More Central Coast - and a Lot of Fog

April 04, 2022

We loved Paso Robles and could have stayed there for days!

On Saturday, we checked out the downtown shops and farmers market, including meeting a family who was creating merchandise to raise awareness about mental health issues, especially in teens. We then went to "Tin City," which is an area where lots of wineries, taprooms, and distilleries have tasting rooms. We didn't have a lot of time, so only checked out Barrelhouse Brewing, but they did not do us wrong!

From there we headed to Mystic Hills Vineyard, a private vineyard in the area owned by film editor Joel Cox and his lovely wife Judy. There we had an amazing wine tasting, with chocolate as a complement. I'm not sure if the Gran Trio or the Unforgiven was our favorite (see the theme there? Joel is Clint Eastwood's editor), but the wine was amazing and the Coxes made us feel like family. I really wish we lived closer so we could join the wine club.

They even let Beatrix hold Joel's Oscar....

From there, we drove up the heart of Highway 1, past San Simeon and Big Sur. Sadly, Hearst Castle is still closed (it's been over 2 years), so we were not able to achieve one of our big goals for the trip. Because of that, we also moved our hotel room at the last minute from San Simeon to a slightly more sketchy place just outside Monterey.

The overlook at McWay Falls was also closed. We did, however, get to see the elephant seals at the rookery, and they were as adorable as promised.

We also stopped for a quick drink at Nepenthe, which as as magical as we were promised. However, I'm not kidding on the fog — here's what it looked like when we arrived:

Less than 5 minutes later:

Just 1 minute after that (we were not even halfway done with the beer yet):

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In Monterey, we enjoyed dinner at the Alvarado Taproom (sensing a theme here?), and then made the requisite visit not the Aquarium the next day. It really was All That; we especially loved the jellyfish, the aviary, the wave room, and the otters (of course).

From there, we grabbed HUGE sandwiches at Compagno's, based on my friend Brandt's spot-on suggestion. We took those to a "secret" (not-so-much) Calla Lily Valley that Jay had told us about, which was as amazing as you might expect. One path led through the lilies and the other to the *windy* beach, and both were beautiful. Very reminiscent of our "secret waterfall" hike in Iceland.

"The calla lilies are in bloom again..."

We also drove Carmel's 17-Mile-Drive (while looking for an estate sale), and saw a lot of great beaches and houses. It's a lovely area.

We drove up to Santa Cruz, and spent the night there in a hotel located halfway between the Boardwalk and the Pier. We had high hopes of walking along the beach, but high winds and rain kept us in the hotel room, watching the Oscars (especially fun since we had just seen them set up). We did get to see an unmoored boat wash up and the related Coast Guard and police presence, so that was exciting (it looks little like an elephant seal here).