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Suggestions for trip to Monterey for wife and me (1 Viewer)

Mad Cow

Welshers and Dawdlers Beware!
Wife's birthday is coming up at the end of this month and I took Thursday and Friday off. I would like to plan a short trip somewhere and am curious what the collective can come up with. Travel must be accounted for, though we could leave Wednesday night. We would need to be back by Sunday afternoon. So, it really cannot be too far away to give more time to do.

We have spent a fair amount of time in SoCal with Disneyland with the kids, and have had some time near San Diego. We know the Bay Area very well, having served my LDS mission there.

We are game for something new or different take on what we know.

Ideas I am pondering:

Regular old San Fran trip

Going to one of the small coast cities north of San Diego and hanging out there

Flying into SoCal and driving north on the coast for 1-2 days, then returning, hitting B&B's along the way, etc.

??

Keep in mind that drinking is out, so a trip to wine country for visiting vineyards in Napa really doesn't hold much in the way of allure, but other things there might.

:popcorn:

 
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Wife's birthday is coming up at the end of this month and I took Thursday and Friday off. I would like to plan a short trip somewhere and am curious what the collective can come up with. Travel must be accounted for, though we could leave Wednesday night. We would need to be back by Sunday afternoon. So, it really cannot be too far away to give more time to do.

We have spent a fair amount of time in SoCal with Disneyland with the kids, and have had some time near San Diego. We know the Bay Area very well, having served my LDS mission there.

We are game for something new or different take on what we know.

Ideas I am pondering:

Regular old San Fran trip

Going to one of the small coast cities north of San Diego and hanging out there

Flying into SoCal and driving north on the coast for 1-2 days, then returning, hitting B&B's along the way, etc.

??

Keep in mind that drinking is out, so a trip to wine country for visiting vineyards in Napa really doesn't hold much in the way of allure, but other things there might.

:popcorn:
I will have to get back to you since you asked me directly.

 
How far north would you drive?

How about Big Sur/Monterey/Carmel?
This. Not sure if you are outdoors / camping folk, but you have some redwood camping at Big Sur.

Could also do a coastal drive, maybe a B&B in Santa Barbra and work your way up to Monterey/Carmel, hit Santa Cruz on the way.

Are you looking to stay near the coast / in California? Could spend a few days checking out Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks, bed and breakfast some days, log cabin/park type hotel accomodations. Sedona as part of a mini roadtrip in AZ possibly?

 
Wait, you're in Utah? Probably no need to even fly then. Where in Utah are you? If the SLC area you have the following amazing long weekend trips all within 4-5 hours driving.

Yellowstone

Vegas

Zion

Bryce Canyon

Arches/Canyonlands

Grand Teton

Boise

If you've already done all these and are tired of SF, what about a drive up the Big Sur in SoCal? Maybe check out the Seattle/Pacific Northwest area or Oregon coastline.

 
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I don't know, $1000 easy enough.

>How far north would you drive?

How about Big Sur/Monterey/Carmel?
I have wondered that, but have no experience on it. Where would be best to fly into? SoCal and go north, or San Jose and go south?
I'd fly into Norcal. It's not that long a drive to Monterey from San Jose. My wife and I are doing Monterey/Carmel over a weekend in 2 weeks and she's picking me up from work in SF at 4 on Friday and we have dinner reservations in Monterey at 7:30-8.

 
Wait, you're in Utah? Probably no need to even fly then. Where in Utah are you? If the SLC area you have the following amazing long weekend trips all within 4-5 hours driving.

Yellowstone

Vegas

Zion

Bryce Canyon

Arches/Canyonlands

Boise

If you've already done all these and are tired of SF, what about a drive up the Big Sur in SoCal? Maybe check out the Seattle/Pacific Northwest area or Oregon coastline.
We have done all of that. Boise sucks. Vegas for a Mormon is pretty bleh. The rest are great.

How far north would you drive?

How about Big Sur/Monterey/Carmel?
This. Not sure if you are outdoors / camping folk, but you have some redwood camping at Big Sur.

Could also do a coastal drive, maybe a B&B in Santa Barbra and work your way up to Monterey/Carmel, hit Santa Cruz on the way.

Are you looking to stay near the coast / in California? Could spend a few days checking out Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks, bed and breakfast some days, log cabin/park type hotel accomodations. Sedona as part of a mini roadtrip in AZ possibly?
Not really into camping. The coastal drive is a strong possibility.

Banff or Yellowstone/Glacier
Yellowstone done, don't know Banff at all. I will look.

Just you and the wife or are the kids included?
No kids this time.

Fly to Banff for the weekend. Skiing, hiking and good food.
I will look at Banff.

 
I don't know, $1000 easy enough.

>>How far north would you drive?

How about Big Sur/Monterey/Carmel?

lockquote>I have wondered that, but have no experience on it. Where would be best to fly into? SoCal and go north, or San Jose and go south?
I'd fly into Norcal. It's not that long a drive to Monterey from San Jose. My wife and I are doing Monterey/Carmel over a weekend in 2 weeks and she's picking me up from work in SF at 4 on Friday and we have dinner reservations in Monterey at 7:30-8.
Aside from driving the coast, what is there to do in that area?
 
Not sure if it is too far, or too much...but Washington, DC is real nice that time of year. You also may be able to get into the Mormon Temple in suburban MD.

 
I don't know, $1000 easy enough.

>>How far north would you drive?

How about Big Sur/Monterey/Carmel?

lockquote>I have wondered that, but have no experience on it. Where would be best to fly into? SoCal and go north, or San Jose and go south?
I'd fly into Norcal. It's not that long a drive to Monterey from San Jose. My wife and I are doing Monterey/Carmel over a weekend in 2 weeks and she's picking me up from work in SF at 4 on Friday and we have dinner reservations in Monterey at 7:30-8.
In Monterey you have the coast, the aquarium, shopping and good dining. Carmel is mostly the same minus the aquarium. You could also go a bit further south and tour Hearst castle.

 
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Palm Springs? Especially if you play golf - even without golf there is plenty of great shopping, dining , spas, hikes and relaxing by the pool

Tuscon as well - a nice quiet town

 
I've also heard great things about Vancouver, though have never gone.

If you are going to be in the air, I would HIGHLY recommend Montreal, perhaps a couple days in Montreal (amazing food, culture, shows, entertainment - not all mormon friendly, but plenty of it will be) and a couple in Quebec City (again, haven't been to QC, but hear great things, Montreal is awesome if you want an urban, european like experience)

 
I am liking the idea of flying in to the Bay Area say Wednesday night, stay the night there, then head to Monterey the next morning, stay a couple of days, then head back to Bay Area for 1 last night. Redwoods would be cool. How is the hiking there?

 
I am liking the idea of flying in to the Bay Area say Wednesday night, stay the night there, then head to Monterey the next morning, stay a couple of days, then head back to Bay Area for 1 last night. Redwoods would be cool. How is the hiking there?
That sounds good. Be sure to check out Carmel. And just south of Carmel is Point Lobos State Park. Not as touristy as some other places but just some amazing walks and views. Highly recommend!

eta: a great little Greek place called Dametra Cafe in Carmel. Lines out the door but worth the wait if it's not too bad.

 
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I am liking the idea of flying in to the Bay Area say Wednesday night, stay the night there, then head to Monterey the next morning, stay a couple of days, then head back to Bay Area for 1 last night. Redwoods would be cool. How is the hiking there?
well... very fun to rent some bikes and ride 17 mile drive. on your way down hit moss http://www.mossbeachdistillery.com/ in half moon bay for a bite.

favorite restaurants in carmel:

dinner:

casanova

grasing's

le bicyclette

rio grill

portoballa

da giovanni

anton & michel

lunch:

le bicyclette

portabella

the forge in the forrest

little napoli

in pacific grove:

fishwife

passionfish

 
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I am liking the idea of flying in to the Bay Area say Wednesday night, stay the night there, then head to Monterey the next morning, stay a couple of days, then head back to Bay Area for 1 last night. Redwoods would be cool. How is the hiking there?
That sounds good. Be sure to check out Carmel. And just south of Carmel is Point Lobos State Park. Not as touristy as some other places but just some amazing walks and views. Highly recommend!

eta: a great little Greek place called Dametra Cafe in Carmel. Lines out the door but worth the wait if it's not too bad.
We did Monterey/Carmel last year for our 10 year anniv. There's a great thread somewhere here about the area. We did 2 nights in Monterey and 2 nights in Carmel. Monterey has more traditional hotel options and has a little more nightlife but that's splitting hairs. Monterey was about 90 minutes from SFO; Carmel is probably another 20 minutes further. Both places are scenic, but Carmel and the coastal highway is definitely more scenic than Monterey.

We found a lot of good hiking w/ scenery. Point Lobos as pointed out above is awesome. I'd highly recommend as well.

We also considered doing some San Fran or Napa within our trip, but based on driving distances, it made more sense just to head to Monterey/Carmel and set up camp there. I was glad we did it that way. If I could do it all again, I would splurge for a decent hotel in Carmel for the 4 nights.

 
If you are into music...Last weekend of April is the first weekend of 2013 New Orleans Jazz Fest - John Mayer (Fri), Billy Joel (Sat), and Dave Matthews (Sun) are the BNA (Big Name Artist) headliners. Of course, Jazz Fest is more about discovering artists you never heard of or listened to previously, so there are probably about 90 other artists that you can catch across those three days. Plus on Fri or Sat night you can catch NOLA's own Trombone Shorty at HOB on Decatur seeing that Jazz Fest wraps up each day at 7PM.

 
If you are into music...Last weekend of April is the first weekend of 2013 New Orleans Jazz Fest - John Mayer (Fri), Billy Joel (Sat), and Dave Matthews (Sun) are the BNA (Big Name Artist) headliners. Of course, Jazz Fest is more about discovering artists you never heard of or listened to previously, so there are probably about 90 other artists that you can catch across those three days. Plus on Fri or Sat night you can catch NOLA's own Trombone Shorty at HOB on Decatur seeing that Jazz Fest wraps up each day at 7PM.
At this late stage it's going to be pretty pricey for airfare and rooms in New Orleans for that weekend - but it's a blast.

 
If I could do it all again, I would splurge for a decent hotel in Carmel for the 4 nights.
we stayed here and loved it.
i typically enjoy hyatt properties (and have with this one), but when we drive down we prefer la playa: easy walk to the beach and town, a little more traditional, and cheaper rates.

http://www.laplayahotel.com/?__utmk=20311736&__utma=1.886678709.1365127535.1365127535.1365127535.1&__utmc=1&__utmb=1.2.9.1365127552874&__utmx=-&__utmv=-&__utmz=1.1365127535.1.1.utmcsr=google|utmccn=%28organic%29|utmcmd=organic|utmctr=%28not%20provided%29&promo-submit=

 
If I could do it all again, I would splurge for a decent hotel in Carmel for the 4 nights.
we stayed here and loved it.
That's where we stayed too. Great property, but relatively far from downtown Carmel. We did taxi from the hotel to town one night; it wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either. I would've preferred a lesser hotel closer to town.
we had a car. Did you walk up the trails north of the hotel? Wow, that was amazing.

We weren't used to having a fireplace but loved it at this hotel. I'm surprised we didn't burn the place down though. It made us relize we shouldn't probably have a fireplace.

 
Interesting that you (and others) like to do a bunch of stuff. My idea of a nice weekend with the wife would be going "somewhere else" and doing nothing at all.

 
If I could do it all again, I would splurge for a decent hotel in Carmel for the 4 nights.
we stayed here and loved it.
That's where we stayed too. Great property, but relatively far from downtown Carmel. We did taxi from the hotel to town one night; it wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either. I would've preferred a lesser hotel closer to town.
we had a car. Did you walk up the trails north of the hotel? Wow, that was amazing.We weren't used to having a fireplace but loved it at this hotel. I'm surprised we didn't burn the place down though. It made us relize we shouldn't probably have a fireplace.
We had a car too. We wound up hitting wine country and 17 mile drive plus hikes at lobos and some other loop on drive toward big sur. We liked the scenery and the hiking, but we also really like bar hopping too. That's why we did the taxi into town and would've preferred downtown

 
MacArtist said:
Surprise her. Pack for her. My wife and I do this to each other. It doesn't really matter where you go. The fun is in the surprise. Make sure she looks down in the boarding area and wears buds camo'd under a hoodie while on the plane as so not hear the pilot landing destination. We've surprised each other with a trip to Napa and St. Lucia. The trick is setting a budget and letting the one doing the surprise do the travel planning.For our St Lucia trip, my wife asked me to pick out some warm clothes. I thought for sure we were going to Alaska, but she ended up packing beach-wear.
i think this might be more difficult for the average guy than it is for you.

 

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