California Road Trip – Week 2 – Palm Springs to Morro Bay

The road trip continues up the Californian coast…

The first week was spent in Vegas and Palm Springs, week 2 begins the road trip proper. Travelling up the Pacific Coast highway stopping at seaside towns along the way.

Los Angeles – 1 night

Before the coastal trip can start, it would be wrong not to have a stopover at LA. The motel we stayed in was on Sunset Boulevard so very convenient for everything. Interestingly(?), it was where Jim Carey stayed when he first moved to LA. We were only there for one night so had to cram in the essentials – These are my recommendations:

Open top bus tour of celebrity houses – this is bit gimmicky, a bit tourist and a bit crass…but hey, if you can stomach being the gawking moron in the back of an open topped van then it’s a good way to get a whistle stop tour of the famous landmarks (and some celebrity gates).
Grauman’s Chinese Theatre – A must for any first-timer here – put your hands in Marilyn Monroe’s foot prints and have your photo taken with the stars
Universal Studios – This was another highlight of the trip for me. I was expecting it to be a bit naff but the studio tour was great and some of the rides were outstanding – in particular King Kong 3d and Transformers – I didn’t know those sort of effects were actually possible. I stand happily corrected!
International House of Pancakes (IHOP ) – I mention this as I had my first ever pancakes for breakfast…When in Rome and all that…

Santa Barbara – 2 nights

Another quality seaside town -hot, relaxed and good for the soul…the drive was a bit scary, straight through the mountains…(veeeeery slowly) but with great views. A few things worth visiting:

Courthouse – Cool building to visit, particularly impressive as it’s a working courthouse
Stearn’s Wharf – Lots of fresh fish restaurants and shops. I particularly recommend the Santa Barbara Shellfish Company – they’re actually very generous…
Presidiro - Worth a walk around…a bit of culture – why not? You’ll be in the micro-brewery shortly anyway…
Micro Brewery – There’s lots of these, but I recommend the beer taster platter at the Santa Barbara Brewing Company

Morro Bay – 1 night

A sleepy little place with lots of sealions and a big rock, some things to do:

Watch,listen and talk to Sea Lions – They’re everywhere and very noisy. Try practising your sealion call to great effect…
Morro Rock -It’s big, it’s rocky and is the last of a line of long-extinct volcanoes.
Have Choc Dipped Twinkies – I’m pretty sure these shouldn’t exist, but they do and they’re good…particularly for breakfast
Eat (and then eat some more) – There’s some great places to eat here, in fact you’re spoilt for choice. We found a place that does that great "Man versus Food staple" – the twice dipped beef sandwich…droool