Try focusing on when the OP is going. Not if you can find some expensive little B*B or dine-in seating in a place or time not of interest. With sort of crappy weather right now. And nowhere near a beach.

"Had to wait a longer than normal time for a Lyft driver."

Demand is increasing parallel with a rise in vaccination rates, but Uber and Lyft are experiencing a shortage of drivers. Some left during the pandemic and haven't come back (and may never come back). In California, some are bitter over the passage of a proposition in November 2020 that disqualified them for minimum wage and healthcare benefits.

https://www.businessinsider.com/why-...ge-2021-4?op=1

""However the last weekend in June might be a different story if you tried to book now.""

There are many, many rooms available now at the Geyserville Inn in late June

Plenty of availability for late June at the Gingerbread Inn too - which is near the coast
https://guest.rezstream.com/search/g...ad-mansion-inn

Stu Dudley

Thanks everyone! A lot of food for thought. Also looks like it will be after the 4th of July.

I agree with Gardyloo and take a cheap flight to LA, SFO, or wherever in California and rent a car there.

Not only are rental cars in short supply, they are much more expensive than usual. The rental car companies were hit hard last year and had to sell off thousand of cars and either furlough or let go thousands of employees. Gearing back up is expensive.

Sold out on the 26th to the 30th..

I was aware of that and it was a one-way rental. I didn't want one of the companies which has a reputation of ripoffs on the use of the toll transponder (Hertz/Thrifty). So I could have saved a few hundred dollars by making some other choices.

I booked a standard car as the least expensive choice and was given a SUV (Toyota RAV4). Given how fond Texans are of speeding, I was happy to have the extra acceleration capability. I also liked their radar-assisted cruise control with lane tracing. The base rate was not really that out of line, but taxes added 50% to the cost.

My Lyft driver did seem new, he had never done a Long Beach airport pickup and went to the wrong curb. Fortunately he didn't get ticketed but I had to hustle over to the inner curb. I considered taking the bus.

""Sold out on the 26th to the 30th..""

The Gingerbread Inn is currently "sold out" on 16 of the 61 days in June & July. This includes a major 3 day holiday weekend. June 26th to 30th is immediately before that holiday weekend - so being sold out then might be "normal" in any year. Don't know!!

Stu Dudley