Our one day in Big Sur

For as much as I have heard about how beautiful Big Sur is I didn’t really know much about Big Sur. What I did know: there would be cliffs with magnificent ocean views, a relatively underpopulated coastline, and (thanks to my Mom) that there was some famous bridge there. It was with this minimal knowledge that my parents started down Coastal Hwy 1 towards the Bixby bridge and some dot on the map called “Big Sur” to see what we could find.

Turns out the magnificent coastal cliff views are pretty easy to come by at any of the many pullouts. We found ourselves beckoned to the edge of a cliff by the distant honking of the sea lions, greeted by a vividly blue ocean. Clearly this was the draw of Big Sur to (approximately) every single convertible owner north of LA. But looking for something else to do, besides drive (which we had been doing all the time since my parents arrived), we ended up at Andrew Molera State Park.

Andrew Molera park has a nice little trail system, some of them opened to bikes and horses, which could either take you down towards the coast or up into the coastal hills (mountains?).  Fun fact my Mom found in her guide book: Andrew Molera introduced the Artichoke to California and championed for the prickly vegetable. Obviously I was pretty excited since I too have a soft spot for Artichokes. We ended up hiking the Beach trail (or maybe the Creamery Meadow Trail? It wasn’t super well signed) up to the ocean. It was some nice flat hiking

After the State Park we headed further South towards that dot on the map marked “Big Sur” to get some lunch. As it turns out there is not really a real town, just a few tourist stops and cafes but were able to pick up a couple sandwiches/salads to travel slightly further down the road and stop to eat with a view. Nice!

Continuing with the epic driving adventure we stopped by the Bixby Bridge for some photos, Point Lobos State Reserve to do some seal watching, headed back to the hotel in Monterey, and ended our evening by attempting to the watch the sunset over on the Asilomar State Beach on Sunset Drive. Unfortunately by that point our partially cloudy day had turned into a stormy sky blocking our view… but us Midwesterners are not about to let a few clouds ruin an awesome day along the coast! :D