Reply to SF, Monterey, Carmel, Big Sur trip

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[quote=Anonymous]No Cal native/former resident here:  This is from some advice I gave a friend via email who was planning a trip with his fiance. I recommend staying in Big Sur at least one night but Monterey/Carmel is wonderful too, I never hear anything bad from people who stay at Asilomar (conference center in killer location)  or The Highlands Inn (perched on cliff overlooking ocean) The state park lodges are fine and have dining halls or you can hit one of the other restaurants along Route 1. 
Be prepared for windy, chillier days and nights and water than we have here. Usual beach gear is bathing suit covered with jeans or sweats, a T shirt and hoodie, good hiking shoes or Tevas, daypack, cheese, salami, baguette, fruit, trail mix and water. The water is 52 degrees better to look at than swim in generally. Bring a camera that can get sandy to take pics of sea otters, wildflowers, redwoods etc. 
The Monterey Aquarium is justly famous and good for an afternoon before dinner in town. 
From email: You were asking about places to stay, visit etc. 
Most places are fairly close to the road, given the steep terrain. 
Rent The Sandpiper with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. It was filmed at Nepenthe and has gorgeous scenery. 
Also Harold and Maude, Vertigo, that Star Trek movie where they save the whale
Read: Poetry of Robinson Jeffers, Bret Harte, Mark Twain’s Roughing It, Richard Brautigan, John Steinbeck, Henry Miller, John Muir, Jack London
http://homepage.mac.com/pax4us/CALitTour/readinglist.html
Nepenthe (restaurant – do not pass this. Stop for drinks, cappuccino, or a meal, make sure to check out the upstairs, outdoor terrace and the gift shop)
YOU MUST VISIT: Pfieffer Beach State Park (natural bridges, scenic rocky beach)
Pfieffer Big Sur State Park (redwoods, creek, Big Sur Lodge inside the park is a lodging option) Hike up the creek to the rocky swimming hole…climb up the rock from the swimming hole to find even more swimming holes! Bring daypack, water, snacks, bathing suit/quick dry clothing.
Andrew Molera State Park  - meadow trail through monarch butterfly eucalyptus grove to long beach and rocky headland with a great view. Sea otters often visible in the kelp beds offshore, seals and sea lions… It is just south of the Big Sur Lighthouse, which is on an island connected by a beach on a Coast Guard reserve and is open for public tours only on certain days (check website?) Near the other two parks. 
Fancy hotels with incredible hot tubs/spa experience, the kind of place Steve Martin goes on the weekend: Ventana Inn, Post Ranch Inn.
There is a new place called Treebones that has yurts, pool, hot tub, restaurant that looks totally cool: www.treebonesresort.com
More moderate lodgings: Deetjen’s, very atmospheric, tucked away into a redwood grove, good breakfasts
Glen Oaks Big Sur, Ripplewood, Fernwood resort or Big Sur River Inn. The river inn is along the creek but it has a restaurant with live music that can get lively. 
Check Trip Advisor for visitor’s photos 
Closer to Carmel/Monterey:
Buy strawberries, fruit, garlic, tapenade, artichoke garlic spread etc. in Watsonville area. Garlic World in Gilroy if you take the inland route 101 instead of 1 (maybe on the way back)
Santa Cruz has a beach, boardwalk, old wooden roller coaster, UCSC, redwoods 
Kayaking in Elkhorn Slough (Moss Landing) Check internet for kayak companies – can be done as day trip. Or try Monterey Bay.
Carmel Highlands Inn lodging great location/cliffhanger
17 Mile Drive go ahead and pay the toll, feel intense envy, see where Garske will own a house when I win the lottery
Point Lobos State Preserve get out, walk around, check out some tide pools
Carmel Valley Ranch and Quail Lodge are up in the hills along the Carmel River, and very pretty in their own way, nice if you like to get lunch, golf, play tennis, get away from the fog for a while, I think there are wineries up there too.
Most of the incredible golf courses are private clubs, but I think you can go to Pebble Beach…I have only been there during pro-ams, to see James Garner, Jack Lemmon and Clint Eastwood play. We watched sea otters and whales from the 7th hole.

In San Francisco: Vesuvio bar & City Lights book store
Cable car from Union Square to the waterfront, through Chinatown
Golden Gate Park: Japanese Tea Garden, De Young art & Academy of Sciences museums. Skip the zoo. Stow Lake for another romantic row boat ride. 
Museum : Palace of the Legion of Honor – French art including a Rodin’s Thinker. Nearby walking path called Land’s End is very scenic, you can also check out the Cliff House restaurant & scenic ruins of the Sutro Baths where the priest falls in a hole in Harold and Maude, this is a great three-for-1. 
Haight Ashbury is all touristy now but it is close to GG Park. 
I hear there is a great sort of market food court at the Ferry Landing now? 
Take boat ride from Fisherman’s Wharf/Pier 39 area – rent bikes and go over to Angel Island, or get lunch in Sausalito? The ferry type boats may be cheaper than the tour boats and scenery is just as good.
Alcatraz tix must be booked way in advance.
Walk along Marina Green area from Maritime Museum to Fort Point
Can’t help with restaurants, if you go to Berkeley make reservations at Chez Panisse, in Oakland try Bay Wolf or Lo Cocos, French laundry in Napa

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