We are flying into San Fran in May and driving the coast down to San Diego. We get into San Fran on a Thursday and will be leaving Sunday a.m. to San Diego. Hope to be there by Thursday to enjoy 4 days in San Diego. Have already been to San FRan and Wine country. Looking for hints, tips, great places to stay in Southern California.... All help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Jim

Do a search using the words "California coast" and you'll bring up my trip report from July 1999. We stayed overnight in Pacific Grove on the Monterey Peninsula (the Monterey Aquarium is great if you haven't seen it). Pacific Grove is less touristy than Monterey and Carmel and we liked it a lot. There are some lovely B&Bs/inns there. South of Carmel there is a lovely place called Pt. Lobos State Park which is well worth a couple of hours for a short walk or hike -- beautiful trails with surf crashing on the rocks, seals and sea otters, wildflowers, seabirds, etc. (Ansel Adams took photographs there). We also stayed overnight in Big Sur at Ventana which I recommend highly although it's very pricey (Post Ranch Inn is supposed to be great too but it was out of our price range). Ventana's restaurant, Cielo, is fantastic. Go to www.ventanainn.com for more info (also www.postranchinn.com for that one). At the south end of the Big Sur coastline is Ragged Point which is a great place to stop and eat lunch and get a gorgeous view up and down the coast. San Simeon is at the very southern end of the Big Sur coast and has Hearst Castle, which is a must see in my opinion. Go to www.hearstcastle.org for more info and tickets. Just north of Hearst Castle is a beach with a sign that says wildlife viewing -- we saw a big colony of elephant seals there. We stayed overnight in Cambria which is just a few miles south of Hearst Castle. Highly recommend Cambria. Had a great dinner at Robin's. Try to stay just outside of town on Moonstone Beach Drive though -- it is right across from the oceans and there are rocks and tidepools where you can see seals and starfish and sea urchins and all kinds of neat things. Check www.cambria-online.com for more info. Also, Santa Barbara is worth a stop for the Santa Barbara mission and also lunch at a great little taco stand called La Super-Rica taqueria. Hope you have as great a trip as we did.

Lisa said it all. Follow her advice and you will have a wonderful trip.

Be sure you do not miss the Cielo restaurant at Ventana mentioned above-we are still talking about it two years later. Big Sur is probably one of the most beautiful places in California.
Also, you may want to consider stopping in Monterey and renting some kayaks to get a little closer to the otters, it is one of our favorite things to do when we visit the area. Be sure to rent some neoprene booties and/or gloves to keep warm if you try it.

May I recommend my adopted home town of San Clemente? It's the in southernmost part of Orange County, just before Camp Pendleton and the begining of San Diego County. It's a simple, beachy town with a lot of charm. It's not as drop-dead gorgeous as Big Sur, but very atmospheric for Orange County (which in general is heavily developed along the cost). Check out The Village, a restaurant on Avenida Del Mar, for lunch or dinner.

I must nominate the town where I grew up, Hermosa Beach. It's only 1 square mile, but it packs a punch! If you will be there on a Thursday, Friday or Saturday night, there are many bars with live entertainment on Pier Avenue at the Strand. You can rent skates or get a surf lesson. You can go to the Comedy Club on Hermosa Avenue and see a comedian. Tons of stuff! Be advised- if you will be there Memorial Day weekend, there will be a Fiesta de las Artes going on and it will be CROWDED!

If you end up driving south on US 101 toward Santa Barbara, you might think about detouring through Solvang and the Santa Ynez Valley. Solvang is a Danish-themed town--it's touristy, but if you're with a 'Shopper', there are scores of little shops to explore. The Valley has a number of wineries, if you like those; many are centered around a little town called Los Olivos. Santa Barbara county vinters association has a website w/ area info. May should be perfect in the Valley, with wildflowers blooming.