Rather than head straight to San Francisco from Monterey Bay on your California road trip, you can detour via the vineyards of Sonoma for some wine tasting. This detour requires a night in one of the towns in the Sonoma region but his offers another dimension to your California road trip itinerary. Here’s why…
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Kayak on Elkhorn Slough Estuary with sea otters
Sometimes you need a Plan B for your travels, and this is an example of when we needed to use on our California road trip…
The original plan was to depart Monterey after breakfast and drive north on the Pacific Coast Highway 1 to Moss Landing (20 minutes’ drive), where we would take a kayak trip on the Elkhorn Slough Estuary with Monterey Bay Kayaks. This is a unique, protected wetland with seals, birds, and the opportunity to view sea otters up close on the water.
Unfortunately for us, our kayak trip was cancelled due to high winds causing waves on the estuary. Waves affect the visibility of the sea otters, and so we were refunded. Whilst this was disappointing, we took heart from the fact that we had seen the sea otters in Morro Bay. Also, kayaking in the wind is probably not much fun!
With extra time to use, we decided to stay in Monterey for a couple of hours after breakfast to visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium which we wouldn’t have done otherwise on our California road trip.
Explore the Monterey Bay Aquarium
The Monterey Bay Aquarium is a large building in a prime position overlooking Monterey Bay. It is a modern structure with large windows and outdoor viewing platforms, so you feel very connected with the water as you are going around the aquarium.
Highlights of the Monterey Bay Aquarium for us were:
- The Kelp forest – a 28 feet tall tank featuring an underwater Kelp Forest allowing you to see below the water what you only usually see from water level.
- Giant Pacific Bay Octopus who was moving around and sticking tentacles to the glass.
- Incredible jelly fish – from tiny and unusual shaped jellyfish to enormous brightly coloured ones.
- Sea Otters – playing and frolicking in their areas.
Whilst zoos and aquariums are not really my thing, this aquarium was clean and well maintained, and was definitely worth visiting.
Look for The Lost Boys on Santa Cruz Boardwalk
From Monterey, it’s a 45 minute drive north to Santa Cruz. After parking opposite the Santa Cruz Boardwalk, we took a walk along the famous boardwalk, through the amusements and concession stands which were looking a little forlorn under the grey skies.
Just to try and feel the vibe, one of us tried a corn dog, because “it’s a classic piece of Americana”, but I doubt we will have another one!
Despite the rain and the corn dog, I enjoyed the fact that The Lost Boys was filmed on Santa Cruz Boardwalk, a film I loved in my teenage years.
To be honest, I think we might have missed the best bits of this ‘laid back surf town’ and I’m sure that the rain didn’t help!
Choose your route to the Sonoma Wine Region
From Santa Cruz, you can leave the coast behind and drive inland for 2.5 hours (144 miles), initially on very hilly roads with bends, and then on the busy interstate roads around San Francisco. This is the quickest route, but also the toughest drive.
Alternatively you can take the longer route (3 hours) up coastal Highway 1 to San Francisco, before continuing north to Sonoma. This would have allowed us to view Half Moon Bay and Pigeon Point which are notable stops on this section of the road.
The bonus of our inland route was that we found a Whole Foods shop off the InterState so we picked up lunch and Cherry Chocolate Trail Mix (which you can’t get in the UK) – tick! After swapping drivers, the roads eased, and the vineyards of the Sonoma wine region started to appear..
Drop into the Charles Schultz Museum, Santa Rosa
Time allowing, schedule a visit to the Charles Schultz Museum (the creator of Charlie Brown and Snoopy) in Santa Rosa. We had wanted to do this, but unfortunately ran out of time. Maybe we should have traded a rainy Santa Cruz Boardwalk for a stop in Santa Rosa?
Spend a night in Healdsburg, Sonoma
There are lots of hotels in the Sonoma wine region area to choose from. We booked into the Trio Hotel in Healdsburg and enjoyed pre-dinner drinks at the hotel which helped us decompress after the long drive (wine and beer only in the hotel, no spirits interestingly).
The hotel was slightly out of town and operates a shuttle bus to the centre of Healdsburg, Sonoma. This was the comfiest minibus ever with plush leather seats and holders for your wine glasses –these minibuses are used to tour the vineyards of the Sonoma wine region.
We had dinner at the SpoonBar restaurant at the H2H hotel, a modern building – all concrete, wood and lots of plants. When we got back to the Trio Hotel, we were joined in the lift by a robot delivering drinks to hotel rooms. The robot asked to go to Floor 3 – obviously it couldn’t push the buttons so needed to wait for humans to operate the lift. You could be waiting a long time for your drinks!
Don't miss the Francis Ford Coppola Winery
When you visit the Sonoma wine region, then it’s likely that you will want to visit a winery to do some wine tasting. As we had our teenagers with us then we researched which wineries were family friendly, and in the end chose the Francis Ford Coppola Winery as it has a lot of film memorabilia which we thought they would be interested in.
Once parked up outside, we were met by the Easter Bunny giving out eggs (it was Easter Weekend) before entering the main building which was filled with glass cabinets showcasing Coppola’s Oscars, Golden Globes, and other awards. There were also specific displays for Coppola’s films, such as The Godfather, Apocalypse Now and Trucker.
You can have lunch on the terrace of the Francis Ford Coppola Winery, overlooking rows of vines which is lovely, with stone baked pizzas for the kids. Then follow lunch with a wine tasting upstairs in the main building. The only problem you’ll have is deciding who is the nominated driver!
Walk amongst giants in Muir Woods National Park
After lunch start the final part of your California road trip towards San Francisco but make sure to stop at Muir Woods National Park in Mill Valley to stroll the beautiful redwoods (1 hour 10 minutes’ drive from the Francis Ford Coppola Winery).
Just getting to Muir Woods is enjoyable as, once off the motorway, you drive up a series of hills on an amazingly bendy roads surrounded by yet more amazing houses with incredible views and trees.
Muir Woods is named after the Scottish environmentalist, John Muir, and is home to majestic Coastal Redwoods which grow up to 260 ft tall, and some very tall Douglas Fir trees. The average age of the trees is 600-800 years old, with some individuals even reaching 1,200 years old (see featured photo).
The car park at Muir Woods was busy as this is a very popular spot, but you can reserve a time-slot for the car park before visiting, through their website. Remember to print off your parking voucher before arrival as the wifi is not so good in the Muir Woods area.
Once you’ve paid your entrance to Muir Woods on arrival, then you can follow the boardwalks through the beautiful woods, marvelling at the majestic trees. It was so tranquil and serene, with just the noise of the occasional woodpecker breaking the silence.
Drive over the Golden Gate Bridge
If you are ending your road trip at San Francisco, then you can now return your rental car to the AVIS depot at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) because you won’t need it for your time in the city.
The drive from Muir Woods to the airport takes about 45 minutes (30 miles), with the bonus of passing over the Golden Gate Bridge – a great way to experience this iconic bridge.
Once your hire car has been returned catch a taxi into San Francisco and check into your accommodation.
We stayed in the Kimpton Alton Hotel in Fisherman’s Wharf. This a busy boutique hotel with record players in the bedrooms and vinyl to borrow from Reception. We had a very slight view of Alcatraz from our bedroom window, although the kids room looked over the car park so it’s pot luck!
Enjoy the sunset from Pier 36, San Francisco
If you decide to stay in the Fisherman’s Wharf area then take a stroll to Pier 36 to meet the sea lions who choose to hang out there. Marine biologists believe that the sea lions have chosen K Dock on Pier 39 because there’s plenty of food nearby but without threat from their natural predators (white sharks and orcas) in the bay.
We stopped to watch the sea lions jumping on and off the dock, sleeping, fighting, and generally having a nice time, whilst the sun set over the Golden Gate Bridge in the background. A lovely introduction to our time in San Francisco.
Tomorrow, join us as we are biking across the bridge!
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