Coastal Trip Part II (Elephant Seals and Zebras)

The second half of our trip took us down the coast from Monterey to Morro Bay. Along the way we saw beautiful California coastline, Big Sur, breath-taking views, ridiculous animals, and a castle.

We spent a little time in Carmel-by-the-Sea on Friday evening eating at Clint Eastwoods restaurant The Hog's Breath Inn. Carmel is a quaint little town that prides itself on outlawing parking meters, chain restaurants, and neon signs. Our next trip will include a stop at the Tinder Box Tea shop, a small british style tea house that was recommended by locals.

Driving down the coast offers some breath-taking views of the California Coast. With abrupt cliffs covered in sea spray and occasional white sand beaches this was definitely a drive everyone should take. Trisha and I would periodically pull off Highway 1 to take a picture or enjoy the view.





Our first stop was as a small restaurant called Nepenthe. This small restaurant/cafe/gift shop sat at the top of a bluff overlooking the Pacific. When we weren't fighting with the local ravens for a place to sit, this was an amazing place to have a drink and relax from the drive.

Our next stop was Julie Pfeifer Burns State Park (Part of Big Sur). The park offers a short trail to an observation point where you can see a waterfall crashing onto the beach.



Piedras Blancas is home to a colony of Elephant Seals. Once a year these monstorous mammals storm the beaches to give birth to new pups and mate for the following year. Male seals can weigh as much as 5,000 lbs. They fight each other to establish mating rights.







Just a few miles south of Piedras Blancas is Hearst Castle. If you make the trip be sure to make your reservations early. We were turned away because all of the tours were full. We stopped at the gift shop and picked up a book to provide us with some additional information about the castle. W.R. Heast built this castle as a weekend getaway. He started the worlds largest private zoo by importing animals from all over the globe. We were fairly shocked when we entered the grounds to find Zebras running wild on the grounds. The book explained it all, but there was definitely a moment of shock for the two of us until we discovered their origins.