Follow Me Around California
I am sure that I am not the only person dreading Mondays. Especially during summertime, it is extremely hard for me to get back into a routine after a fun-filled weekend. On those days, I tend to daydream a lot, mostly about where I want to go next on vacation. I also like to reminisce about resecent trips I took.
My last trip happened right after I finished my internship at the end of May,when I hopped onto a plane in Long Beach to meet up with my family in San Francisco to then drive all the way down to Southern California. Even though I have done this route a couple times before, the beauty of the California coast never gets old.
My family and I started out in San Francisco, heading south to Half Moon Bay to then stay the night in Monterey, where we indulged in some great seafood, good wine, and fun conversations. The next day, we headed further down to San Luis Obispo, with stops in Big Sur and an elephant seal beach in San Simeon, which was my personal highlight of the trip.
When we finally arrived in San Luis Obispo, we were being referred to visit the local farmers’ market. And what can I say, that market was no disappointment. A stretch of approximately more than a mile during the SLO downtown area was reserved for booth after booth with food, merchandise, and entertainment. We strolled around the market all night and enjoyed the local food and fun atmosphere.
The next and final day of the short escape out of everyday life was spent driving down to Santa Barbara, where we had a quick stop in Solvang, a really cute little Danish town, which is known for some good wine tasting. Unfortunately, that day it was so hot that no one was in the mood to actually drink some fine wine, so we ended up having Italian gelato instead before we headed back to Huntington Beach, the final destination.
But enough said, see yourself and enjoy what the state we call our home has to offer:
(I apologize for the sound quality!)
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Anne-Kathrin Schulte, is a contributor for CaliforniaGermans.com. She writes on her personal experience of the American Dream as well as on working as an au pair in CA. She was born and grew up in Düsseldorf, Germany, where she completed her degree as a state-approved Kindergarten teacher. After her au pair engagement in the US and a quick return to Germany she decided to attend university in California and moved back to the United States. She has been living in Southern California since 2011.
If you would like to contact Anne-Kathrin, please send an email to californiagermans(at)gmail.com and place her name in the subject line.
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American newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst. The landmark offers a variety of different tours, and I would recommend anyone planning on visiting to reserve a tour in advance. We didn’t do so, and we were lucky that they had still open spots for the “Designing the Dream Tour,” which guides you through the guest houses and castle bedrooms. Visitors of this tour also get to see the beautiful gardens and the amazing indoor pool, where real gold is embedded in the grounds. For $30, the price of the tour was totally appropriate for what you get to see up on the hill and along the beautiful green hills. Tourists also receive a wonderful coastal view. All in all, I can recommend anyone to visit and take a tour.
After we marked Hearst Castle off our bucket list, we were really excited to continue driving along the coast to Big Sur. I have visited Big Sur many, many years ago, and I remembered it being incredibly beautiful. But once we actually reached the scenic part, it was beyond breathtaking. I can’t describe it; you actually have to see it. Even the pictures I took don’t do the real image any justice. I am sure anyone of you who has taken a trip to Big Sur can relate. We made countless stops along the road to take pictures, film, and just enjoy the beautiful scenery. At some point, we had dinner at a little cute restaurant with view over the ocean, in the middle of nowhere. After dinner, we watched the sunset over the coast while we enjoyed amazing chocolate fudge we had bought at Hearst Castle (I can definitely recommend their deserts too, great stuff!). We then made our way up to Monterey, where we fell totally exhausted but happy into our beds.
The next day, we decided to do the 17-Mile Drive, which leads along Pebble Beach. It took us about 40 minutes from Monterey to get there. Park admission by car is $10, bikes and pedestrians get in for free. What didn’t come to our advantage that day were some pretty strong winds, which is a little bit of an understatement. I mean, it was still worth it, even though we mainly just jumped out of the car at a couple of the many view points to take some quick pictures. The water up in Northern California, especially in this area, is just plain gorgeous. It has the turquoise twist we don’t really get to see out here in the south. After we made it through the “storm,” we started making our way back to Huntington Beach. We got to enjoy the beautiful Big Sur coast once more, until we finally arrived back in Orange County.