California, Here We Come!

Oh, you wanted to relax on this 9 day honeymoon?

Day 1 - San Francisco

No time for jet lag

Staying at the Marriott Vacation Club Pulse made walking everywhere we wanted to go so easy, plus the neighborhood was clean and seemed extremely safe (compared to friends' iffy reviews of San Fran). We woke up early and headed to Boudin Bakery to carbo-load before our first day on the West Coast! Following along Embarcadero we arrived just in time to catch our ferry over to Alcatraz Island (one of the only Javier-requested activities of the trip).

After escaping the prison, we headed back up through the waterfront to check out the smelly sea lions at Pier 39 and buy some souvenirs. We then escaped the tourist traps and had my favorite lunch of the trip at Surisan, a rec from a local foodie friend of mine. Fancy ramen noodles and bacon? YES please!

Just keep walking... over to Fisherman's Wharf to pickup our rental bikes and ride along the beach to the Golden Gate Bridge. On our way back, we stopped at the Palace of Fine Arts for a beautiful walk then in Ghirardelli Square for a quick cocktail before returning the bikes and freshening up at the hotel.

We walked south through North Beach to Little Italy for dinner at Tony's Pizza Napoletana. No reservations at the restaurant, but always pizza to go at their Slice House next-door. Must. Eat. This. Pizza.

Day 2 - San Fran --> Napa

Did I mention Javier's big toe is broken and all of this was with him hobbling around in a boot?

Luckily we were able to catch the massive Saturday farmer's market at the Ferry Building where I would have eaten for the rest of the trip but could only handle brown sugar waffles and El Porteño empanadas ... and lattes... and ice cream.

Full hearts & bellies from San Fran, we headed by car on a roundabout drive through Sausalito and Muir Woods to Napa Valley. I highly recommend making a parking reservation for Muir Woods but per my last email re: Javier's boot, I was trying to save our hiking adventures for Big Sur.

We spent our first night in Napa Valley at the quaint Bel Abri Inn with ensuite fireplace and jacuzzi, walking distance from downtown Napa. After an evening stroll along the waterfront and through Veterans Park, we enjoyed an awesome truffle-icious dinner at Torc.

Day 3 - Napa

For Party-ers

Our first full day in Napa was dedicated to the Platypus bus tour where we made friends who shared our love of drinking wine, and drinking wine, and also drinking wine!

Winery #1: Clos Pegase - beautiful space & a nice way to start the day with easy-drinking wines.

[insert unnecessary additional bottle of wine with our new friends on the bus ride to...]

Winery #2: Hans Fahden - the expert-led tasting of some really great wines was conducted on a tour around the property, starting at the breathtaking outdoor setting with a lily pond and leading into a unique cave. This was my favorite winery of the day!

[insert REALLY unnecessary additional bottle of wine on bus to...]

Winery #3: Madrigal - from what I can remember (AKA pictures), this is a gorgeous vineyard with a cool barrel room and we bought a few bottles so I guess we liked the grapes!

We stumbled our way to Thomas Keller's Bistro Bouchon for dinner ("just water, thanks!") and to our new home at a hotel in Yountville, although we were honestly ready for bed post Winery #2.

Day 4 - Napa

For Love-ers

After a heavy drinking, party-vibe day, we were ready for it to feel more like our honeymoon! The day started at sunrise with a surreal hot air balloon ride from downtown Yountville. There were a bunch of companies to choose from around the same price, but we had a great experience with Napa Valley Aloft. Even our "pilot"(?) was snapping photos of the gorgeous morning with visibility all the way to San Francisco!

Once the last few drops of yesterday's alcohol had been soaked up by The Boon Fly Cafe's breakfast (with a side of donuts, duh), we were ready for more wineries!

Winery #1: Caymus - there's a reason it's famous! The property was beautiful and the staff was so knowledgeable and welcoming. We already finished the bottles of Zinfandel we brought home, and the only regret of the trip was not buying more!

Winery #2: Clos Du Val - I didn't have any real expectations about this one, but a friend suggested we check it out. It was possibly the best experience we had out of all the wineries we visited! The space was gorgeous and the wine was SO good. Going on a Monday helped too, because we basically had the place to ourselves for an overly-ambitious photo shoot.

Winery #3: RH Wine Vault at the Ma(i)sonry Building - not really a winery but we tasted wine and ate cheese, so that counts, right?

It's amazing how much more we remember enjoying without the wine roadies... Dinner at the RH Restaurant was like dining in a catalog. I would say only choosing one between the RH Wine Vault and the Restaurant makes more sense, since they are attached to one another (and a bit expensive).

Day 5 - Monterey

*saves Carmel-by-the-Sea Zillow search*

After the 3-hour drive from Napa, we were obviously ready for delicious Mediterranean lunch at Dametra Cafe followed by Javier's sweet tooth basically clearing out Cottage of Sweets. Walking around Carmel-by-the-Sea in the fall was so peaceful, I wish we could have stayed longer.

We spent the afternoon taking too many photos (feat. our quintessential white Mustang convertible) along the 17-Mile Drive, from Moss Beach to the Lone Cypress to the Pebble Beach golf course, before checking in at our hotel in downtown Monterey.

We walked through much of downtown, including catching their Tuesday farmer's market, then all the way over to Cannery Row and along the coastline back to Old Fisherman's Wharf for dinner and, more importantly, Monterey Bay Creamery for dessert.

Day 6 - Monterey --> Big Sur

Dare I say our favorite part of Monterey was breakfast at Crêpes of Brittany before leaving for Big Sur? I dare.

How is this place in the US?

I was sort of bummed at first that the pandemic limited our travel plans and we decided to stay domestic. Thankfully, going to Big Sur made us feel as if we were international! We started the day at Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, where we followed the park map to check out the top spots, including the not-smelly-like-San-Fran's-Pier-39 Sea Lion Point.

Next stop, Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park for some massive redwoods including its largest, "The Colonial Tree," then Big Sur Bakery for (you guessed it) more carbs.

We spent the rest of the afternoon at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, starting with a short hike to McWay Falls. At this point, I would have felt comfortable checking Big Sur hiking off of our list, but a local tipped us off to another spot and I am SO HAPPY for Javier being a trooper in his little boot.

Turning off Route 1 at a relatively unmarked point to Partington Cove (there is a sign visible once you're out of the car) led us to a long downhill walk to reach a breathtaking cove with tall waves beating against the rocks. On the way back up, we detoured across a wooden bridge to a (kind of scary) tunnel leading to another unreal cove with crashing waves and other not-smelly sea lions.

The long (now uphill) walk left us ready for happy hour and early dinner at Nepenthe, which had surprisingly great food for a place that would definitely stay busy for the views and ambience alone.

Somewhere between #glamping and a crappy hotel, we spent the night at the Big Sur Lodge located within Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park. It was definitely a cool, disconnected experience and much cheeper than the Instagram-worthy glamping options (most of which also had a 2-night minimum stay).

Day 7 - Paso Robles

Pictures do not do this drive justice.

We basically woke with the sun and hit Rt 1 with coffees from the "hotel" cafe for what was quite literally the most stunning drive of my life (potentially the most nerve-wracking for my husband, the driver). The fog was lifting as the sun warmed the air along the steep cliff-lined Pacific Coast Highway. (We stopped basically every 3 miles to get out at each view point for pictures.)

First stop in Paso Robles was at one of our favorite winemakers, Austin Hope & Treana Tasting Cellar. A charcuterie box and delicious wine tasting overlooking the vineyard from our private cabana was the perfect way to get back on the wine-horse after Napa.

Next stop, Sculpterra. The pictures online really got me with this one. The grounds were unbelievable. The wine/ experience... not so much.

With about 2 hours at each winery, we were ready to go from being on the wine-horse to the actual-horse. Next stop, Central Coast Trailrides at Cass Winery. Paying extra for the sunset ride was the BEST decision to bring on the romance! The "cowgirls" helped us settle in on horseback, with a few other couples at varying levels of cowgirl/cowboy-ness. A long warm-up ride readied us to climb a relatively steep hillside for a mind-blowing view of the sunset over the mountains and vineyards.

Picking a restaurant among so many great options was tough, but we thoroughly enjoyed a Spanish-style dinner at La Cosecha in downtown Paso (as the locals call it). Overall, Paso Robles definitely doesn't do wine tasting how Napa does, but the vineyards were similarly beautiful, the downtown area was full of things to do, and the weather was even better!

Day 8 - Los Angeles

FINALLY made it to In & Out.

No breakfast today in preparation for the lunch of all west coast lunches. In & Out Burger on our drive to LA was everything it was cracked up to be. Wish the east coast would take a hint on that one.

We started our visit to LA after checking in at the Courtyard Santa Monica with a Friday afternoon drive (woof, traffic.) around the city - through Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills, and along winding Cahuenga Pass to get a view of Hollywood. I was bummed the Griffith Observatory was closed for a private event, but our self-guided tour worked out alright!

Early for our reservation at Pizzeria Mozza, we stumbled into Osteria Mozza next door for a drink/ pre-dinner snack. We were blown away by the generosity of the bartender and locals we met at the bar - picking up our tab and sending extra bubbly in celebration of our honeymoon! Followed by the same hospitality over dinner with delicious apps & gourmet pizzas. Shoutout to Eat My Critique for the best recommendations (as always).

Day 9 - Santa Monica/ Venice

And on the last day, we rested. Sort of.

Two farmer's markets in nine days didn't seem like enough, so we headed to Santa Monica's farmer's market (#3) for breakfast and a stroll, which turned into a LONG barefoot walk along the basically empty, cool sand beach. We ended up in Venice Beach, passing through the packed skate park and Muscle Beach before heading off the sand to have a "very LA" light lunch at one of the many Lemonade Restaurants followed by a "very LA" dessert at Blue Star Donuts.

We shopped our way back to the hotel for posh dinner at 1212 Santa Monica followed by not-so-posh Cheesecake Factory dessert in bed :)