Pacfic Coast Highway Guide

As part of our California vacation last October we drove up the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH or Highway 101). We drove the first part from San Diego to LA mentioned in a post here. Then we spent a night in LA and drove from there to San Francisco. You can take Highway 5 up and get there much quicker but the drive was totally worth it for us. The views were spectacular and we got to explore new towns.

The first town we came across on our drive was Malibu. There are multimillion dollar houses with breathtaking views. Looking down on Santa Monica was beautiful. Here are some of our pictures from this part.

The drive is really pretty. One one side of the road you have rolling hills like below

And on the other side you have the ocean.

It looked like this for a long time. Then we reached Santa Barbara. Santa Barbara is a beautiful town. I really could fly out there and spend a weeks worth of vacation there. The views were beautiful.

We stopped at  Shoreline beach cafe for lunch and were able to sit on the beach with our feet in the sand. We ordered fish and shrimp tacos which were to die for.

After lunch, we hit the road again, which was filled with more of the same views. However, there is definitely a line between Southern California and Northern California. Southern California is flatter and full of palm trees whereas Northern California is very mountainous and full of other trees.

We got to watch the sunset over the ocean (which being East Coasters was a new thing for us). We pulled over in a very small town and hopped out of the car just in time. There was a long pier over the ocean we walked out on the get the views. 

Then the rest of our trip was made in the dark. We had to go up all sorts of crazy mountains and I'm sure the views would have been beautiful. If we had more time we would have stopped right after sunset and picked up again the next morning to see it all. But since we were on somewhat of a schedule we kept motoring. We saw Big Sur and ended up stopping for the night in right outside of Carmel, CA. We didn't book a hotel room since we were not sure how far up the coast we were going to go. It really worked out for us because we called around and got a great deal on this bed and breakfast Tickle Pink Inn. Since it was so late they discounted their honeymoon suite (the only room available). The room came with a bottle of champagne and chocolates. We were planning on getting dinner near the hotel but by the time we got settle in it was too late for the small town so we had the champagne and chocolates for dinner.

The Inn was nestled into the mountains and had a great outdoor hot tub tucked into the mountain. The lady said the room had panoramic views on the ocean but we couldn't really see them at night. But the next morning when we woke up it was like Christmas. The views are amazing. We literally saw the pics below from our bed. I wish we had better pictures from the room itself.

Then they severed us a delicious breakfast on a deck that overlooked the ocean. I would highly recommend this place and would stay here again and again!!

Once we woke up we drive through the famous 17 mile drive in Monteray, California along the Pebble Beach golf course. I don't play golf but I would here because it is breathtakingly beautiful. Here are some of the pictures.

There are also tons of homes sprinkled through out the golf course as well as scenic overlooks. It was $10 a car to drive it but totally worth it for us.

Then we hit the road again. We got to drive through all of Dole's farms and crops. We saw a sign for fried artichokes and pulled right over to this small diner. They were great.

Then after our quick snack we got back on the road. We stopped for lunch in Santa Cruz and got some great cheap authentic Mexican food. john got this crazy Mexican sandwich and I got a burrito. I wish I had gotten more pictures but we didn't spend much time in the town.

Since we were short on time we turned north and got on the highway so we could make it into San Francisco. You can continue driving up the coast and make in into San Fran and I'm sure it's beautiful but it definitely takes longer. The traffic getting into San Francisco was pretty heavy but we eventually made it. I'll be posting a guide on San Francisco as well, but do yourself a favor and drive the PCH before you die. I promise you won't be disappointed. John and I are already planning another trip that starts in SF and goes north to Portland because I just wanted to keep going.

Spring Garden

It's been a while since I last posted, but while I was away John and I went on a great ski trip to Park City, UT and stopped visited some friends in Salt Lake City, UT. We had a great time and I can't wait to share all the trip details on here later. I still need to get our San Francisco guide on here too so it might be a while.

Anyway, this winter in Arkansas has been super mild. We have had tons of 60's, 70's and even 80 degree days already and its only the beginning of March. This beautiful weather has gotten me super excited about my garden. The weather has been so beautiful and shows no signs of changing that I am going to throw caution to the wind and begin planting early. We live in Zone 7 and traditionally the last frost is sometime between March 30th and April 30th. However, last year I planted my summer vegetable garden March 21st and it did pretty well, so I am hoping I have the same luck. Otherwise if we get a cold snap I'll be running around my backyard like a maniac trying to cover all my plants.

Last year was my first year gardening at our new house so my motto was "lets just see what happens" and for the record heat we had it did great so I'm more confident and want to be more adventurous this year. Last year squash bugs destroyed my many squash and zucchini plants so this year I am not planting any. Instead I want to plant a lot more fruit and interesting vegetables that more closely align with what we like and actually eat.This year I am also blogging about it so I can keep better track of timelines and see what worked and what didn't.

So over the past weekend (March 10th) John and I collected leaves and got the soil ready for my spring plants. The following is the list of our spring plants that should be planted around early spring:

Blueberries
Raspberries
Strawberries
Fig trees
Brussel Sprouts
Lettuce
Arugula
Rainbow Chard
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Peas
Lilac bush

I have to give a shout out to our friends Liz and Ryan who run a local garden called the Bussey-Scott Garden and so generously gave me some of their seedlings!

First I planted two blueberry bushes. Blueberries need a mate to fruit so you should always have at least two plants and space them close enough so they can pollinate. They also like acidic soil so I added a ton of peat moss. I went ahead a bought some pretty well established plants because I'm impatient and want to have blueberries this summer. I think most do not fruit the first year. Here is a picture of the two plants.

Second I planted the raspberry bush. Raspberries are supposed to be pretty easy to grow, since they grow wildly and can grow in partial shade, which my back yard is full of. We had a small weed tree up against our back fence in the garden so I tore it out and planted the bush there.

Its small now but I'm hoping it gets really big and bushy soon and becomes full of tasty berries.

Third I planted two strawberry plants. Strawberries grow really well in raised beds and in soils that drain well and also like full sun. One side of our house gets full sun so I decided to plant these bad boys there. I also added tons of manure and peat moss to the soil to kinds of raise it up a lot so its like it is in a raised bed.

Fourth we planted our fig tree. I had a fig tree at our old house and transplanted it to our new one. However last year it did not fruit and this year it looked dead, so I went ahead and bought a new bigger tree. But when I went to pull up the old fig tree and plant the new one there the old fig tree showed some signs of life so I left it there. There was another weed tree by the fence in the back so John pulled that up and planted the new fig tree there. I love figs and hope both trees do well this summer.

Next we planted the the greens. There is a 8 foot by 3 foot bed at the bottom of our back porch that gets partial sun so I decided to put all my lettuces and greens there since they love cool weather. I loosened the soil and added a lot of manure and peat moss to it. Then I just spaced the plants about 10 inches apart and started planting.

Starting at the top left is a mint plant from last year that's still going strong. Beneath it is 2 arugula plants. I love arugula and grew it last year and it was wonderful. Every time I eat it I'm like why do I ever use lettuce, seriously its that awesome. Then starting at the top of the next column is a broccoli plant. Beneath it is a butter lettuce plant and a rainbow chard plant. The next 2 rows have brussel sprouts in the back and assorted greens and chards below. On the far right I snuck in a cucumber plant.

I also planted a lilac bush. Its really hard to see since we desperately need to weed this section, but its in the back center of the picture.

This week I hope to sow my peas into the ground and start my summer vegetable seeds.

Looking ahead the following is a list of summer vegetables I'm planning on growing:

Tomatoes
Cherry Tomatoes
Golden Cherry Tomatoes
Cucumbers
Eggplant
Green Beans
Onions
Green Peppers
Basil
Artichokes

Los Angeles Guide

In October 2011 John and I took a trip to California. We started in San Diego, mentioned in a post here. Then we drove up the coast taking Highway 1 or 101 to Los Angeles.  I HIGHLY recommend taking this route. It was so scenic and we drove next to the ocean the majority of the way.  I tried to take a picture from the car

You also get to go through some neat towns like Laguna Beach and Orange County. This a  picture John took from Laguna Beach. Its breathtaking. Now I know why people live there.

However, right outside of Orange County, traffic began. People always say LA traffic is awful and it definitely lived up to its reputation. Once we got to LA we did a quick driving tour through the downtown section. We only had one day and night in LA so every thing was really quick. The downtown seemed alright but its definitely not the place you want to be. If you are staying in LA you will want to be in Hollywood or West Hollywood. After our brief tour around downtown, we made our way through town to Hollywood. We stopped at Roscoe's House of Chicken and Waffles for dinner. The combination was so tasty and the meal was pretty cheap, $10ish a person. I highly recommend it.

Once we were on Hollywood Boulevard, we parked and walked around. This is where all the stars names are in the sidewalk and where all the touristy things are. 

We also saw Grauman's Chinese Theater

John got a fun picture with some Star Wars characters. For those of you who don't know John is a huge Star Wars fan. Overall, Hollywood boulevard is pretty much like Times Square in New York. After we walked around a bit more we drove through West Hollywood. This looked like a super fun neighborhood. Tons of high end stores, bars and restaurants lined the streets. I would probably stay in this neighborhood next time.

Then we drove through Beverly Hills.


The stores are all amazing but really high end and expensive so we just drove through. Also, it was so late that all the stores were closed which is good for my wallet ;).  After that we drove out to Santa Monica, which is where I booked our hotel. I was amazed at how close LA is to the ocean. Santa Monica is like a 15 minute drive. Once we reached Santa Monica, we went straight to the hotel and to bed. We stayed in nothing fancy, just a Comfort Inn. The next morning we woke up early (9 am for us) and explored Santa Monica and Venice Beach. Santa Monica is a cute shore town with a boardwalk.It has some really nice shops along the main drag and have great views. I cute definitely see spending a trip just there. However we didn't spend much time in Santa Monica, instead we went down to Venice Beach. There we rented a tandem bicycle and rode along the "boardwalk".

It was a beautiful day and the beach is so pretty. The ocean is surrounded by gorgeous views of the mountains like in the picture above.

The boardwalk is actually more like a sidewalk with lots of vendors and shops along the way. We stopped at some of the shops along the way and I got that hat in the picture above. It was a fun ride. We could have easily spent all day there, but we needed to begin our trek up the coast to San Francisco so we left shortly after 1 pm.

This was a super short trip through LA but I think we covered the main highlights. We definitely need to go back one day and spend more time on those things and see some of the stuff we missed, like the Hollywood sign. 

San Diego Guide

John and I went to San Diego and drove up the coast to San Francisco a couple of weeks ago. I had a business conference in San Diego and brought him along to make it a vacation. Anyway neither of us had been to California before, so I did tons of research and read hundreds of yelp posts trying to figure out what to do, where to stay, where to eat, etc. John and I had the best time there and found some amazing hotels and restaurants so I thought I'd share my guide to San Diego.

Where to Stay:

 The Andaz Hotel

This is the place to stay if you are visiting SD.

• Location

• It is located in the heart of the Gaslamp Quarter downtown. The Gaslamp Quarter is the old Victorian style downtown that is full of bars, restaurants and clubs.  You can easily walk around and find good shopping, food, and drinks. 

• Entertainment
• Also, the Andaz has a nightclub in the basement, a wine bar on the first floor, and a rooftop bar. As a guest, you get VIP passes to all three while you are there. This was amazing. There was actually a line around the block waiting to get into the club and rooftop bar, and we just slide past. Also we didn't have to pay the $10 or $15 dollar cover. Beware though, the mixed drinks are about $15 a piece at the bars. The night club was nice, clean, tasteful and fun. The rooftop bar was spectacular with views of the entire downtown and cozy seating areas. 
• Room
• This room was the nicest room I have ever stayed in. It is filled with beautiful modern decor. There was a bar, flat screen t.v., and a modern canopy bed that had a wooden "roof".

•  
• But the bathroom was the best part! The shower was a glass box that separated the bedroom from the bathroom so you could see into the shower/bathroom. The shower itself was amazing with two shower heads and glass tile. (excuse our messiness in the pictures)

• The room also had spectacular views of the downtown.

Where to Eat

Breakfast

 Broken Yolk Cafe

This place was only a couple blocks from our hotel and had great food. I ordered the California Eggs Benedict, which is eggs Benedict with turkey instead of ham and avocado added. 

It was so good, we went back the next day and got mimosas and tried some new things. I got the California breakfast burrito which had avocado in it

It was really good but the Eggs Benedict with avocado was better.

and John got the California omelet, which he really enjoyed. Everything there seems like it would be amazing.

Lunch
In N Out Burger

They are great classic tasty burgers, plus they will make anything they have in the building for you!

Dinner

Wahoo's Fish Tacos

John and I went kayaking on the Pacific one of the days in La Jolla (pronounced la hoy-a). If you have a chance to drive out to La Jolla, its very pretty. After a day of kayaking we stopped at Wahoo's for fish tacos (classic southern California food). They were delicious! They are kinda small, so we each ordered two fish tacos with rice and beans. I got the Cajun style fish with their special sauce, which was amazing, and John got the regular fish tacos. The fish was grilled not fried.

Buon Appetito

This is an Italian restaurant in Little Italy in San Diego. You can find Italian restaurants in the Gaslamp, but it was fun to explore the Little Italy section. Restaurants line the streets and you can sit outside at almost everyone of them (one of my favorite things about southern California). We sat outside at Buon Appetito. I had the Veal Marsala with the Insalata Fantasia which had baby greens tossed in or raspberry vinaigrette with sliced pears and topped with Gorgonzola cheese. Both were delicious. Then I finished dinner with the pumpkin gelato was was amazed at the presentation. this is what it looked like

It was so fun.

Joe's Crab Shack

This Joe's Crab Shack was right on the bay in San Diego and had a great view. John and I usually get the Classic Steam pot for two and share it. It comes with Old Bay seasoning and is delicious. We also ordered their S more's cake for dessert and it was amazing. 

Nobu

Our last night in San Diego, John and I decided to go all out on dinner. We went to Nobu, which is a Japanese Fusion restaurant and it was superb. I started with a Ginger Motijo that was amazing, not too sweet. The menu is designed to be coursed out. We started with the yellow tail sashimi with jalapeno. It was so good. Then we had the hearts of palm with a spicy lemon garlic sauce. We had never had hearts of palm and did not know you could eat palm trees. They were delicious, kind alike artichoke hearts, but better. After that we had the scallop tempura and it came with salt and lime, which was pleasantly good. Then we moved on the the sushi. We had the shrimp tempura, soft shell crab,  eel cucumber and the salmon avocado.

Finally, we finished with the Apple Butterscotch Miso dessert. It was on fire when they presented it to us and was served with sour cream gelato, which complemented it perfectly. Overall, the subtle flavor combinations they used really took the food to the next level and I always love coursed meals. John and I were full at the end but not miserable. We really took the time and enjoyed the food and it was one of the best meals we have ever had. I would highly recommend trying it but it was expensive, about $150 before tip for the both of us.

What to Do

Sea Cave Kayak Tour 

This tour was located in La Jolla, CA, which is about 20 mins from downtown San Diego. Go on a day when it is warm and sunny. We went on a day that was cold and cloudy, but we still had an amazing time! You get to kayak on the pacific (and they told us that the seaweed protects the cove from sharks because they get tangled up in it which is good to know if you are worried about it). Then you kayak out and explore caves, see Dr. Seuss's house and get to see sea lions. You don't need kayaking experience to do the tour either. It was amazing and a I think a must do!

Coronado, CA

Coronado is a small barrier island on the pacific in front of San Diego. There is a bridge to get there or a you can take the ferry. We explored the main street which had lots of fun shops, and the Hotel Del Coronado.

Balboa Park

Balboa park is this amazing FREE park that contains lots of museums, parks, and other neat things. There is a giant outdoor organ and there are free concerts there on Sundays.There is also a replica of the Globe Theater and plays are held there. The following museums and attractions are there as well

• Centro Cultural de la Raza
• Marston House
• Mingei International Museum
• Museum of Photographic Arts
• Reuben H Fleet Science Center
• San Diego Air & Space Museum
• San Diego Art Institute (SDAI)
• San Diego Automotive Museum
• San Diego Hall of Champions
• San Diego History Center
• San Diego Model Railroad Museum
• San Diego Museum of Man
• San Diego Natural History Museum
• The San Diego Museum of Art
• Timken Museum of Art
• Veterans Museum & Memorial Center
• WorldBeat Center

Old Town San Diego

Old Town San Diego is where California began. It is like going back in time. There are small dirt roads with tons of vendors and old shops. There is a lot of fresh Mexican cuisine and lots of specialty items. Its definitely worth checking out.