Big Sur

2015. 33. To ring it all in, we took a trip to Big Sur, a place so close and so beautiful I can't believe I'd never really been. The weekend was unseasonably, freakishly warm, and the drive down was a bit like a dream. 80 degrees, sunshine, the glinting Pacific, and whales. Tons of them migrating. You could see spouts everywhere. At one point we pulled off at a roadside vista where we stood with an older couple with binoculars and an aging hippie fixing his moldering VW. We watched whales pass by, announcing them to each other, and saw dolphins playing in the surf while we listened to sea lions bellowing below.

We stayed at Deetjen's, a very cool old collection of wooden cottages from the 1930s originally built by Helmuth Deetjen after the style of buildings in his native Norway. Inspired by the room they offer with a record player (it wasn't available), we brought our own along with a tote full of vinyl. The restaurant was just as charming as the rest of the place, and we had an evening drink at the bar as well as a great breakfast in the indoor garden-like dining room.

We spent our nights at Nepenthe, which is like heaven. It's hard to imagine a prettier place. Our fears that Big Sur in January might mean freezing wind and rain seemed laughable on warm nights drinking rose and watching the sun set into the ocean. I liked to snag a seat at the back deck for sunset and spend the rest of the time at the long wooden table overlooking the southern coastline.

Instead of the ambitious hike we'd planned on Saturday we did the short walk to McWay Falls and part way up the Canyon trail on the other side of the highway. There we found another waterfall, a stream, and plenty of beautiful wooded spots with rays of sunshine beaming through the forest.

Other must-dos were Big Sur Bakery in the morning for pastries, coffee and people watching (we also had a great, cozy dinner there) and the Henry Miller Memorial Library. Apparently they've stopped doing shows there for the time being, but you can stop in to browse and buy a curated selection of books and records, and wander around the quaint grounds of what was once the house of the author's best friend.

We found so many places I can see becoming favorites. I already can't wait to get back and do it all over again and explore what more Big Sur has to offer. Next time: bring binoculars for whale watching and call Esalen at 9am sharp to get a night bathing reservation. More pics over on Instagram.