DRIVING CA HIGHWAY 1

[+ bashful]

http://www.ticklepinkinn.com/

 

Thanks azdr0710. Have always wanted to stay there.

[rvwnsd]

I second the emotion on Nepenthe. Madonna Inn is always a fun, kitschy place to stay. It was started by Art and Phyllis Madonna. Despite the tack and kitsch, the food is very good (or at least it was a few years ago when I stayed there). The urinal in the men's room is not to be missed.

[bigvalboy]

You may wish to take into account driving either north or south where the sun is likely to be, so that it is not constantly in your eyes. It is a drop dead gorgeous, but strenuous drive. Consider packing a picnic lunch, as there are very few (if any) amenities along the way.

 

Well each to his own I suppose, but for myself, I've done that run at least 40 times, maybe more, and in all kinds of weather, yes fog too, and never once would I have described it as strenuous. I think it depends on your level of comfort behind the wheel of a car. I know narrow roads and heights tend to make some people nervous. As for amenities, there are places to stop all along Highway 1. San Simeon to Monterey is only 90 miles, and in between there are several great restaurants and gas facilities, including Big Sur, Ragged Point and Gorda (which has Gas, and lodging in a pinch) Anyway, it is worthy of being on anyone's 'Bucket list'...My 2 cents

[bigvalboy]

The urinal in the men's room is not to be missed.

 

LOL...yes the urinal is wonderful. Who would have guessed.

[Lookin]

It's been a long while but I still think fondly of 17-mile Drive.

 

Should you happen to find yourself sandwiched between Epigonos and a Midwestern motor home, you can always pull over and enjoy the view. http://www.boytoy.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif

 

http://drivethenation.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/17-Mile-Drive-1500x974.jpg

[+ bashful]

Or should I take 420? (giggle)

 

No giggling while driving!

 

I just now got that. I miss 420.

[+ Axiom2001]

Two weeks ago I made a trip to Nepenthe to buy two slices of apple pie. When the waitperson brought them to me to go, she gave me my bill. I looked at it, and the two slices cost me over $20. If I had not had a taste for this dessert and had not driven over 40rt to get it, I would have declined the purchase. As I walked out amongst the hordes of tourists and down the four flights of stairs toward my auto which I'd parked along the highway itself, for it was a Sunday in July and packed, I thought about years ago when I would go just for the ambrosia burger. At the time the price was $5; I presume today's price is $15+-- didn't check.

But I still like this particular venue.

 

When visitors come my way, we always make the drive along the coast to Big Sur and go to Nepenthe although there are two other famous businesses which I've gone to and have loved: Ventana Inn and Post Ranch. ...love everything about these two coastal places, too.

Ah, the Central Coast of California and scenic Highway 1!!

[AdamSmith]

Well each to his own I suppose, but for myself, I've done that run at least 40 times, maybe more, and in all kinds of weather, yes fog too, and never once would I have described it as strenuous. I think it depends on your level of comfort behind the wheel of a car. I know narrow roads and heights tend to make some people nervous. As for amenities, there are places to stop all along Highway 1. San Simeon to Monterey is only 90 miles, and in between there are several great restaurants and gas facilities, including Big Sur, Ragged Point and Gorda (which has Gas, and lodging in a pinch) Anyway, it is worthy of being on anyones 'Bucket list'...My 2 cents

"Strenuous" does not quite reach up the list of adjectives when one was driving up there somewhat north of Big Sur in the late 1980s and without warning came on a section of road where the western lane had dropped into the sea.

 

But, you know, California. So what the hell.

 

In the event I persevered up to Carmel-by-the-Sea where a motel called The Westerner with a neon sign showing a cowboy with an oscillating lariat delivered many cowpokes posing & flexing behind their room windows.

[bigvalboy]

in the late 1980s and without warning came on a section of road where the western lane had dropped into the sea.

In the event I persevered up to Carmel-by-the-Sea where a motel called The Westerner with a neon sign showing a cowboy with an oscillating lariat delivered many cowpokes posing & flexing behind their room windows.

 

Well yes, that should be mentioned. I never travel Highway 1 during the rainy season. Slides are common and dangerous.

 

In 1983, a massive slide near the entrance to Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park closed the road for more than one year and the scar from that slide is still visible from the road and air."

http://images.fineartamerica.com/images-medium-5/mcway-landslide-big-sur-california-1984-california-views-mr-pat-hathaway-archives.jpg

 

And you just know I had to google the Westerner in Carmel-by-the-Sea...sadly it didn't come up, but it sounds like it was...well memorable.

[rvwnsd]

LOL...yes the urinal is wonderful. Who would have guessed.

I've stood watch for many a lady who wanted to see what the hub-bub was all about.

[instudiocity]

Being a new transplant to the west coast, I'm looking forward to driving down this highway. I drove from LA to Huntington Beach recently and it was nice but I'm told the best parts are north of LA? This fall I'm planning to drive from north of SF down to LA. Would welcome any tips. I'll pack an extra dose of patience and binoculars. maybe even a Valium? Or should I take 420? (giggle)

If you're driving and want to see this magnificent scenery, it is better to travel the highway northbound. The driver is in the ocean side of his vehicle. I've driven it both directions and I much more appreciate the grandeur driving north.

[+ Truereview]

Thank you, all! Upon reading this awesome thread (mild case of insomnia), I've made a few decisions:

1. I'm gonna drive my dad's convertible. It sits in my garage without too much use, and I tinker enuff with it, that it deserves a longer ride.
   
2. I will drive it north & southbound and schedule 3 days up and 2 days back - maybe longer on the way back.
   
3. Gonna save my piss to check out the urinal @Madonna Inn, and gonna save my sweet tooth for a slice of apple pie at Nepenthe.
   
4. Will try avoid the rainy season! Will bring toll $ for the 17-mile drive in Pebble Beach
   
5. I think I will stop in Monterrey for some browsing. Stay at the Postranch inn on the way up and in Carmel on the way back - tickle pink inn, here I come! Just gotta work out logistics.
   
6. I must take in the sunset somewhere
   
7. Must visit Hearst Castle. I will save Ojai for a weekend getaway.
   
8. Must bring sunglasses and a bag of patience or giggles-munchies weed
   
9. Find the perfect SoCa Southbay escort to keep me company and share the driving
   
10. Write a review
    

[LADoug1]

+1 For Nepenthe. Was there many years ago. Not sure how touristy it has become. But the view was unforgettable.

[AdamSmith]

3. Gonna save my piss to check out the urinal @Madonna Inn, and gonna save my sweet tooth for a slice of apple pie at Nepenthe.

...The poor words with which natural human speech is provided cannot suffice to describe the Madonna Inn. To convey its external appearance, divided into a series of constructions, which you reach by way of a filling station carved from Dolomitic rock, or through the restaurant, the bar, and the cafeteria, we can only venture some analogies. Let’s say that Albert Speer, while leafing through a book on Gaudi, swallowed an overgenerous dose of LSD and began to build a nuptial catacomb for Liza Minnelli. But that doesn’t give you an idea. Let’s say Arcimboldi builds the Sagrada Familia for Dolly Parton. Or: Carmen Miranda designs a Tiffany locale for the Jolly Hotel chain. Or D’Annunzio’s Vittoriale imagined by Bob Cratchit, Calvino’s Invisible Cities described by Judith Krantz and executed by Leonor Fini for the plush-doll industry, Chopin’s Sonata in B flat minor sung by Perry Como in an arrangement by Liberace and accompanied by the Marine Band. No, that still isn’t right. Let’s try telling about the rest rooms. They are an immense underground cavern, something like Altamira and Luray, with Byzantine columns supporting plaster baroque cherubs. The basins are big imitation-mother-of-pearl shells, the urinal is a fireplace carved from the rock, and when the jet of urine (sorry, but I have to explain) touches the bottom, water comes down from the wall of the hood, in a flushing cascade something like the Caves of the Planet Mongo. And on the ground floor, in keeping with the air of Tyrolean chalet and Renaissance castle, a cascade of chandeliers in the form of baskets of flowers, billows of mistletoe surmounted by opalescent bubbles, violet-suffused light among which Victorian dolls swing, while the walls are punctuated by art-nouveau windows with the colors of Chartres and hung with Regency tapestries whose pictures resemble the garish color supplements of the Twenties. The circular sofas are red and gold, the tables gold and glass, and all this amid inventions that turn the whole into a multicolor Jell-O, a box of candied fruit, a Sicilian ice, a land for Hansel and Gretel. Then there are the bedrooms, about two hundred of them, each with a different theme: for a reasonable price (which includes an enormous bed King or Oueen size if you are on your honeymoon) you can have the Prehistoric Room, all cavern and stalactites, the Safari Room (zebra walls and bed shaped like a Bantu idol), the Kona Rock Room (Hawaiian), the California Poppy, the Old-Fashioned Honeymoon, the Irish Hills, the William Tell, the Tall and Short, for mates of different lengths, with the bed in an irregular polygon form, the Imperial Family, the Old Mill.

 

The Madonna Inn is the poor man’s Hearst Castle; it has no artistic or philological pretensions, it appeals to the savage taste for the amazing, the overstuffed, and the absolutely sumptuous at low price. It says to its visitors: “You too can have the incredible, just like a millionaire."

Umberto Eco, Travels in Hyperreality

[+ WilliamM]

http://gardeninggonewild.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/The-Barn2-640x430.png

 

Barbra Streisand's old home on the canyon side of Highway 1. I attended a wedding there in 2003, after Streisand moved across the street to the ocean side of the highway in Malibu.

[+ bigjoey]

...The poor words with which natural human speech is provided cannot suffice to describe the Madonna Inn. To convey its external appearance, divided into a series of constructions, which you reach by way of a filling station carved from Dolomitic rock, or through the restaurant, the bar, and the cafeteria, we can only venture some analogies. Let’s say that Albert Speer, while leafing through a book on Gaudi, swallowed an overgenerous dose of LSD and began to build a nuptial catacomb for Liza Minnelli. But that doesn’t give you an idea. Let’s say Arcimboldi builds the Sagrada Familia for Dolly Parton. Or: Carmen Miranda designs a Tiffany locale for the Jolly Hotel chain. Or D’Annunzio’s Vittoriale imagined by Bob Cratchit, Calvino’s Invisible Cities described by Judith Krantz and executed by Leonor Fini for the plush-doll industry, Chopin’s Sonata in B flat minor sung by Perry Como in an arrangement by Liberace and accompanied by the Marine Band. No, that still isn’t right. Let’s try telling about the rest rooms. They are an immense underground cavern, something like Altamira and Luray, with Byzantine columns supporting plaster baroque cherubs. The basins are big imitation-mother-of-pearl shells, the urinal is a fireplace carved from the rock, but when the jet of urine (sorry, but I have to explain) touches the bottom, water comes down from the wall of the hood, in a flushing cascade something like the Caves of the Planet Mongo. And on the ground floor, in keeping with the air of Tyrolean chalet and Renaissance castle, a cascade of chandeliers in the form of baskets of flowers, billows of mistletoe surmounted by opalescent bubbles, violet-suffused light among which Victorian dolls swing, while the walls are punctuated by art-nouveau windows with the colors of Chartres and hung with Regency tapestries whose pictures resemble the garish color supplements of the Twenties. The circular sofas are red and gold, the tables gold and glass, and all this amid inventions that turn the whole into a multicolor Jell-O, a box of candied fruit, a Sicilian ice, a land for Hansel and Gretel. Then there are the bedrooms, about two hundred of them, each with a different theme: for a reasonable price (which includes an enormous bed King or Oueen size if you are on your honeymoon) you can have the Prehistoric Room, all cavern and stalactites, the Safari Room (zebra walls and bed shaped like a Bantu idol), the Kona Rock Room (Hawaiian), the California Poppy, the Old-Fashioned Honeymoon, the Irish Hills, the William Tell, the Tall and Short, for mates of different lengths, with the bed in an irregular polygon form, the Imperial Family, the Old Mill.

 

The Madonna Inn is the poor man’s Hearst Castle; it has no artistic or philological pretensions, it appeals to the savage taste for the amazing, the overstuffed, and the absolutely sumptuous at low price. It says to its visitors: “You too can have the incredible, just like a millionaire."

Umberto Eco, Travels in Hyperreality

 

Stayed there once years ago. Every room is different with different "themes." Can make for a fun overnight with the proper escort and you can pick out your "theme" together for role play. Been back for the restaurant where the food was decent and the portions large. After the scenery and Hearst Castle, this should #3 on your list.

 

 

The Hearst Castle has a night tour which gives a different feel for the place.

[Epigonos]

Guys I will readily admit that I never imagined that, when I started, this thread it would take off and become what it has.

 

On the approach to Highway I there are also some wonderful sights that beg stops. In the 60’s I spent four years attending the University of California, Santa Barbara and came to love that city and the surrounding area. Santa Barbara is one of the most beautiful and livable small cities in California and its backdrop of mountains and ocean is magnificent. There is a great little seafood restaurant on the commercial pier called Brophy Brothers that serves wonderful Cioppino at a very reasonable price. When driving north from Santa Barbara most people continue on Highway 101. A better and more scenic option is to take Highway 154 north over San Marcos Pass into the Santa Inez Valley. The road skirts scenic Lake Cauchuma and passes through charming little communities like Santa Ynez, Solvang, and Los Olivos. Mission Santa Ynez is definitely worthy of a short visit as it remains in a more natural state than the over restored Mission Santa Barbara. Solvang was originally settled by Danes but is now a very kitschy little town with Danish bakeries and motels galore built to look Danish – not really my cup of tea but many enjoy it. Los Olivos is in the heart of the Santa Ynez Valley wine country. Along winding little country roads dozens of excellent wineries are opened for visitors. One might also consider a detour to Bulleton for dinner and/or wine tasting at the Hitching Post II steakhouse restaurant. This is the restaurant featured in the film “Sideways”. The décor isn’t fancy and the prices aren’t cheap but it is fun and the selection of wines (especially Pinot Noir) and steaks are great. Continuing north on 101 the highway passes by the small community of Nipomo, just north of Santa Maria. Jocko’s Steakhouse restaurant here is a local institution. It was once a very local rough restaurant/bar where barroom fights weren’t all that uncommon – those days are now long past. The steaks are cooked on an outdoor grill BUT only for dinner so don’t make this a lunch stop. The next stop is San Luis Obispo which is the home of the already discussed Madonna Inn.

[rvwnsd]

...

1. Find the perfect SoCa Southbay escort to keep me company and share the driving
   
2. Write a review
   

I don't know of any escorts in Chula Vista or Imperial Beach.

 

Oh, you meant the other South Bay. Whoops.

[+ bashful]

Thank you, all! Upon reading this awesome thread (mild case of insomnia), I've made a few decisions:

1. I'm gonna drive my dad's convertible. It sits in my garage without too much use, and I tinker enuff with it, that it deserves a longer ride.
   
2. I will drive it north & southbound and schedule 3 days up and 2 days back - maybe longer on the way back.
   
3. Gonna save my piss to check out the urinal @Madonna Inn, and gonna save my sweet tooth for a slice of apple pie at Nepenthe.
   
4. Will try avoid the rainy season! Will bring toll $ for the 17-mile drive in Pebble Beach
   
5. I think I will stop in Monterrey for some browsing. Stay at the Postranch inn on the way up and in Carmel on the way back - tickle pink inn, here I come! Just gotta work out logistics.
   
6. I must take in the sunset somewhere
   
7. Must visit Hearst Castle. I will save Ojai for a weekend getaway.
   
8. Must bring sunglasses and a bag of patience or giggles-munchies weed
   
9. Find the perfect SoCa Southbay escort to keep me company and share the driving
   
10. Write a review
    

 

Sounds like a great trip. I'm jealous as hell.

[+ dutchmuch]

Don't forget Deetjen's to stay while in Big Sur. Low-key cabin-esque in a redwood grove.

 

http://www.deetjens.com

[+ Truereview]

A Daddy's ...

http://fanart.tv/fanart/movies/9285/hdmovielogo/road-trip-51dfb2d2958bc.png

[Lookin]

Truereview, if you’re passing through Ren Mar, I may know someone who could help you with number eight on your list. http://www.metalmusicarchives.com/forum/smileys/smoke.gif

 

[Despardo]

...The poor words with which natural human speech is provided cannot suffice to describe the Madonna Inn. To convey its external appearance, divided into a series of constructions, which you reach by way of a filling station carved from Dolomitic rock, or through the restaurant, the bar, and the cafeteria, we can only venture some analogies. Let’s say that Albert Speer, while leafing through a book on Gaudi, swallowed an overgenerous dose of LSD and began to build a nuptial catacomb for Liza Minnelli. But that doesn’t give you an idea. Let’s say Arcimboldi builds the Sagrada Familia for Dolly Parton. Or: Carmen Miranda designs a Tiffany locale for the Jolly Hotel chain. Or D’Annunzio’s Vittoriale imagined by Bob Cratchit, Calvino’s Invisible Cities described by Judith Krantz and executed by Leonor Fini for the plush-doll industry, Chopin’s Sonata in B flat minor sung by Perry Como in an arrangement by Liberace and accompanied by the Marine Band. No, that still isn’t right. Let’s try telling about the rest rooms. They are an immense underground cavern, something like Altamira and Luray, with Byzantine columns supporting plaster baroque cherubs. The basins are big imitation-mother-of-pearl shells, the urinal is a fireplace carved from the rock, and when the jet of urine (sorry, but I have to explain) touches the bottom, water comes down from the wall of the hood, in a flushing cascade something like the Caves of the Planet Mongo. And on the ground floor, in keeping with the air of Tyrolean chalet and Renaissance castle, a cascade of chandeliers in the form of baskets of flowers, billows of mistletoe surmounted by opalescent bubbles, violet-suffused light among which Victorian dolls swing, while the walls are punctuated by art-nouveau windows with the colors of Chartres and hung with Regency tapestries whose pictures resemble the garish color supplements of the Twenties. The circular sofas are red and gold, the tables gold and glass, and all this amid inventions that turn the whole into a multicolor Jell-O, a box of candied fruit, a Sicilian ice, a land for Hansel and Gretel. Then there are the bedrooms, about two hundred of them, each with a different theme: for a reasonable price (which includes an enormous bed King or Oueen size if you are on your honeymoon) you can have the Prehistoric Room, all cavern and stalactites, the Safari Room (zebra walls and bed shaped like a Bantu idol), the Kona Rock Room (Hawaiian), the California Poppy, the Old-Fashioned Honeymoon, the Irish Hills, the William Tell, the Tall and Short, for mates of different lengths, with the bed in an irregular polygon form, the Imperial Family, the Old Mill.

 

The Madonna Inn is the poor man’s Hearst Castle; it has no artistic or philological pretensions, it appeals to the savage taste for the amazing, the overstuffed, and the absolutely sumptuous at low price. It says to its visitors: “You too can have the incredible, just like a millionaire."

Umberto Eco, Travels in Hyperreality

I will share this with my niece. It sounds like just her sort of place.

[+ dutchmuch]

Meanwhile, the Soberanes Fire near Big Sur has grown to 2,000 acres and also forced evacuations.

Ellen Masten was one of the long-time residents who had to leave.

"The first thing you think is, 'What's important?'" she said. "What should you take, what can't you live without? You look around the house and you say, as much as you love those beautiful plates and those things on the wall, what's really the most valuable thing? I grabbed all the pictures of the kids and then I took the paintings of my parents that had been done by a local artist."

Authorities issued a voluntary evacuation notice Saturday for the Carmel Highlands area. Mandatory evacuations have been ordered for the Palo Colorado neighborhood of Northern Big Sur.

The fire was sparked Friday and is burning 5 miles south of Garrapata State Park. Cal Fire helicopters spent all day flying back and forth between the ocean, where they collected water, and the mountain ridges at the park, where they dropped the water.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/23/us/sand-fire-california/

[Despardo]

Meanwhile, the Soberanes Fire near Big Sur has grown to 2,000 acres and also forced evacuations.

Ellen Masten was one of the long-time residents who had to leave.

"The first thing you think is, 'What's important?'" she said. "What should you take, what can't you live without? You look around the house and you say, as much as you love those beautiful plates and those things on the wall, what's really the most valuable thing? I grabbed all the pictures of the kids and then I took the paintings of my parents that had been done by a local artist."

Authorities issued a voluntary evacuation notice Saturday for the Carmel Highlands area. Mandatory evacuations have been ordered for the Palo Colorado neighborhood of Northern Big Sur.

The fire was sparked Friday and is burning 5 miles south of Garrapata State Park. Cal Fire helicopters spent all day flying back and forth between the ocean, where they collected water, and the mountain ridges at the park, where they dropped the water.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/23/us/sand-fire-california/

Of the several California style disasters, fires are the worst. I was living in Laguna Beach up on a hill when over 400 houses went up in one night. It looked like the bombing of Dresden.