I’ve lived on the East Coast my whole life. I love New England and can’t imagine living somewhere else but I’ve always felt drawn to the West. Jarrett and I really wanted to do a road trip, so in 2019 we decided we’d do the Pacific Coast Highway from San Francisco to San Diego. My cousin Michael and his girlfriend Kim were living in Santa Monica at the time. Our plan was to take a few days driving south on the PCH, spend a few days with Mike and Kim in Santa Monica and then finish with a day/night in San Diego.
We flew from Boston to San Francisco and landed around 11 am Pacific time. We wanted to get to California as early as possible so we’d be able to utilize a full day there. Our trip was at the end of April – the week before our trip the weather in California had been beautiful and the day we arrived did not disappoint! We parked in Golden Gate Park and walked up to the Haight & Ashbury neighborhood, making a pit stop at Magnolia Brewing for beers and snacks. We were able to check into the hotel shortly after. Once we had a home base, we took off again by foot. We went to Ghirardelli Square, a cute little area with shops and restaurants that was close to the water. While there, we popped in San Francisco Brewing Co. to get a flight of beer. After we finished our beers, we walked along the water to Pier 39. Our first stop on the pier was to see the sea lions – they were so loud and funny! After we spent some time at Pier 39, we were both starting to feel the time difference and decided to turn in early so we could be refreshed the next morning.
We left San Francisco early in the morning, but before we left, we obviously needed to see the Golden Gate Bridge! When trying to figure out how to get close to the bridge to take pictures, we ended up missing the exit and crossing the bridge to Sausalito. We took pictures from the north side of the bridge, but it all worked out. After that, we started our journey south.
Unfortunately for us, the beautiful weather we had the day before was gone…it was in the low 60s and overcast. It made the views somewhat hard to see but it was still breathtaking. The first place we made a pit stop at was in Pacifica to check out Devil’s Slide Trail. We walked the paved trail for a bit – it was surprisingly empty, maybe due to the weather – I’m sure when the sun is out it’s even more beautiful.
We continued south on Route 1 until we got to Natural Bridges State Park in Santa Cruz which was pretty but not all that exciting. While we were in the area we stopped for lunch and beers at Seabright Brewery. It was a perfect pit stop.
The next stop was Bixby Creek Bridge and the Big Sur area. Again, the overcast weather hindered our views but the clouds and fog made for some haunting photographs of the bridge. It was interesting that when we’d look out over the water, we couldn’t see anything, but if you looked inland, it was all blue skies and sunshine. The highway here was my favorite, so many twists and turns! I can’t imagine it’d be enjoyable though if you’re someone who is easily carsick.
Pfeiffer Beach was up next so we could put our feet in the Pacific Ocean and see the purple sand. As mentioned before, it was cool out so the beach wasn’t too crowded. It was beautiful though and ended up being the only beach we went to on our trip. It was wild seeing a tsunami hazard zone sign at the beach, definitely not something we see often in New Hampshire!
The last pit stop on day two was Piedras Blancas elephant seal rookery. They smelled terrible but were still cute. It was crazy to see how many of them there were all piled up on top of each other. When we left there, it was only a little further to our destination for the evening – San Luis Obispo!
When we got to town, there was a big farmers market happening. We were able to walk there from our hotel. San Luis Obispo was a really cute town and the downtown area was nice. We of course had to check out SLO Brew to get some beers and apps. The fried Brussel sprouts were so good and we loved the beers. The atmosphere was great too.
Even though it’s disgusting we took a picture in Bubblegum Alley. We got the best ribs from one of the vendors at the Farmer’s Market and then finished the night with Cowboy Cookies. We loved SLO and I’d definitely want to go back to spend more time there. It would be a fun location for a long weekend.
The morning of day three we got donuts at a little shop called Sunshine Donuts. The woman working at the counter was the sweetest and the donuts were tasty. She gave me an extra donut and told me I didn’t have to share with Jarrett 😂 We made a quick stop in Pismo Beach. It was fairly early in the morning so nothing was really open but we walked out on the pier and watched people surfing for a bit.
We got to our next stop, Santa Barbara, around lunch time. The first place we went was the court house – I had read that it was a must-see stop in the town. The tile work was beautiful inside and from the clock tower on the roof, you could get a great view of the downtown area. I loved the buildings with their whitewashed adobe walls and the red tile roofs. I definitely want to visit again – it would be perfect for a girls getaway!
For lunch we went to a brewery – which I’m sure doesn’t surprise you if you’ve been reading my blog posts. Figueroa Mountain Brewing Co. was a really cool spot. We got pizza and flights and sat outside on the patio for a bit. After lunch we got back on the road to head to our next destination – Santa Monica!
We got to my cousin’s apartment late afternoon. His place was walking distance of a lot of restaurants so we grabbed dinner and drinks. The next morning we started the day at Temescal Canyon for a hike. I tripped and fell before we even left the parking lot. Luckily I made it through the rest of the hike unscathed. It was muggy out but still no sun so the views from the top were obstructed. It was pretty cool that such a nice little hike was right outside the city.
After we freshened up post hike, we took an Uber into downtown LA. Our first destination was Grand Central Market and I got some of the best tacos I’ve ever had. It was a fun spot, but it was really crowded. We got to see Angels Flight as a well – Jarrett and I are fans of the show Bosch – if you’re familiar with the show you’ll remember that one of the crime scenes from the show was at Angels Flight! It was fun seeing it in person.
We headed to the Arts District next and went to a few breweries. The first we went to was Angel City Brewery. I was really impressed with them. The building was really unique and it was so big! I appreciated how much art they had on display as well. The beers were good too! After, we stopped at Mumford Brewing. It was smaller but the beers were pretty good too. We then went to Resident to sit at their outdoor patio and order drinks from their outside Airstream bar. Afterwards we went to a bunch of other bars in the area and had ourselves quite a night. The last bar we went to was Clifton’s Republic, a multi-level bar with a giant tree inside. The atmosphere was very cool.
The next morning we were all a little hungover and needed something good for breakfast. We drove out to Manhattan Beach and got brunch at M.B. Post, which was delicious. Once we felt a little bit more alive, we went to Hollywoodland/Beechwood Canyon to do the Secret Stairs. It was so cool! We finally got some sun while we were out doing the urban hike.
The following day Jarrett and I got up early to head to San Diego. I had heard that San Diego was ALWAYS sunny, but of course the day we were there, we had rainstorms all day. We didn’t do as much as we wanted because of the rain so we ended up just brewery hopping.
We started at 10 Barrel Brewing where we split a flight. Then Mission Brewing was up next – they were located in a historic Wonder Bread building. Mission was my favorite brewery we went in SD. Then we went to Duck Foot Brewing, where we had a really funny bartender. Half Door Brewing was after that – it was right next to the Padres stadium, which was cool to see. Knotty Brewing Co. was the next stop and we liked them a lot too. Our final brewery was Rip Current Brewing. We had an early flight back to Boston the next day so went to bed on the early side after the last stop.
I wish we had better weather when we were in San Diego because we really wanted to see the beach and the Old Town but the rain stopped us from exploring. Someday I’ll go back to all of the places we stopped and spend more time, but for now, this was a great introduction to the West Coast and left me wanting more.
Have you ever done the Pacific Coast Highway road trip? If so, what was your favorite part? Let me know below!
📍I acknowledge the lands mentioned in this post are the ancestral lands of the Ohlone, Ramaytush, Muwekma, Popeloutchom (Amah Mutsun), Awaswas, Chumash, Salina, Obispeño, ‘Amuwu, Barbareño Chumash, Tongva (Gabrieleno) and Kumeyaay/Kumiais people.
The Adventures of Suze 
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