good idea to head towards Big Sur as such. It actually is a place and not just a generally reference to the region, but it is a small place. The first time through, it is not odd to think that it is too small to really be Big Sur and just to realize a few miles later that that must have been it. Passing through it on the way back without being sure whether the few odd buildings are Big Sur or not is not difficult either.

Several state parks along the road offer excellent hiking opportunities. Traveling with a baby and a toddler, we decided to pass them and do the enjoy-the-view-from-inside-the-car thing. Access to a number of beaches is also well-marked. Most of the beaches are in private hands, and landowners apparently do not take kindly to trespassers. (It is a real pity that Mexico lost control of California in the mid-nineteenth century. In Mexico, all beaches are national property. A hotel may pretend to own a part of the beach but must always allow free access to all beachgoers. If no walkway is provided for such purpose at the edge of the property, any visitor may pass through the hotel itself to get to the beach.)

Fortunately, we had picnic food with us, as eateries along the road are few and far between, and many looked slightly less than inviting, too. We briefly stopped at Pfeifer-Big Sur State Park, where we could access the beach after navigating a rather tricky, narrow road. Although the beach was pleasant and quiet, the wind picked up, and we soon beat a retreat to the car and back to Carmel. A few years ago, we pressed on a few miles further south to Julia Pfeifer Burns State Park. Here a waterfall drops onto the beach, and the view is altogether more spectacular and easier to enjoy.

I must confess – I love the German Autobahnen, where some sections are still without speed limits. In addition, I have acquired with indecent haste the German custom of habitually exceeding speed limits by 19kmph when safe to do so. At first, speed restrictions on American roads seemed a bit excessive to me, but after ten days on Californian roads, it seemed increasingly reasonable here. Apart from the occasional poor condition of the roads, the marshmallowy handling of many American cars probably makes it safer to go slow. However, I never got the impression of being pushed by faster cars approaching from behind, as is often the case in Germany, where you do not need a Ferrari or Corvette to act aggressive on country roads. Admittedly, we were far away from LA, but in the country that gave the world the term "road rage," I saw less aggressive on-road behavior than in Germany, where showing a fellow driver the finger can result in a hefty fine.

I generally enjoy listening to the radio while driving, and having found a great station while in San Francisco that plays lots of music and very few advertisements or talking in between, I never got around to actually utilizing the CD player in the car. The few CDs we picked up at the Virgin record store a few days earlier remained unopened in our suitcase in the hotel. BIG mistake when traveling Big Sur. Long sections of the road felt even loooonger because the only channels I could pick up were two religious evangelical senders. Both featured incredibly angry male preachers – like the cathedral paintings of the Italian Renaissance, describing the damnations of hell clearly is more pleasurable than preaching forgiveness or love. Then, suddenly and most mercifully, I had the BBC World’s Africa Service! I had not heard this sender since the early 1990s, so it brought back good memories. Although I am sure the journalists must have changed or moved on, most sounded exactly like the ones I listened to around two decades ago. (Some African leaders seemed to have hung on too!) Unfortunately, it was a rather short pleasure. As soon as we turned back north the BBC disappeared and the screaming preachers resumed – no way to enjoy the peace normally offered by two small children sleeping in the back seat.

A problem with Highway 1 south of Carmel is that there is no alternative return other than making a U-turn. It is necessary to go around 130 miles south before there is a connection with Interstate 101, on which it is possible to return faster to the Monterey Peninsula via the inland route. We have not been able to do so yet, but probably the best way to enjoy Highway 1 is to drive it all the way north to south and then fly back.

If you're in the area, you must take this scenic drive. We started in Monterey and just took in the various viewpoints (all marked on a handy map when you enter) as we drove through. Bird Rock doesn't have many birds on it,…Read More

If you're in the area, you must take this scenic drive. We started in Monterey and just took in the various viewpoints (all marked on a handy map when you enter) as we drove through.

Bird Rock doesn't have many birds on it, but it does have literally hundreds of sea lions and harbor seals sunning themselves on the rock. There are plenty of binoculars to see them.

We drove by a golf course on our journey and saw several deer standing along the course! Hope they weren't winged by a bad swing!

There's also the Lone Cypress, probably one of the most famous, if not the most famous tree in the world. It's said to be between 200 to 300 years old and seems to cling to bare rock.

This is just a great drive to take it a beautiful seaside community.

Our next stop, and actually the first stop that really warranted us to take some pictures, was Pismo Beach. In fact, if we had to do it over, we would have made Pismo Beach our first stop and spent a longer amount of time here.…Read More

Our next stop, and actually the first stop that really warranted us to take some pictures, was Pismo Beach. In fact, if we had to do it over, we would have made Pismo Beach our first stop and spent a longer amount of time here. We also switched over to Highway 1 after Pismo Beach. Until Pismo Beach we used Highway 101 to come north.

The sand at Pismo Beach was exquisite. It was so fine and white. Even after Waikiki, we found the sand at Pismo Beach to be much more pleasant to be walking around in. There was also next to no one on the Beach. It was quite peaceful.

I also saw a RV park at which you can reserve space. There was also a place to reserve a campsite. It is $5 to enter the beach with your vehicle. We just pulled into the parking lot behind a sea food restaurant and went on the beach without having to pay for our vehicle.

We stopped in Santa Barbara after a few hours of driving from LA. It seemed like a good idea to stretch our legs and walk around a bit. We found a public parking lot. For less than an hour the parking was free. Since our…Read More

We stopped in Santa Barbara after a few hours of driving from LA. It seemed like a good idea to stretch our legs and walk around a bit. We found a public parking lot. For less than an hour the parking was free. Since our PT cruiser's radio did not work, we decided to buy a Wireless transmitter so that we could hook up our iPod. This set us back $53.86 at the local Radio Shack. Make sure your rental car radio works before you leave the rental agency.

After walking around we found a great shop called Marcel Monsivais [531 State Street] (805) 963-8387. Being from the dark and wintry upstate New York, we were in much needed shading and protection from the sun. I bought a very nice hat for $24.73. The shop also had originally designed clothing by the owner.

We did not have to spend more than hour, as downtown Santa Barbara was not too enticing for us. We were glad we stopped but glad we did not linger too long.

One of the first stops you may get to is an outlet mall. Here are the directions from their website;Camarillo Premium Outlets is located just 45 minutes north of Los Angeles and 40 minutes south of Santa Barbara.Take Highway 101 to Camarillo, exit Las Posas…Read More

One of the first stops you may get to is an outlet mall. Here are the directions from their website;

Camarillo Premium Outlets is located just 45 minutes north of Los Angeles and 40 minutes south of Santa Barbara.
Take Highway 101 to Camarillo, exit Las Posas Road. http://www.premiumoutlets.com/outlets/directions.asp?id=20

If you don't live near a big outlet mall, this is one of the better ones. But be ready to spend at least half a day, unless you are really fast shopper. We found parking to be more difficult than necessary, mainly due to the sheer number of people. As much as we love shopping, we decided to focus on the drive on this trip. We did get a great burger at In-N-Out Burger near the outlet mall. As we live on the East Coast. It is a treat when we can get animal style at In-N-Out Burger. I have to say that I still think the In-N-Out Burger on Sunset is the best one.
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Highway 17 and Highway 1 are by far two of my favorites, I enjoy the drive down highway 17 due to the challenge and the thrill of driving my car there, and Highway 1 for the scenic views. Traveling any time during the weekend to…Read More

Highway 17 and Highway 1 are by far two of my favorites, I enjoy the drive down highway 17 due to the challenge and the thrill of driving my car there, and Highway 1 for the scenic views.

Traveling any time during the weekend to Carmel or the South Bay requires starting trip early in the morning no later than 10am. Traffic can get rough down Highway 17, and try to avoid the drive down during the rainy seasons as this is a real concern for landslides and mudslides. Since Highway 17 only has two lanes, one can imagine how tough the drive will get.

Be sure to stop by, if time permits, for fresh fruits around the inner citys during the drive. Cherries, oranges, and apples are freshly picked that day and are offer at bargain prices. You can even pick up a Bonsai tree if you like. Also, look out for cottages and unique building fascades while on the way down. About 25 to 30 miles out of Carmel, the scene changes to a playful background, i.e. the dolphins landmark. Of course, drive safe and be courteous to your fellow drivers.

From the East Bay, the drive took about 1 hour and 35 minutes to reach the Mission home at Carmel, CA.Close

Everyone must take the 17 mile drive from Carmel to Pebble Beach. The houses on the drive are really something. There are several golf courses to check out also. The ocean views are like none other. It's what makes California so…Read More

Everyone must take the 17 mile drive from Carmel to Pebble Beach. The houses on the drive are really something. There are several golf courses to check out also. The ocean views are like none other. It's what makes California so special!Close

The lone Cypress tree is where you must go for a photo shoot. If you've stayed in Carmel and not had your picture with the Lone Cypress, what's wrong with you anyway? It's a historical landmark, next to the ocean and everyone else…Read More

The lone Cypress tree is where you must go for a photo shoot. If you've stayed in Carmel and not had your picture with the Lone Cypress, what's wrong with you anyway? It's a historical landmark, next to the ocean and everyone else does it. Close