coasting along

The main reason I work out is so I can eat whatever I please. I'm not talking about chocolate cake for every meal but if the moment strikes me, I want to eat whatever it is and not feel guilty and awful. Big Sur Bakery was one of the checkpoints in my simple coastal road trip list. As we left Deetjens, I mentioned it to Matt but we were unsure if we had passed it the previous day or if it was still north of where we began that morning. Keeping things laid back we decided we'd stop if we saw it, if we didn't then we'd have to forget about it. We had an entire coastline to see and wanted to make it to San Francisco by that evening.

Luckily about 10 minutes down the road we found the bakery. We also spotted a sign that said the next gas station wasn't for 40 miles so we figured we could do with a snack and a fill. The bakery was lovely AND they had my favorite muffin, lemon poppy seed with icing. I didn't get coffee only because I still had a full cup for Deetjen's in the console. Even though we had only been on the road for 10 minutes, we took a break and walked around the garden and sat in the sun to eat our treats. The garden was eclectic and hodge-podge with different little sculptures and trinkets. We filled up and off we went. Side note: there was another gas station only 5 or so minutes away so the sign was completely wrong. Nonetheless, we were happy to have stopped.

The fourth day was mostly spent touring the coast. We stopped often to take photos and walk along the beach and cliffs. At Garrapata we walked down to the beach and spoke to a few others who others who traveled near and far to walk along the coast. A few more miles down the road we stopped again. Here we walked along the cliffs and started jogging when we heard echoes of otters barking. We found a stop where we could carefully climb to the edge of the cliffs to look for those otters we had heard. Only minutes before we headed back up the rock because of the strong tide and the fear that the waves would soon reach us, we saw a sea otter flipped around and floating on his back along the waves. We realized that the echoes we heard were bouncing off of the cliffs from a small island further out in the ocean. The otters were out of our reach but at least we got to see one before we had to get back in the car.
 

Knowing that I couldn't visit California without one actual beach day, we set our minds to Carmel-by-the-sea. The small charming town was not at all what I had imagined. At my previous job I had worked with a client who was holding her wedding here. I had thought it would be a much more built up town. I was happily surprised that it was a low-key beach stop where dogs over numbered people on the beach. We laid out for a few hours and climbed a few trees for an impromptu photo shoot.

Off again we stopped briefly to enjoy lunch at Michaels on Main in Soquel. Soquel was an odd little town but we were happy to be out of the car and eating having that we were absolutely starving. This place had a sure trend of putting garlic in everything. We figured since we were both eating it, the other wouldn't be able to tell. We also hit up happy hour which meant a cool beer for me and icy margarita for Matt.
The sky was bright and sunny the entire day. That was until we started seeing signs that we were approaching San Francisco. I almost wanted to just turn around. We had sun and warmth the entire trip thus far and now it was dark and gloomy. If this was how San Francisco was, I didn't want to stay. Once we got to the Hotel Majestic though, my mood had completely changed. This boutique hotel was right up my alley. It seemed like a throw back in time and I was happy to be out of the car and staying for a full two days without having to drive. As I unpacked, Matt went down to deal with parking the car and surprise me with a Majestic drink and snack. A Majestic was a lime, basil, vodka type drink which was exactly what I was in the mood for. Accompanying the drink were spicy strawberries and sliced apples. This set the tone for our Cajun meal at The Elite Cafe that night.
The Elite Cafe was on Fillmore Street in San Francisco where many restaurants and stores could be found. The art deco styled restaurants boasted perfectly made Manhattans so we started there. I ordered seafood gumbo to start and jonnycakes as my meal. Matt enjoyed jambalaya which came in a huge iron skillet, made for two. We finished the meal with a trio of sorbet and two cappuccinos. Our waiter was a true gentlemen and after we finished we learned that the restaurant had actually closed over an hour ago but he didn't want to rush our meal! Full and exhausted from the day we walked back to the hotel. I say walked but really we climbed. The only thing I knew about the city was it's legendary hills which I really got a taste of the following day.

*Most, if not all of the photography shown for the next few days and linked to this trip was taken by Matt. You can see more of his work here.