Today was our big drive south to see all the pretty coastal sites. We set our alarms for 6am so that we could get an early start and headed out of the city. Our first stop was Natural Bridges State Park. We quickly noticed that the early morning sea fog was pretty thick still and the views of the natural arch and the beautiful beach were definitely not as nice as the blogs we’d used to plan this trip. Still, we knew the tide pools were the main reason for this early morning visit (timed with the low tide) so we ventured inside the park and started our hike to the pools.
Initially we went the wrong way and saw a few pools with anemone in them, but quickly came to a deep ravine that was impossible to cross. We headed back and referenced the map they gave us and found a trail that brought us up and through a small seaside community before coming back down to the shore.
These tidal pools were much larger — and better! We saw chunky red and purple sea stars and lots more anemone and crabs. It was gray and windy and the waves were pounding the shore.
After that, we headed back south on Pacific 1 and stopped in the little town of Carmel By The Sea. It really reminded us of 5th Avenue South in Naples — ritzy little shops all lining the street, fashionable couples and families walking the sidewalks, spending way too much money on food and souvenirs. There were some adorable thatched roof cottages and older buildings that were super cute to see, but we quickly realized that we weren’t buying anything and we really wanted to keep going to see more nature.
Next we headed to Bixby Creek Bridge — the famous arched bridge that is right on the coast. The drive there was pretty amazing with curving roads hugging the coast. We were able to stop at the viewing area and take a bunch of cool photos and selfies. Again, the wind was whipping but thankfully the sun was out and we had perfect viewing!
Then we kept driving south through the Big Sur area until we got to Pfeiffer Beach. Which — we soon realized that there are many things named “Pfeiffer” and we need to research who this person is/was! We found our way to the actual beach turnoff and it was a crazy 2-mile one lane road all the way down. We had to squeeze into little bump offs to let the traffic coming from the opposite direction pass. It was a short walk from the parking area, however, and the beach was fantastic! If there wasn’t 30mph+ winds we probably would have stayed longer. But… it was cold and windy. We took tons of photos and even found a protected dune to eat our sandwiches. There were actually people swimming and hanging out like it was a normal beach day, which was INSANE considering the wind.
Finally it was time to turn around and work our way home. We hadn’t really planned out dinner options, but we used the Find Me Gluten Free app and discovered the cutest option in Santa Cruz called Chubs Chicken. It was literally just a door on the side of the kitchen where you placed your order and there was a line of people. We both got fried chicken sandwiches and they were so so so good! We ate at a picnic table outside and just enjoyed the vibe of Santa Cruz.
We continued north and found a little pull off where we ran up to the top of a dune to see the sun set into the sea fog. Sunset might be at 8:20, but around here it’s always early because of the thick band of sea fog that moves in. It’s crazy! The rest of our drive was kind of dark and foggy, but we navigated our way through the outskirts of San Francisco back to our Airbnb like a pro!
