We plan to fly to San Francisco on Friday, April 27, rent a car and drive to Carmel. We have been to SF and driven to Monterey previously. We can check out Carmel again for a day and then watch our son run the Marathon on Sunday. We plan to drive back to SF and fly back to Detroit on Monday. The problem? VERY expensive for 3 night stay. We could stay longer, but not excited about driving out in LA traffic. We have also been east and north of San Francisco, so ..... we have thought about flying to San Antonio and spending a few days there. What to do.... just fly to Hawaii afterwards?? Now that is costly, sounds fun. Any serious ideas? Thanks

I'm sorry, but I do not understand your question at all. Are you looking for ideas for a longer vacation? Somewhere in the West (which I guess would include San Antonio and Hawaii?).

Return the car in San Francisco and fly to Las Vegas. Rental cars are cheap there and there are low cost hotel rooms that are actually good. The cheapest place I know of 50 miles south of San Francisco is the Pigeon Point Lighthouse HI Hostel.

Well -- I guess tom knew what you are asking . . . me, I'm with sf7307. What exactly are you looking for (assuming not a youth hostel or Vegas)

>>but not excited about driving out in LA traffic.

Also, “very expensive” is relative. What is your budget per night and is it for just the two of you or your son also? You will get good advice here but we need just a bit more information.

There's a lot to do and see on the central coast that doesn't involve LA. What sorts of activities are you interested in?

Air and hotel already $2000. Car rental, meals and a few activity items. We are hikers, bikers, swimmers, museum goers, theatre goers and enjoy seeing historical sites. We could drive south to LA and San Diego’s, but not fans of city traffic. Our son is flying in on his own, as he has to head backs for work. I said Hawaii as this 3 days seems costly... Hawaii would be costly but much more enjoyable!!

Depending on how much time you have, you could do a bit of a central coast road trip - maybe as far south as Santa Barbara, then come back north to SF to fly home - or fly home from LA. Or if you wanted to continue south to San Diego, you could do that and fly home from there. You could check out Cambria, Avila Beach, Pismo Beach, and Santa Barbara along the way - all are along the coast and nice towns. Inland (on or close to Hwy 101), you could visit Pinnacles NP, San Juan Bautista, Mission San Antonio. In April there should still be wild flowers at Pinnacles NP - you could do some hiking there.

>>Hawaii would be costly but much more enjoyable!!

None of this makes sense -- If I read the OP correctly you have already booked flights in/out of SFO.