Here are CondeNast reviews/comparisons of Ventana and Post Ranch:

http://www.concierge.com/travelguide...ast/hotels/112

http://www.concierge.com/travelguide...ast/hotels/111

LOL. Toward the end of the trip, especially. Hey - anywhere decent in HMB would be fine - as you would not be that far from the beach and the cute downtown area. I will have to ask my friend the name of the place we stopped at. They are regulars there - and we only had a nightcap - but they apparently have decent food too, and it was a "happening" place. :)

Might have been Cetrella's but will double check. http://www.cetrella.com/music.php

Agree with Tomsd re Morro Bay. I'd either stay at the Cass House Inn in Cayucos or someplace in Cambria. Also agree with Jean on the Ventana vs Post Ranch Inn debate. My husband and I stayed at the Post Ranch Inn last August for an anniversary celebration. My husband, who was beyond skeptical that it would be worth the money, left saying we should make the PRI our go-to vacation spot. If you click on my name, you'll find my trip report where I describe it in more detail.

Thanks for the suggestions. PRI looks spectacular, but at $6K for 3 nights, so is the price (unless it also comes with a mortgage!) :) I think I'll probably stick with second best in Big Sur. Regarding Cambria, I had originally booked at the Blue Dolphin Inn but later switched to the Anderson Inn in Morro Bay because it's the actual day of my anniversary and wanted to pair up a nice place with a nice restaurant (Galley Seafood Grill?). Any thoughts on BDI? Cass House looks great too.

If you really want a special treat in the general Cambria area - check out the Justin winery, or one of the other French sytled Chateau/winery/B&B's - a short drive from the Coast toward Paso Robles along hiway 46.

My nephew has become a bit of a oenophile - and he and his lively new bride (she's from a big NY Italian family - with an Aunt who used to be a professional singer - need I say more? :) ) spent their honeymoon at Justin, but there are others that are nice along that road - more or less 45 minutes from the Cambria area. http://www.justinwine.com/ and in general: http://www.paso46westwineries.com/

Here's a little on their restaurant - and their wine Isosceles Reserve - is top rated. http://isoscelesreserve.com/ and http://www.justinwine.com/visit_rest..._at_justin.php

BTW - did I mention there are also very good wineries around Solvang - and the St. Rita Hills in the west end of the Santa Ynez Valley has gained acclaim. Hey - you can even take a quick trip to Provence if you stop by this beautiful Clairmont lavender field/farm (near Los Olivos) for a picnic lunch. :) http://www.clairmontfarms.com/

The Anderson Inn does look promising from the photos on the website. If you haven't had a chance, take a look at Darrin H's photos from his stay on 3/5/12 and Solara 1's review of 3/1/12 on Tripadvisor to be sure it will fit the bill for this particularly special night. I don't find Morro Bay itself to be overly attractive. Re the Post Ranch, my husband definitely would have balked at $2000/night. We were able to book a Lexus package for our stay in August which included two dinners (still had to pay tax and tip plus our tree house room which was $945/night plus tax). Other packages are available through PRI.

<<<PRI looks spectacular, but at $6K for 3 nights, so is the price (unless it also comes with a mortgage!)>>>

This reminds me of a funny - the guy at the butcher counter at my local market told me the other day he's starting a sideline business in the store ---- making loans to people who want to buy fresh salmon! :-)

Could be a good biz. Same for fresh Ahi/Bluefin. :)

Nice deal on PRI! I'll take a look. If not, there's always dinner at their restaurant. Also, nice suggestion regarding the photos of Morro Bay. The Anderson Inn (and reviews) look great. The area however looks like a fishing port. Not sure that that's what I had in mind, so will probably give it some further thought. Amen on the salmon mortgage! I usually have Wild Alaskan a couple of times/week and it's never a picnic at the cash register.

Cambria is definitely "cuter" than Morro Bay if that's what you're looking for. The stretch of 46 between the 1 and 101 is very scenic. Downtown Paso has some good restaurants too but it can get be very hot there in the summer. Don't know when you're visiting. I don't necessarily think you even need a night between Santa Barbara and Ventana but don't know what you're planning to do in between.

Didn't necessarily require cute, although my wife would probably prefer that. I was just looking for nice (and trying avoid busy, tacky or congested). Interesting point about the extra night. My original plan was to go from Manhattan Beach to Cambria and Cambria to Ventana with anniversary dinner 6/12 at PRI. Someone I know who took the coast trip previously said I'd never make the first leg during daylight (on PCH). I then added Santa Barbara in order to break up the trip. I wasn't planning to visit Hearst Castle (I've been there before), but I prefered some time along the way to stop for lunch and to check out the sights. Paso sounds like a nice day trip, although I imagine dinner/wine might not be advisable if driving back to Cambria or Morro Bay in the evening

I like your original plan and think it's doable. The windy part of PCH starts north of Cambria. On our last two trips we've driven from Orange County, south of Manhattan Beach, to either San Luis Obispo or Paso Robles. We have left on a Sunday which does cut down on traffic, and we don't mind driving for 5-6 hours with a break for lunch. The car pool lane through LA always helps. We did encounter traffic in Santa Barbara this last trip. However many days you spend on the road, it would be ideal if you could be in Big Sur for the anniversary dinner.

Did you have a chance to check out Justin Vinyard, among the others along 46? Again, within 45 minutes of Cambria.

Again, I was amazed to see some of the grand Chateaux when I drove that road for the first time last fall. Just blown away really, and there are also a number of just plain ole good wineries, simple guest cottages and the like..

Here are a couple more examples: http://www.eaglecastlewinery.com/ http://www.croadvineyards.com/ http://www.fratelliperata.com/paso.html http://www.peachycanyon.com/cottage/ http://chanticleervineyardbb.com/index.php/guest-rooms
http://www.docerobleswinery.com/
http://huntcellars.com/
http://rtvpix.com/BU-8315-Q2Y37R-01 and in general: http://www.paso46westwineries.com/wineries.php and http://www.frommers.com/slideshow/in...estid=1112&p=7

Oops. Here's the Inn at Justin - where my nephew and his bride stayed for their honeymoon, and loved it. http://www.justinwine.com/visit_just_inn.php

Just another opinion re: PRI v. VI.
I have stayed at VI (about 4 years ago).
I have not stayed at PRI.
I have stayed at PRI's "sister resort" in Fiji (Jean-Michel Cousteau Fiji Resort).

Next time I am going to blow bucks in Big Sur, I'd way rather blow them at PRI than at Ventana, which I found overpriced, pretentious (self-conscious New Age-y pretentious), and just Not All That.

LucieV - do you need a butler? :)

Yes, I do, Tom. I also need a cook, a housekeeper, a dog-walker, a travel agent, a secretary, and a sugar daddy.


fwiw: the only reason we stayed at JMC Fiji is because at the time my niece was working there as their in-house marine biologist. Even then, it cost us more than we could afford. But it was worth every penny.

Thanks for the advice. I'll probably stick with the two stops before Ventana. While not ideal for the anniv dinner, it'll give us some more time to explore on the way up. Paso seems like a good option. Checked out Just Inn and it looks really nice. So does the restaurant. I'll proablably give my wife the option (i.e., beach or wine country) to see what she prefers. Thanks for all of the winery links. Sounds like a perfect way to spend the day. No question that PRI looks amazing. However, none of the packages are available for the period of my trip and I can't swing the price (i.e. 3x the cost of VI). Maybe after I hit Lotto (which I'm planning to do) :) I'll likely stick with VI and hope for the best. We'll probaly be out and about most of the time anyway.