Thanksgiving in Napa and driving the California coast

This year we weren't able to fly home to see family for Thanksgiving and no one was coming to visit us so we decided to take advantage of the long weekend and take a mini vacation. We had been wanting to drive the coastal highway and visit Napa Valley for some time so we decided to just do it!  It was a lot of driving but it was a beautiful and relaxing trip. Here are the highlights. 

Wednesday 

DRIVING TO THE BAY AREA

We left work early on Wednesday and drove straight up the state via Hwy 5 - an 8 hour non-scenic drive. We hardly stopped at all other than to get gas and eat at Panda Express (best healthy travel fast food ever!). We made it to San Francisco around 8pm and checked into the hotel for the night.

Thursday
MARIN HEADLANDS AND THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE
Thursday morning we got up early, checked out of the hotel, grabbed a holiday Starbucks, and headed over to the Marin Headlands National Park area - a beautiful scenic area with views of the Golden Gate Bridge. Unfortunately it was foggy so we couldn't see too much of the bridge until a little later. Joey took lots of great pictures so be sure to check out the full album at the bottom of the post!

MUIR WOODS

Next, we went over to Muir Woods to see the giant redwoods and take a short hike.We spent the better part of the afternoon here, until about 3 o'clock.

SONOMA

After the hike we drove an hour outside SF to Sonoma to check into our bed and breakfast for the next couple days. We got washed up and walked over to a nearby restaurant for a late Thanksgiving dinner.

It was really strange not being at a family party for Thanksgiving - to be honest it was a little sad. However, we did get a delicious traditional meal complete with corn chowder, salad, turkey mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie. The only thing missing was the sweet potatoes...which I'm going to have to make very soon!

Friday

WINERIES IN NAPA AND SONOMA

The next morning we had breakfast at the B&B and head out to Napa Valley to visit some wineries. First stop - a tour at Robert Mondavi. We learned all about wine grapes, vineyards, and of course, the wine making process. Very interesting!

We went to a couple other wineries in Napa - one I forgot the name, Beringer, and Castillo - shaped like a castle with sheep!

Mmm...Look at those delicious little grapes!

On the way back to the B&B, we stopped at Benzinger in Sonoma for one last wine tasting. By this time we both realized that we don't really like wine tastings - it kind of makes us nauseous to try so many wines in such a short time while standing at a crowded bar - especially without food! I guess we're just not that sophisticated. Later that night we went out for another nice dinner at the girl and the fig (I love that name for some reason - but I was disappointed that I didn't eat any figs...) and called it an early night. I was exhausted!

Saturday

DRIVING DOWN THE PACIFIC COAST HIGHWAY

Saturday morning we had another breakfast at the B&B and headed for the coast. The Pacific Coast highway drive is 12+ hours so our plan was to drive as far as we could with short stops, stay the night somewhere in central CA, and continue to San Diego the next day.

Most of the northern part of the route was right along the coast. We pulled over quite a few times to look at the view and take pictures. I kind of hate the stop and go sightseeing though so after a while I just stayed in the car while Joey hopped out. It really was beautiful though.

NATURAL BRIDGES BEACH IN SANTA CRUZ

In Santa Cruz, we took a longer stop at the Natural Bridges state park to see the Monarch butterflies and tidepools at the beach. So pretty! Check out the album to see the thousands of butterflies that migrate here and nest in the eucalyptus trees this time of year.

SAN JUAN BAUTISTA MISSION

After lunch in Santa Cruz, we took a slight detour inland to visit a mission in San Juan Bautista. It was also very pretty. It kind of felt like Old Town in San Diego but better.

POINT LOBOS

With the daylight slipping away from us, we rushed back to the coast to visit Point Lobos State Reserve in Carmel. We took a short walk through the super cool Cypress grove and stayed to watch an unbelievably beautiful sunset. This stop was by far my favorite of the entire trip. If you are ever in the area, you MUST stop here!

After Point Lobos, we decided to call it a night and stay nearby in Monterrey. We went out for beer and pizza and tried to rest up for a long day of driving- as we were still 9 hours from home!

Sunday

COASTAL DRIVE BACK DOWN TO SAN DIEGO

Sunday morning we got up at 6am and headed down the coast. We still had a lot of driving to go and we wanted to make quite a few stops in Big Sur.

BIG SUR

The first stop in Big Sur (which is just a region in central California with a lot of state/national parks) was at Pfeffier State Park. We went on a short hike through a redwood grove to a small  waterfall. Nice but not super exciting.

Then we drove down a long windy road to Pfieffer State Beach - which is known for purplish pink sand. It didn't look very pink to us but maybe we came at the wrong time of day. It was a pretty beach though with lots of surfers. It kind of reminded us of Hawaii. Now that I think about it, we also thought a lot of the coastal drive was like South Africa's Garden Route....

Around lunchtime we stopped at a famous restaurant called Nepenthe & Cafe Kevah that overlooks the coast in Big Sur. What a view!

SAN SIMEON ELEPHANT SEALS
From there it was almost noon and we still had about 8 hours of driving to go! We put the pedal to the metal and zipped down the coast - which much fewer stops. In San Simeon we did stop to see some elephant seals basking in the sun  - but then it was back on the road!

SANTA BARBARA

Around 4pm we reached Santa Barbara and really needed a pit stop. We grabbed some snacks and drove through the main strip. No time to enjoy it though, we'll have to come back again some day!

The sun started setting shortly after as we neared LA and we caught another nice sunset. We cut inland and took the freeway home to arrive around 8:30pm.

Wow, what a trip! We really only had time to see the northern coast so we are planning on taking some short weekend trips back to Santa Barbara and some of the islands off LA. Although, all in all, I think we covered a lot of ground!

Check out the slideshow for more beautiful views and hilarious captions (ok, I cant guarantee that second part...)