Last Saturday I woke up and my first thought was “I NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE”. After sheltering in place, aka social distancing aka self quarantining, for three months I was getting tired of looking out at the elementary school across the street from my house. I needed some time away, a new view, a short escape. So I called a friend with a driver’s license and begged them to be my driver for the weekend.
Living in California is truly a blessing, with many beautiful sites to see, yet in my twenty seven years of life can you believe I’d never been to Big Sur? I’ve been trying to get myself there for years now but as an unlicensed human being with no desire to learn how to drive, it hasn’t really been an option. When I got the yes from my friend the next challenge was to find a rental car. Due to the pandemic, many rental car companies have fewer hours of operation. We called around to multiple rental companies with no luck until Enterprise came in clutch. My friend picked up the car, slid through my neighborhood to get me, and we were on the road to Big Sur.
Where to stay:
There are a lot of small hotels in the Monterey/Carmel area that are great places to stop and rest before continuing on to Big Sur. When looking for a hotel I wanted to treat myself a little bit and Carmel Mission Inn was the perfect choice. This Inn has large rooms with floor to ceiling windows, waking up to the beautiful trees and blue skies that surrounded us was truly a highlight of the trip.
What to see:
I did very little research on what there is to do in Big Sur before we arrived. Luckily my friend had been before and knew way more than I did. After a few minutes, we had the next 36 hours sorted.
Our first stop was 17 Mile Drive in Monterey. Since our hotel was in Carmel we were only a short drive from Monterey. We spent our first evening exploring the beaches and peeking into the HUGE mansions along the 17 Mile Drive. This does have an interest fee of $11 per car and it is totally worth it.
The next morning we woke up and continued our journey to Big Sur. Our first stop was Bixby Creek Bridge, luckily was made it before the fog. We kept driving south until we hit Pfeiffer Beach. This beach has beautiful soft white sand with an amazing view. Here we had to pay another entrance fee of $10, pics of the horse were free.
Our last stop was to the top of Nacimiento-Fergusson Road. Now I didn’t know this was a thing until my friend made a left and started driving up the mountain. At the top, I got one of the most beautiful views we’d seen all day. Being above the clouds made me feel like I was back on an airplane again. It is a beautiful spot to park and take in nature for a while if you can find it.
This drive for San Francisco was truly beautiful. I honestly had no idea there was water this blue in California. Bluer than the beaches in Seminyak, Bali. If you have the opportunity to visit Big Sur, do it!
I love last minute road trips and this looks like a fun one!