Chase the sun on California’s coast
You don’t need flowers in your hair to be left enchanted by theWest Coast, as Yolanda Zaw found on honeymoon
Sometimes you just end up at the right place, at exactly the right time. No planning, just dumb luck. With no mobile reception, no GPS and no idea where we were going, we took a dirt road through Big Sur State Park and somehow ended in the front row of Mother Nature’s show.
Pfeiffer Beach is easy to miss on a map and that’s the way locals prefer it. This tiny white sand beach is encircled by giant cliffs and pounded by roaring waves.
The focal point of the beach is Keyhole Rock, a natural arch just a few metres from shore. For about one week every year, the sun sets at exactly the right angle to cast a stream of light through the arch, illuminating it. Knowing locals wait all year for this natural phenomenon. When we stumble across the normally secluded beach, some have already set up their tripods and cameras. Minutes after we take a spot on the sand, it happens. Warm gold light beams through the rock opening creating a glowing path across the water.
It’s a once in a lifetime experience, for a once in a lifetime holiday.
My husband Kristoffer and I jetted into San Francisco, on the 50th anniversary year of the Summer of Love, for our honeymoon. We couldn’t decide between a city break, a beach holiday, a nature escape or a spa vacation so we did them all, in one epic Californian getaway.
San Francisco is the ‘city break’ part of our trip and our first stop. Despite it being one of the busiest commercial centres in the US, it has a uniquely laid-back feel. There isn’t the big city hustle and bustle of New York or the shiny, flashy vibes of LA. It’s relaxed and welcoming, and perhaps that’s down to its history.
From the masses of immigrants who flocked in search of fortune during the 1849 gold rushes to the flower children that gathered during the summer of 1967, the city has welcomed one and all. More recently SF has attracted a new generation of nomads; the techies (technology workers). Each morning they empty out in state-of-the-art busses bound for the Silicon Valley and each afternoon they spill back in. Their presence has given the city a new injection of youth, an even more global feel.
Despite the influx of all things technological into the city, San Francisco is still home to the world’s last manually operated cable car system. Head to Russian Hill to see these antique trolleys in action as they glide past the pastel-coloured Victorian mansions. Although there are some 40 hills in SF, the best way to explore the city is by foot. Little Italy is only a short stroll from Russian Hill and where we stop by for brunch. We eat at Mama’s Cafe, a local icon. It’s all about old-fashioned comfort food here. I can’t resist the banana bread French toast heaped with vanilla cream, glazed pecans and gooey maple syrup.
Fisherman’s Wharf is also only a few minutes walk away. We catch a glimpse of Alcatraz Island across the bay and meet the most photographed seals on the planet at Pier 39. We follow the waterfront promenade and end up at the Palace of Fine Arts where we stop to soak up the serenity.
The Mission is the trendiest place to head out for drinks and dinner in SF. I’m told there are more than 3,500 restaurants open in the city at any one time – a fact that fills me with delight and panic. How will we choose? Luckily, we have a pair of knowledgeable local guides (friends of ours who relocated to SF two years ago) who take us to their favourite spots. Burma Love (Burmese), Limon Rotisserie (Peruvian) and Souvla (Greek) blow us away with the authenticity of flavours. You can literally taste how cosmopolitan this city is.
After a few days soaking up San Francisco we head off to explore further. We head south to the seaside town of Monterey, home to the famed Cannery Row. This seaside street was once the heaving heart of the sardine-packing industry, immortalised by John Steinbeck in his novel of the same name. Today, the fish factories have been converted into seafood restaurants, gift shops and hip bars.
We check into the Monterey Plaza Hotel because we are determined to do our honeymoon right. Our suite is lavishly designed and decorated, and features an expansive outdoor terrace with our very own hot tub which we put to use immediately.
When we finally do drag ourselves out for dinner we don’t venture too far. We pop into the Plaza’s Schooners Restaurant where the food mantra is fresh, local and
fuss-free.
Before we set off from the lap of luxury, we visit the hotel’s Vista Blue Spa. The top floor sundeck features two giant bubbling jacuzzis with panoramic views across the bay. We settle into the warm water and stay a little longer, watching sky turn pink at sunset.
From Monterey, we take the ‘17mile drive’ south. You’ll need to pay a toll of around $10 to take this privately managed roadway but it is well worth it. On one side of the winding road, the jaw-dropping coastline calls to you with its pebbled shores and deep blue depths. On your other side, sprawling mansions and storybook summer houses fight for your attention.
The scenic drive ends at Carmel by the Sea, a seaside village where Clint Eastwood once sat as mayor. Carmel was built to look like a small
village in the English countryside with its Comstock cottages and cobbled laneways. There is an old country-charm about it, even if some of the ‘cottages’ here are three-storeys tall with wraparound balconies and swimming pools.
The iconic Highway One takes us further down the California coastline on our way to Big Sur. The trip takes longer than expected because we pull over several times to take in the view. It is so stunning that it is dangerous to drive. It’s hard to keep your eyes on the road. When we reach Big Sur National Park we stop at local eatery Nepenthe for lunch. It’s cosy and casual, the food is decent. The view though, is absolutely breathtaking. We clink our West Coast Margaritas as we watch the Santa Lucia mountains melt into the sea.
We bid farewell to the coast and head inland to Yosemite National Park on the final few days of our honeymoon. After cruising down Highway One, I didn’t expect the drive inland to be as pretty. How wrong I was. The vibrant and varied landscapes of central Califor-
GO west: Clockwise from bottom left, Monterey Plaza Hotel, Yosemite National Park and Yolanda taking it easy during her road trip. Main: One of the many spectacular views along California’s coastline nia drift past our car window, each more magnetic than the last. Redleafed vineyards, lush green farmlands and an ice-blue lake set against a backdrop of golden grassed hills.
As we near the national park the scenery becomes even more dramatic, building to the aweinspiring crescendo that is Yosemite National Park.
Grey granite walls close in around you as you enter the forested valley and it almost feels like the wilderness is claiming you for good. Waterfalls cascade down from the clouds and trees the size of skyscrapers punch up from the earth beneath.
Everything around you makes you feel so small, so humbled, so grateful.