Highway 1 – San Francisco to Monterey

Full of expectations on the legendary Highway 1 of we took from San Francisco towards our first stop, the Pigeon Point Lighthouse, where we also were going to spend the first night. I have to say this stay was one of my highlights on this route. The lighthouse is very remote and has a kind of spooky feel about it. It was so peaceful to just stroll around the lighthouse area and feel the fresh (chilly) coastal winds. The hostel itself was really quiet and super cheap. Not the cleanest perhaps but for sure very memorable.

For dinner we went to the excellent Duarte´s Tavern in the small village Pescadero, famous for their Artichokes. This place was only a short drive from from Pigeon Point Lighthouse. We had an excellent dinner there followed by a American pie for desert. Walnut and a berry flavors! Still today I get a watering mouth from thinking about this amazing cake. Good timing since it was actually my birthday this day 😉 And my birthday ended with 30 minutes hot tub with a view. Who would have expected a lighthouse with a hot tub?

We left our hostel early in the morning the following day, to drive down to Monterey where our day was going to start with a whale watching tour. This is something I had been looking forward to very much and I have to say it did not at all live up to my expectations. Even though I had taken a pill against sea sickness I had constant nausea and the boat was too crowded with eager people. Besides this I just could not get excited by just seeing a small part of the back of a whale from a really far distance. Zooming out as much as I could below whale shot is the best I got. My highlight of that tour was instead when a big bunch of dolphins came swimming past. That was really cool. But the best part was once we approached the shore again and the happy sea lions, that are all over the town, greeted us in their playful manner.

Our day ended by a brief visit to the picturesque town Carmel, next to Monterey, where we also had a wonderful dinner. And after that a sunset drive along the Monterey shore. I loved little Carmel but Monterey to me was not so special. However I know they have a great aquarium which we unfortunately had no time to visit! The best part of Monterey were for sure the sea lions. They are so charming and literally everywhere!! 🙂