Santa Cruz

Ahh Santa Cruz, the easy going town of beaches, sunshine, and great Mexican food! Andy and I have been to Santa Cruz a few times now and we can never seem to get enough. The sun is always shining and the beach is usually filled with sunbathers. Somehow Santa Cruz is always warm enough for laying on the beach in a bathing suit. (Quite unlike other Bay Area beaches!) The town is only 1-hour south of the Bay Area, but it has a completely different feel to it. To me it feels more like the East Coast...or even Southern California. I love the beach culture of volley ball, laying out, sand castle building, the fishing pier, and a boardwalk full of entertainment and rides. If only it were slightly closer, we would probably spend all of our weekends there.

Ellie-Style, Coastal

Living in the Bay Area, Andy and I spend a lot of our weekends on the coast. I can't get enough of the salty air and beautiful views. Usually our destination is somewhere along Highway One. Back on the East Coast if I were heading to a beach town or even the beach, I would most likely be dressed in my bathing suit. Beaches on the East Coast mean a few things to me: hot, sunbathing, and wave frolicking. Here, the beaches are none of those things. Beautiful yes, but there are usually cold winds blowing and the water is FAR too cold for swimming. Sometimes when the wind stops blowing and the sun shines brightly though, it warms up. Thus my coastal outfit having the potential for warm and cool while still having a fun beach vibe.

Target hat, sunglasses and shoes, NY & Company button up, thrifted black dress

Foggy City

Sometimes Andy and I find ourselves driving just for the sake of driving. The Bay Are is especially good for that. I also think we have our best conversations when we are driving. Back when Andy and I lived in a group house the only place we truly had privacy (for the sake of loud conversations) was in the car. If we ever needed to fight or really discuss something we would go for a drive so that we could be as loud as we wanted without disturbing anyone. It was pretty great! So we feel quite comfortable driving in the car with each other just chit chatting away. On this particular day, we were driving and chatting when we found ourselves in Marin above the Golden Gate Bridge. We weren't driving there on purpose, we just happened upon the spot. It was pretty cool to see the bridge and city engulfed in fog on such a sunny day. I had fun imagining that all of San Francisco was experiencing dull overcast skies and fog, while we sat on top of the hill observing it all and basking in the sunshine.

Big Sur post two, Highway One Beaches

A few days ago I posted about our backpacking trip to Big Sur. We took one day to backpack and camp, and one day to explore the area and Highway One. We have heard from countless people that Big Sur is the outdoorsy place to be around here. Well, other than Napa, Lake Tahoe, Muir Woods...oh wait, this whole area is scenic and beautiful!

Big Sur is about 2.5-3 hours south of the Bay Area, but totally worth the drive. A lot of the drive was boring highway, but once we hit Highway One the scenery started. We drove up and down Highway One stopping every few miles to get out and enjoy the coastal beauty. Some places the water was transparent blue, and other places we saw huge seals. There were cresting waves, miles of rocky shoreline, pristine white beaches, fog, sun, waterfalls, pine trees. Oh beauty!

It was an incredible day exploring Highway One in the Big Sur area. We did a few hikes right off the highway, and enjoyed the abandoned rugged beaches. We also stopped for lunch at a beautiful rooftop gallery restaurant that had some of the best bacon mac and cheese we've ever tasted. There are no words for that kind of delicious! We enjoyed lunch and beer in the blazing February sun with a view of Highway One and the Pacific Ocean. Does it get much better than that? I know I say that every time we get out and explore the area, but really, California has so much to offer.

 Check out the waterfall on the left side of this picture. Andy wanted to go bathe in it, but the trail didn't have beach access.