Big Sur....

About 100 miles south of San Francisco begins the spectacular Monterey Peninsula which includes the city of Monterey & the towns of Pacific Grove & Carmel by the Sea.

We stop in Carmel which I love! Carmel is a quaint, charmingly beautiful, ocean side town with white sandy beaches & hundreds of shops, art galleries & restaurants. I think of Carmel as being somewhere between a quaint European city & something out of a fairy tale. With it's "dollhouse Tudor" cottages tucked enchantingly into the forest overlooking the ocean.

We stop for lunch (as we have on every visit) at the Hog's Breathe Inn. We love to sit out in the courtyard by the fireplaces... it is cozy, rustic & has great ambiance. For lunch we have an amazing artichoke soup (made from artichokes grown in nearby Castoville) & delicious dungeness crab cakes! After walking off some of our lunch by checking out the shops & soaking in the local culture we are on our way......

We are following the Pacific Coast Highway to the Hearst Castle in San Simeon. I am breathless, as I watch the majestic Santa Lucia mountains erupt from the sea & climb to what seems like the clouds, hugging a road that has been carved out of the cliffs. Every twist in the road reveals another stunning view! I know now that the star of this trip is the journey, not the destination. This spectacular drive along the breathtakingly beautiful rocky coast, stretching 90 miles from Carmel to San Simeon awed & amazed me & literally took my breathe away. I find that it is impossible for me to travel through Big Sur without thinking about poetry. My mind turns to the likes of Jack Kerouac, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Robinson Jeffers, Allen Ginsberg, Henry Miller, Hunter S. Thompson & Richard Brautigan. I want to go back in time, when Big Sur was rich with a bohemian reputation brought on by these newcomers.....


There is magic here. The beauty is so big, so natural that it is hard to hold. The wildflowers are blooming, the Ocean sparkles like diamonds being thrown from the mid day sun & the air is so clean inspiration lies in simply breathing.
There are scenic look out points everywhere, I take tons of photos, none of which can truly capture the magnificence of what we see. I once heard it said that "if you have never been to Big Sur no one can describe it to you, & if you have been there no one needs to". I am filled with the romance & beauty of this place.

"There are two ways to live your life.

One is though nothing is a miracle.

The other is though everything is a miracle.

The most beautiful & profound emotion we can experience
is the sensation of the mystical.
It is the sower of all true science.
In this emotion you dwell in wonder
and stand rapt in awe."

Albert Einstein