beach day

you'll never guess where i went when i woke up at the omni hotel.  well, actually, you probably will:

oh come on.  that was too easy.

the omni was very nice, and although we were only there for a night we really enjoyed our stay.  but we were getting tired of the long hours in the car and missed the old lady and the old man and the dogs and our own beds, so we decided to make one last stop along the coast before finally heading home.  not that we don't love san francisco - but it's not like we'd never been there before.  and so we checked out and had the valet bring the truck out so we could start our day.

we were craving lobster rolls that day, but didn't really want to go to fisherman's wharf.  and so i turned to yelp for an assist, and that's how we found luke's lobster.  it's actually a chain that started in NYC, and while most of their locations are on the east coast there are two out here - one in san francisco, and the other in vegas.  the bean and i got out to grab the food while the hub waited on the curb in the truck.

they even sell these DIY lobster roll kits, and i was intrigued but fought the urge to buy one.

we'd each ordered the luke's trio - basically a flight of seafood rolls, one lobster, one crab and one shrimp.  it was SO GOOD.

i'd also picked up a cup of lobster bisque, which i sipped happily as we drove along.

heading south on highway 1, we stopped at bean hollow state beach to stretch our legs and take in the view.

it was so pretty there, and the bean immediately took the stairs down to the beach.

while the beach is covered in millions of these tiny pebbles, collecting them is strictly prohibited.

we went back up the stairs and crossed the bridge to get a closer look at the tide pools down below.

pebble beach and the famous 17-mile drive was close by, and we pulled up to the gate but then decided we didn't really want to sit through the drive this time.

instead we made our way to carmel-by-the-sea, driving through the cute little downtown area before finding a parking spot so that we could get out and grab a little afternoon pick-me-up.

and we stopped in the candy store for a treat.  because did you really think i was going to pass up an opportunity to visit a shop called "cottage of sweets"??

we lost count of how many bridges we crossed during this trip, but they were all so cool.  and we never got tired of the beach views, either.  just so pretty.

look at all the sea lions just relaxing on the beach here!  there were so many of them.

we decided to stop in cambria for our last night, booking a room at the fog catcher inn along moonstone beach.

the moonstone beach bar & grill was a short walk away, so that's where we had dinner and caught the sunset.

the next morning we got up and cruised down the main street in cambria and then ended up waiting till we got to san luis obispo to grab coffee.  it was lunchtime by the time we got to the santa barbara area, so we made the required stop at the original habit restaurant to grab chili cheeseburgers and then battled some traffic once we got into the l.a. area - shocking.  

the kids and the dogs seemed happy to see us arrive a day earlier than scheduled.  and it's funny - nothing makes you appreciate home more than being away from it for a few days.

spring break 2022 road trip, check!