4/15/09 - Big Sur, CA (Scott)

Another day down in our attempt to eat our way down the coast of the California.

We woke up early today and had to force our bodies out of the most comfortable bed ever created. We took the advice of our waitress from the Crown & Anchor last night and ate breakfast at a little diner called First Awakenings right in Cannery Row about three blocks from our hotel. We switched it up a bit and we actually ate something sort of healthy -- oatmeal with fresh fruit. It was incredibly satisfying.

After we were fed and watered, we briefly entertained the notion of wandering back through the Aquarium (our tickets were good for two days) but we instead decided to return to our room and enjoy the luxury for a little longer. We hit the road by 10am. In honor of Grandma Arlene, Ashlee guided Hamish north along the seafront to the tip of Monterey -- our guidebook named the area "Otter Point." Sadly, the wind was blowing so hard and the sea was so foamy, that we didn't spot any of our furry-faced friends. The view was gorgeous though. I've never seen water such a deep blue.

Our agenda for the day was to drive from Monterey to Big Sur, where we are staying for the night. Ashlee tackled the 40 miles or so of driving today, leaving me free to snap pictures of the big beautiful ocean every 10 seconds or so. If any of you have never driven down Highway 1 through Big Sur before, it is even better than Mr. Toad's Wild Ride -- it is spectacular. The highway hugs the ocean as it twists and turns through the lush green hills. The speed limit alternates between 40 and 50mph with many 20mph switchbacks mixed in. Every mile or so there is a turnout where gawkers can stop and admire the view without completely holding up traffic. We also passed several large houses that were perched very precariously on cliffs overlooking the ocean. If Ashlee and I are ever super-rich, which is highly unlikely, and we don't give all our money away, which would be highly likely if we had any, I'd like to own a home there.

Like I said, the scenery was simply breath-taking. It made me really nostalgic for the churning coasts of Ireland -- Cliffs of Moher, anyone? In fact, I wonder what I would have thought of Ireland if I had come here to Big Sur first.

Our first stop of the day was at Nepenthe Restaurant. Since I'm not exactly sure how to describe it other than saying that it was a restaurant high up overlooking the ocean, here's a description of it from their website:

Perched on the edge of the continent, high above the Pacific, watched over by the majestic Santa Lucia Mountains sits Nepenthe Restaurant. This Mecca of poets, artists, travelers and vagabonds has served guests for fifty years, opening for business on April 24, 1949.

Sitting on the terrace, enjoying a glass of wine, an Ambrosia Burger, or one of our exceptional homemade desserts is a quintessential California experience. The first time visitor to the Central Coast will not want to miss it. Once you have visited, you are destined to return.

The food was tasty (their daily special was a hot pastrami sandwich) and their desserts homemade, but you really come for the view. I can't really put it in words and I don't think the pictures we took will do it justice, but it was friggen amazing.

We got to the restaurant right at the beginning of the lunch rush. Unfortunately most of the good seats along the window overlooking the cliffs were taken, and the elderly host seemed a bit overwhelmed as he tried to seat us in the center of the restaurant. Ashlee, the intrepid traveler, spied a back patio that was completely devoid of guests. She curiously asked if we could sit out there. The host replied that the weather was too nasty for us to sit out there comfortably -- to which we replied that we could stick it out. Once seated on the choicest spot out there, we looked at one another and didn't know what the man was talking about. Sure there was some wind that would pick up every now and then, but we were all fleeced out and the space heaters were blasting away. We were happy as clams. Sure enough, once we took our seats, several clumps of other guests came out and sat with us. Ashlee, the trailblazer. No one tells her no.

After lunch, we headed back down Highway 1 to our motel. We got checked in and tossed our bags into our room. Then we strapped on our new REI cross-trainers and hit the trails. Before setting out, we asked the guy at the front desk (do motels have concierges?) if we could get a trail map. In response, he gave us a little slip of papers with these "directions":

In the south westerly corner of the campground you will discover a break in the fence. Pass on through and hang a right at the tangle of fallen trees, following the trail that climbs up the hill. This will lead you to a mysterious High Oak Meadow. Trek through the High Meadow, which leads to a redwood forest. Keep your eyes open. Shortly, there is a marked trailhead. Take that trail to the right. Soon after, you will come to a fork in the trail...if you head right (up the mountainside) you'll do the Buzzard's Roost Loop, a moderate-difficult hike which ascends to an overlook of the sea (approx 2 hrs).

What is this, we thought, a preschool scavenger map? Shortly after setting out, we discovered that forests contain tons of "tangles of fallen trees." Twenty minutes into our hike we realized that we were headed in completely the wrong direction. Eventually we sort of blazed our own trail -- there was a slight path -- up the side of the hill and we emerged into the "mysterious High Oak meadow." It was an extremely peaceful-looking glen. The long grass was undulating in the wind and the sun was shining generously, bringing out the color of the wildflowers. I asked Ashlee if she would take a picture of me lying in the sunlight and we could later superimpose into the picture shining flecks on my skin Edward Cullen-style. She said no.

Like I said, we eventually did find the path and we entered the redwood forest. Just like in Big Basin Redwoods State Park, we were completely overwhelmed by the natural beauty of nature -- a little redundant, I guess. These trees are just so humongous! My buddy Garrett told me that there's a similar redwood forest just north of San Francisco (John Muir Woods?) that George Lucas used to film the Endor Moon scenes of Return of the Jedi. I felt as small as an ewok navigating my way along the trail. All in all, I'd say that Ashlee and I covered just about 4 miles -- we must have been hiking for 3 hours. We didn't really intend to complete the Buzzard's Roost trail and make it to the view of the sea -- in fact at one point we were just about to turn back when we met a family coming down the trail and they assured us that we were "kinda almost" near the top. Ashlee and I muscled on -- and we are glad we did. There's nothing better than making it to the top of a large hill (mountain?) and admiring the view.

Needless to say, our little hike helped us work up an appetite. We made it back to our motel room, cleaned up a bit, and then headed to dinner at the little bar next to the front office. The bar food hit the spot and they had Newcastle on tap. Awesome.

We're back in our room at the moment. Unfortunately we don't have television in this place -- I guess that means we'll have to either read or -- gasp -- talk to each other tonight. Just kidding...we'll be fine.

Tomorrow we will be exploring Hearst Castle and then staying in Cambria for more otter-spotting. Adieu until then.