Many a Californian would agree that packing up a car and hitting the road is something everyone should experience at least once in their lifetime. The appeal of California’s roadways is undeniable: from artsy, relaxed enclaves, surfing meccas, urban coastal communities, rolling farmlands to lofty sequoia forests, road trippers can find it all.
Whether you decide to take a month-long expedition or complete a modest coastal loop as we did, the Golden State is made for road trips!
Husband, an Eagle Scout and three-time climber of Mt Whitney, loves adventure and wanted to do a road trip. I, dear reader, am what you might call an indoor cat. I am not great with long stretches of time in the car – my threshold is about 3 hours, then I begin scratching at the doors to get out.
Of course, we would need a playlist for the drive! We assembled some of our favorite road songs and loaded them onto Spotify. At the bottom of this post I share the link to our road trip playlist.
It’s certainly easier to pick music for a playlist than it is to decide where to stop, shop and/or stay. After some trip planning negotiations, we finally settled on an itinerary with 3 to 4 hours driving time between stops, overnighting in Morro Bay, Monterey and Carmel and then heading south to stop in Pismo Beach before continuing home.
Day 1
Delany Road Diary
04:30 am (PDT)
Destination: Morro Bay, CA
Husband and I woke up in the dead of night and after a (let’s just call it “spirited”) car-packing debate, we hit the road, planning to be well north of the Los Angeles basin before morning rush hour traffic could jam us up. As the sun came up, we were near the little seaside town of Montecito and breakfast was sounding like an excellent idea.
I found this cute little bakery café online and it seemed to check all of the boxes:
not too far off the 101 freeway, a varied menu, open early. It seemed like the right choice.
07:15 am (PDT)
We pulled up to the bakery and saw there was a long line of customers, usually a good sign, especially on a weekday morning.
Spontaneity is great, but a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants approach sometimes misses the all-important vetting process. Case in point: after waiting in line for over ½ hour, this busy eatery served us a bland, so-so egg and cheese burrito and an inedible brownie. We cruised back onto the freeway and we wondered what we were missing. Was there a secret menu? Were there diamonds in the coffee? Why the long line? We just couldn’t figure it.
Travelling has its let-downs. They are just part of the experience. Not everything on a trip is going to be great, but heck – it is just one meal out of my life. I scrolled my phone, scouting restaurants and looking for things to do, determined to redeem myself from my disastrous breakfast pick.
08:30 am (PDT)
I’ve never really subscribed to the “journey is just as important as the destination” philosophy, but as we travelled to Morro Bay, we fell into a pattern of comfortable silences interspersed with Husband’s stories of childhood visits with his aunt and uncle there: exploring the Back Bay, hanging out at the shore, collecting shell and rock keepsakes, making candles with his aunt using sand taken from the beach, heading off to his uncle’s “secret fishing spot” and bringing back a catch for dinner.
Morro Rock, Morro Bay’s sentinel promontory, loomed in the distance, calling us to come and explore. What I didn’t know at the time was that doing nothing in particular while being outside enveloped in nature, would climb to the top of our memories from this trip.
We parked at the foot of the Rock, donned our jackets and got out into cold sunshine, the breezy air salty, crisp and bracing. I felt the remains of my everyday stressors wafting away with the wind. We walked along the base of the rock and then sat on a bench and talked about the days ahead. So many things to look forward to! I started to think there might be something to that “enjoy the journey” thing after all. I relaxed into the captivating beauty of the bay.
06:30 pm (PDT)
Afternoon faded toward evening and we checked into The Inn at Morro Bay.
Quaint and cozy, the inn is on the south shore of Morro Bay, a short drive to shops and restaurants but secluded enough for quiet and privacy. Hunger soon drove us back into town to search for a place for dinner.
The Great American Fish Company
1185 Embarcadero
Morro Bay, CA
(805) 772-4407
We chose The Great American Fish Company for its bayside location and fun “Under the Sea” decor – aquariums, fish nets, large plastic sharks, vintage ship wheels. I loved it! The swordfish, smothered with a delightful caper shrimp cream sauce, was out of this world good! I didn’t think anything could top that, but then our white chocolate strawberry cheesecake arrived. This is a restaurant we would definitely visit again if we’re ever in the neighborhood.
We went back to our hotel with happy, full tummies. Sleepiness was tugging us toward bed but we resisted and lingered on our balcony to watch the gorgeous sunset.
The next morning broke cold and misty. We sat feet-up on our terrace, drinking our coffee and watching the fog tumble across the Bay, the keening cries of seagulls filling the air.
It was tempting to lounge all morning; however, we could not dawdle. We were off to Monterey today, so we packed our suitcases. We got to the car and saw that the seagulls had successfully used it for target practice. (I will spare you the visual.) Eww! We made a side trip to the car wash and hit the road again, deciding to drive inland for a change of scenery.
Day 2
Delany Road Diary
10:30 am (PDT)
Destination: Monterey, CA
Highway 41 is a picturesque thoroughfare that follows Morro Creek, passing rolling hills, farmland, and cutting through a steep mountain pass known as “the Devil’s Gap” before connecting with the 101 Freeway in the city of Atascadero.
We’d gotten a late start but no matter, this leg of our road trip was the shortest – only 2 ½ hours. Driving the tree-lined, winding road, listening to our playlist, we again fell into comfortable silence sprinkled with free-flowing conversations about all kinds of things: a movie we had just watched, books we wanted to read and where the heck is Jimmy Hoffa’s body? It is kind of amazing how clearly you can hear your own thoughts when you are away from all the drama of everyday life.
Positioned along the sweeping crescent of its namesake bay, Monterey’s vibe blends the cycles of nature with the tides of history. Restaurants and shops now inhabit the former corrugated canneries that lined Monterey’s rocky coast.
We decided to drive around the town to get familiar with the area before we visited the Monterey Bay Aquarium. John Steinbeck signs and statues were everywhere honoring his famous works, Cannery Row and its sequel, Sweet Thursday, books about the area and the hardscrabble characters making a living in the canneries during the Great Depression and post-World War II. Husband, a Steinbeck enthusiast, excitedly pointed out various locations from his favorite paperbacks as we drove past.
Just as we were entering a parking lot, Spotify played a song from our wedding that I had just thrown into the playlist on a whim.
Husband teased, “That’s not a driving song!”
We let the song play to the end as we sat listening in the parked car.
Housed in the former site of the Hovden Canning Factory, the lobby of the Monterey Bay Aquarium pays homage to the building’s origins with an interactive exhibit, complete with boilers and other artifacts of the industry. Immigrant workers were called to their work by a distinctive whistle. There is one on display that you can pull for yourself.
When we visit any aquarium or museum, we like to walk to the far end of the attraction and work our way back toward the front exit, arriving there at our most tired. Accordingly, we ascended the stairs to the 2nd floor level and stepped into the Open Sea exhibit.
As our eyes adjusted to the darkened room, we found ourselves in the center of an oval vestibule with a 360° school of swimming Pacific sardines, encircling us, immersing us in their world.
Time stood still in each exhibit. We made our way down the stairs on a journey into the briny deep, surprisingly thriving with life.
With its 28-foot windows, this is one of the world’s tallest aquariums, home to over 35,000 marine animals and fish. We were mesmerized by the giant kelp forest swaying peacefully as sea water flows in and out as it is cycled through the nearby bay.
We ventured outside to the observation deck overlooking the bay and great tide pool. An invigorating breeze swept the deck and greedy seabirds hovered around us, darting in and out, angling for a handout. “Stay away from our car!” Husband ordered, as the gulls squawked indignantly back at his waving finger.
It was nearly dusk when we left the aquarium and drove to the Spindrift Inn, a Victorian jewel box of a hotel. Our romantically appointed room came complete with a fireplace and French doors opening onto a terrace with a view of Cannery Row.
The Spindrift Inn
652 Cannery Row
Monterey, CA
(831) 646-8900
It had been a very full day and we were ready for a low-key evening out. We looked across the street and spotted the Salty Seal Brewpub and Sports Bar. Perfect.
The Salty Seal was lively and casual, serving good English pub food and a signature drink called a Rumswizzle, an orange, pineapple and rum concoction I couldn’t get enough of (though I might have gotten a little more than I needed). There was live music from a band called Mixtape, we played darts and a game of pool – a really fun evening!
The Salty Seal Brewpub and Sports Bar
653 Cannery Row
Monterey, CA
(831) 920-2327
Arm in arm, we weaved back across the street to the Spindrift and to our room.
I floated off to sleep with undersea visions flooding my dreams. New adventures called us the next morning: the stunning 17-mile drive at Pebble Beach, then on to our final road stop in Pismo Beach the following morning.
That’s in part 2 of The Delany Road Diary. Click on the link below:
https://thetravelingdelanys.com/call-of-the-road-part-2/
Here’s the link to Spotify to add the Traveling Delanys’ Road Trip Playlist:
I can’t wait for the Part 2!
Thank you so much – miss you girlie!
I love it up there and you just made me ask my hubby to go again
You should! Love you guys.
TTD