Help with my 2022 Trip to California Please!

[cruisehopeful]

New trip looks reasonable. I think Solvang is about an hour visit and wouldn't go out of my way to go there again, but I know many people love to go there. It's mostly about wine tasting. The majority of the shops sell junk made in China.

I stayed in Pacific Grove for a week and the whole town shuts down very early. You'll be close enough to drive to Monterey and Carmel in the evening if you want to do anything. We were pretty blown away by how early everything closed in the immediate area. One place we spent a couple evenings at was: https://www.hogsbreathinn.net/ in Carmel. It's kind of themed and it's owned by Clint Eastwood. My daughter thought it looked like something that would be in Harry Potter. In Monterey, we did a couple coffee shops in the evenings, but they get full and one evening we went from place to place until we found one that had room for us to sit down. We just didn't want be holed up in our room all evening every night.

For dining in Pacific Grove, we loved Beach House Restaurant for dinner. We did one early bird dinner special and one night we just had drinks and appetizers in the bar - which was enough food for a meal. Great view of the ocean and nice area to walk around during daylight. For breakfast, we liked The Red House Cafe.

Your day 15 is maybe US. I would look at Knott's Berry Farm, or other things in Los Angeles that may be of interest like the La Brea Tar Pits, the Car Museum https://www.petersen.org/, or some other museums/botanical gardens. Just thinking you may be a bit burned out by then and I always find US to be annoying and disappointing and too expensive for what it is.

 

[bennifer]

that looks a much better plan. Its still a huge amount of driving, and will be exhausting. It would still be far too much for me, but maybe some of the California people might be able to give a better perspective.

Thanks! I love road trips and driving to explore new places. I don't know if/when we'll be back to California, so I want to make the most of our time.

 

[bennifer]

New trip looks reasonable. I think Solvang is about an hour visit and wouldn't go out of my way to go there again, but I know many people love to go there. It's mostly about wine tasting. The majority of the shops sell junk made in China.

I stayed in Pacific Grove for a week and the whole town shuts down very early. You'll be close enough to drive to Monterey and Carmel in the evening if you want to do anything. We were pretty blown away by how early everything closed in the immediate area. One place we spent a couple evenings at was: https://www.hogsbreathinn.net/ in Carmel. It's kind of themed and it's owned by Clint Eastwood. My daughter thought it looked like something that would be in Harry Potter. In Monterey, we did a couple coffee shops in the evenings, but they get full and one evening we went from place to place until we found one that had room for us to sit down. We just didn't want be holed up in our room all evening every night.

For dining in Pacific Grove, we loved Beach House Restaurant for dinner. We did one early bird dinner special and one night we just had drinks and appetizers in the bar - which was enough food for a meal. Great view of the ocean and nice area to walk around during daylight. For breakfast, we liked The Red House Cafe.

Your day 15 is maybe US. I would look at Knott's Berry Farm, or other things in Los Angeles that may be of interest like the La Brea Tar Pits, the Car Museum https://www.petersen.org/, or some other museums/botanical gardens. Just thinking you may be a bit burned out by then and I always find US to be annoying and disappointing and too expensive for what it is.

Thank you! I'm not too worried about the early evenings. We're coming from PA and EST, so I think we'll be ready for bed early most days!

Thank you for the restaurant ideas, too. I'll definitely check them out! I'm a sucker for a gimmick so the Hogs Breath Inn is right up my alley.

My biggest reason to try to do US is because my DS12 has been asking for years to go in Orlando but I cannot justify that cost for something that I don't think he'll love (he's not a big thrill ride lover). I could be wrong, but I think the price in Hollywood is cheaper, plus it's smaller. I do want to see the tar pits and some other things, so I may try to get a later in the day flight home. Or maybe we'll decide we don't need 3 full days at DL/DCA and drive to LA for a day then!