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Started By
Message
re: Monterrey, CA and Carmel by the Sea
Posted on 3/17/22 at 9:31 am to JustForThisThread
Posted on 3/17/22 at 9:31 am to JustForThisThread
You Can easily do South to North and still enjoy.
I would say maybe spend the night on Day 3 in Cambria possibly? It just keeps the momentum of traveling south closer to your next destination vs having to come up then back down...but if theres more you want to do/see after hiking (usually will be gassed and tired...believe we had in and out and lit the fire in our room that night and relaxed)....
For the Paso Wine Tastings.... definitely do Daou Mountain..it was the fancier of the 3 we did that day, but I liked the way we had it... was fancy, to chill, to relaxed vineyard.... was nice to see the diff types of vineyards.
Also MAKE Reservations NOW for the vineyard days... 3 was comfortable to do in 1 day. they were all within 8-10 min apart so I was never "wasted" driving, but also enjoyed myself...lol
In Paso try to get a resi at a place called "The Hatch"...it was still covid times so things were tough to get resis for but was on our list. We ended up at... The Alchemists' Garden. Would rec get a cocktail there for sure. A unique spot.
Not sure of flight times etc... but would plan to do breakfast in Solvang.... nice little danish town and the pastries etc are great! Nice vibes.
Crazy part about the entire trip is that each day is a new adventure. 1 day you are in vineyard mode, 1 day you are hiking, 1 day you are site seeing being touristy/ritzy around Monterrey Peninsula.....it's a fun fun trip!
And yes...I would highly rec the convertible. It's kind of like when you pay to ride a ride at a amusement park you want the whole experience not just half of the fun.... having the convertible for all the scenic views def make it worth it. Sucks the prices aren't on your side, but if you can work the system some and get the price down somehow shoot for that. I deal with Enterprise through work so I was signed up through them and when I called got a little discount...may be something to look into, but def would avoid the online search option (good to use to juggle prices).
Also our stays we stayed in mainly hilton properties along the way except for the 2 nights in Monterrey (def rec one of the "inns" in Carmel though....the pictures etc online dont do them justice, they are really neat and great) If you are doing full days though and always want to be on the go to see sunsets and sunrises etc at places like big sur or 17 mile drive then I wouldnt waste the extra dollar on the hotel and would put that towards more wine on the trip or the car. lol
(sheesh just noticed how long,....sorry
)
I would say maybe spend the night on Day 3 in Cambria possibly? It just keeps the momentum of traveling south closer to your next destination vs having to come up then back down...but if theres more you want to do/see after hiking (usually will be gassed and tired...believe we had in and out and lit the fire in our room that night and relaxed)....
For the Paso Wine Tastings.... definitely do Daou Mountain..it was the fancier of the 3 we did that day, but I liked the way we had it... was fancy, to chill, to relaxed vineyard.... was nice to see the diff types of vineyards.
Also MAKE Reservations NOW for the vineyard days... 3 was comfortable to do in 1 day. they were all within 8-10 min apart so I was never "wasted" driving, but also enjoyed myself...lol
In Paso try to get a resi at a place called "The Hatch"...it was still covid times so things were tough to get resis for but was on our list. We ended up at... The Alchemists' Garden. Would rec get a cocktail there for sure. A unique spot.
quote:
Day 5 - Wake up way too early for the 3 hour drive to LAX to go home.
Not sure of flight times etc... but would plan to do breakfast in Solvang.... nice little danish town and the pastries etc are great! Nice vibes.
Crazy part about the entire trip is that each day is a new adventure. 1 day you are in vineyard mode, 1 day you are hiking, 1 day you are site seeing being touristy/ritzy around Monterrey Peninsula.....it's a fun fun trip!
And yes...I would highly rec the convertible. It's kind of like when you pay to ride a ride at a amusement park you want the whole experience not just half of the fun.... having the convertible for all the scenic views def make it worth it. Sucks the prices aren't on your side, but if you can work the system some and get the price down somehow shoot for that. I deal with Enterprise through work so I was signed up through them and when I called got a little discount...may be something to look into, but def would avoid the online search option (good to use to juggle prices).
Also our stays we stayed in mainly hilton properties along the way except for the 2 nights in Monterrey (def rec one of the "inns" in Carmel though....the pictures etc online dont do them justice, they are really neat and great) If you are doing full days though and always want to be on the go to see sunsets and sunrises etc at places like big sur or 17 mile drive then I wouldnt waste the extra dollar on the hotel and would put that towards more wine on the trip or the car. lol
(sheesh just noticed how long,....sorry
)This post was edited on 3/17/22 at 9:32 am
1
Posted on 3/18/22 at 10:18 am to longhorn22
We are all booked. Decided to Fly in and out of SFO. With the price difference in flights was still paying $800 more for Car rental to fly out of Lax. And the flight only got us home an Hour and half earlier so decided to go cheaper route. But I booked a convertible!! Now it is up to Hertz to hold my reservation. Have been screwed before by these Car rental companies.
I swapped the days so the heavy driving is done in middle of the trip and we end with a little more relaxation.
Day 1 is Carmel/Monterrey. Booked Tickle Pink inn for 1 night. Pricey but it just looked too nice to not splurge and really wow the wife on our first night.
Day 2 we go to Paso Roble. Daou tasting for 12 pm. Halter Ranch tasting and maybe lunch for 130 pm. Law Estates tasting for 4pm. Is this enough time between each to make these reservations? All just tastings, no real tours. Do you get to see enough of these places and enjoy them with just a tasting?
I also plan to look into transportation of some sort. I don't want to be worrying about drinking and driving. Any rec's as far as transportation companies here?
Day 3 we make our way back North again up PCH through Big Sur and back to Carmel/Monterrey area for 2 more nights. Unfortunately won't get as far South as Solvang. But I do plan to drive through Cambria as we head to Big Sur and Nepenthe for lunch.
I haven't seen many rec's as far as where to go in Bug Sur. Any specific beaches or hiking trails are a must see? Really sucks that Hearst Castle is still closed. Definitely wanted to check that out.
Like you I got the sunset picnic booked for the last night of the trip. Thanks again for that recommendation. The girl asked how i heard about them so that was fun explaining this place to her.
I swapped the days so the heavy driving is done in middle of the trip and we end with a little more relaxation.
Day 1 is Carmel/Monterrey. Booked Tickle Pink inn for 1 night. Pricey but it just looked too nice to not splurge and really wow the wife on our first night.
Day 2 we go to Paso Roble. Daou tasting for 12 pm. Halter Ranch tasting and maybe lunch for 130 pm. Law Estates tasting for 4pm. Is this enough time between each to make these reservations? All just tastings, no real tours. Do you get to see enough of these places and enjoy them with just a tasting?
I also plan to look into transportation of some sort. I don't want to be worrying about drinking and driving. Any rec's as far as transportation companies here?
Day 3 we make our way back North again up PCH through Big Sur and back to Carmel/Monterrey area for 2 more nights. Unfortunately won't get as far South as Solvang. But I do plan to drive through Cambria as we head to Big Sur and Nepenthe for lunch.
I haven't seen many rec's as far as where to go in Bug Sur. Any specific beaches or hiking trails are a must see? Really sucks that Hearst Castle is still closed. Definitely wanted to check that out.
Like you I got the sunset picnic booked for the last night of the trip. Thanks again for that recommendation. The girl asked how i heard about them so that was fun explaining this place to her.
Posted on 3/18/22 at 10:55 am to JustForThisThread
You should try to make it west on 1 out of Santa Cruz. The beaches are amazing. I asked my wife to marry me in the hidden cave of this video (goofy video, but it shows the natural bridge and cave). It’s Panther Beach…
https://youtu.be/uvrzuGlL6Mw
ETA: over 20 years ago…
https://youtu.be/uvrzuGlL6Mw
ETA: over 20 years ago…
This post was edited on 3/18/22 at 11:01 am
Posted on 3/21/22 at 7:53 am to JustForThisThread
quote:
I haven't seen many rec's as far as where to go in Bug Sur. Any specific beaches or hiking trails are a must see? Really sucks that Hearst Castle is still closed. Definitely wanted to check that out.
Big Sur ; you'll catch yourself pulling over often. This is for sure the reason why you got the convertible to enjoy the views constantly. It's like you are on a "ride". I'd recommend just diving into youtube and using that for research when it comes to alot of these places. Just a heads up there is like no service in Big Sur. So make sure you have some maps printed out possibly with where yall want to stop etc. or where any trails may be.
You could spend the whole trip in Big Sur, but for sure these are musts.
-Bixby Bridge
-McWay Falls
-Pfeiffer Beach (Purple Sand)
There are plenty of other places we stopped, and I'll try to find the two other hiking spots we stopped at (believe it was Partington Cove) , but cannot miss those big 3. Pfeiffer Beach may last the longest of the hikes etc. because its a great place to venture and relax.
LINK
When we went like I mentioned they had a portion of PCH 1 taken out by bad weather so you couldn't travel past Ragged Point. The furthest South on that highway we traveled was Nepenthe.
Posted on 3/21/22 at 7:55 am to JustForThisThread
quote:
Like you I got the sunset picnic booked for the last night of the trip. Thanks again for that recommendation. The girl asked how i heard about them so that was fun explaining this place to her.
this is awesome
I'd love for her to slide in my DMs and tell me I get a free picnic or something to give me a reason to try to go back....
really awesome area and well kept away from alot of the "california" BS... you'll prob see some of it in SF when yall fly in or small bits of it in Monterrey, but the rest of that trip is very relaxing.... different vibes for sure.
Posted on 3/21/22 at 8:07 am to JustForThisThread
quote:
Daou tasting for 12 pm. Halter Ranch tasting and maybe lunch for 130 pm. Law Estates tasting for 4pm. Is this enough time between each to make these reservations? All just tastings, no real tours. Do you get to see enough of these places and enjoy them with just a tasting?
Nice spots
They will be offering more now that COVID has disappeared. but when we went it was more of the basic things available to us in a way... so the experiences were still great, but didn't have any "over the top" experiences so def moved pretty easy from each Vineyard.
I believe we schedule 90 min each place, with a 10 min drive between the 3 pretty much. Winding roads where they have no police activity etc...but yes, not worth drinking and driving if you end up getting slammed at any of the vineyards lol...
Not sure if the last one offers some sort of Sunset tasting or if Daou does it now either (we asked when we were there and they said they do during the Spring/Summer season). May be worth looking into DAOU last if thats the case to possibly have the sunset on the mountain.
Like I mentioned, we didn't use any tours or drivers...but Toast Tours was one we did reach out to... not sure if that will affect your schedule though.. they have many out there that can help.
Posted on 3/25/22 at 9:59 am to longhorn22
Thanks for all the Rec's. Will definitely use this for our Big Sur day.
I'll try to find a way to bring it up when we meet for our picnic. See if she can offer a TD.com discount or something!
I called Daou but they don't have a sunset tasting currently. Their latest is 4pm. So I'm keeping the schedule as is. Booked a personal Driver so we won't have to worry about driving. The driver will use our own car instead of having to use one of their bigger tour vehicles since it is only 2 of us. About half the price too then a normal driver for tours!
Everything is booked now except for any dinner reservations we might want to make which I'll look at as we get a little closer. Trip can't get here soon enough now.
I'll try to find a way to bring it up when we meet for our picnic. See if she can offer a TD.com discount or something!
I called Daou but they don't have a sunset tasting currently. Their latest is 4pm. So I'm keeping the schedule as is. Booked a personal Driver so we won't have to worry about driving. The driver will use our own car instead of having to use one of their bigger tour vehicles since it is only 2 of us. About half the price too then a normal driver for tours!
Everything is booked now except for any dinner reservations we might want to make which I'll look at as we get a little closer. Trip can't get here soon enough now.
Posted on 3/28/22 at 8:34 am to JustForThisThread
Awesome! Yall will have a great time. Definitely should be on everyone's bucket list to make that trip.
Posted on 3/28/22 at 11:55 am to Reservoir dawg
quote:
Still one of the best areas on earth. Everywhere you look is a picture.
Absolutely heaven on earth.
What surprised me was how good the food was, anything and everything was really good. And if you like good beer Dust Bowl is a homerun, shite even the food truck at Dustbowl is 5 stars.
This post was edited on 3/28/22 at 12:01 pm
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