The first thing we did was the 17-mile drive which primarily winds around the different links of the Pebble Beach Golf Resort and surrounding hotels and homes. It costs $10 per car to enter the road. I, personally, was not very interested in seeing the golf courses, and the views of the ocean were nice, but nothing compared to the drive along Big Sur. The only thing that really caught my eye was the Lone Cypress tree which has been called one of the most photographed trees in America. It is the logo for Pebble Beach.
I much preferred the drive along Big Sur. Big Sur is a 90 mile long stretch of scenic Route 1 south of Carmel. It is a rugged coastline with misty mountains bordering seaside cliffs. There are many, many pull-offs to stop and enjoy the beautiful views and take pictures.
At one stop, we looked down from high above, happy to spot a family of harbor seals on the rocks below. I was very glad I brought my 400mm lens too!
At many of the pull-offs, there were steep paths down the cliffs to get closer to the water. I went down to see the unusual flowers and vegetation.
Vance preferred to stay up on the flats.
One of the landmarks I was looking forward to seeing was the Bixby Bridge.
The Bixby Bridge is a graceful concrete span bridge rising 260 feet above a canyon.
It was very impressive!
We also stopped at McWay Falls.
We parked at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park and took a short trail to a tunnel which brought us to a coastline trail to the falls.
We were surprised to see a small spout of water running over the cliffs onto the sands. I guess we were expecting something larger.
I think I was more interested in the writing in the sand, wondering how someone was able to get down to the beach below.
In the distance, on the cliffside, I could see areas with small, white flowers.
When I got closer, I realized these are the same white daisy-like flowers with blue/purple centers that are only sold in pots at the garden center at home, but grow wild here.
There is my handsome husband!
Walking back to the car, I admired this unusual flower spike growing in the rocky soil.
It was really quite beautiful!
We stopped for lunch at a wonderful restaurant named Nepenthe, high on the cliffs with a fantastic view of the mountains and ocean.
The food was just as amazing as the view!
When we got back to Monterey later in the afternoon, we decided to go inside and see the Monterey Aquarium. Unfortunately, so did most of the other tourists in town. But there were some amazing displays of sea life.
We finished the day the same way we did the day before - in the hotel lounge, by the fire, drinking Margaritas, and listening to a live jazz band.
On the morning of our third day, we packed up and headed to San Francisco, stopping along the way in Santa Clara to visit Vance's aunt, uncle, and cousins!
After MANY attempts, we finally managed to use the timer function
on the iPhone to get a group picture!
I enjoyed the natural beauty of the coastline in Big Sur, but I was anxious to get to our beautiful Airbnb apartment in a victorian house in the Pacific Heights section of the city.
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