Pacific Coast Highway Recomendations needed

[chttyangel]

Thanks; that's about what we kept hearing.

 

[bcla]

How did you like the festival? It's on our list every year and still haven't made it. This year it was on a beautiful weekend but we were scared off by some of the stories of traffic, parking, no pumpkins and went further north to tomles bay to play instead.

Traffic wasn't that bad for us. We arrived on Highway 1 and left via CA-92. I've been through HMB and it was considerably worse before trying to continue. I noted parking near a school, because free parking was iffy. As for pumpkins - there were several produce stands at the far north end. The pumpkins were actually pretty cheap, although most were kind of cosmetically poor. We just went to a local pumpkin farm today, and while they had lots of activities, the pumpkins cost way more than we could buy them at a local produce market.

As for HMB, there are pumpkin sellers set up along Highway 1 and a couple of farms on 92. We didn't check them out, but you can find them there. They're not officially part of the festival, but they're convenient.

Most of what they have are art stands. And they have delicate items placed insecurely at a festival with a lot of children. You can imagine how words get exchanged. We sort of liked the sponsor tents, since there were a lot of giveaways. Wells Fargo set up an area with a stagecoach. We didn't take part in the pumpkin pie eating contest. As far as the food and beverage goes, we in particular just got sausage. The one pumpkin related beverage I had was Half Moon Bay Brewing Company's Mavericks Pumpkin Harvest Ale. They apparently throw in a few hundred pounds of roasted and spiced pie pumpkins, and it did sort of have a pumpkin pie taste.

Yeah - there's only so much pumpkin theming that they can do. We did see the pumpkin mascot walking around, although that could be fun or scary depending on who you ask. For the most part it's an excuse to throw a party around the local pumpkin harvest and maybe an early daytime Halloween party.

 

[chttyangel]

Love pumpkin ale! Thanks for the info.

 

[Jdismom]

I know the op has already finished her trip, but I appreciate that this thread keeps going since our CA trip is not until next summer and I'm still researching and planning.

I see someone mentioned Madonna Inn. I was going to ask about this place later on. Has anyone ever stayed there? It looks like crazy fun! Or would it be worth it to drive over for a meal while we're staying in Cambria? Can you walk around and explore the grounds?