My Favorite Day
An itinerary recommended by your host, Pattea:
- Wake up refreshed at the Bees Knees Country FarmHouse
- Enjoy coffee or tea on the wrap-around deck overlooking the fruit farm.
- Exit the gates and turn west. Turn right on scenic Turri Road, a five-mile loop through rolling hills and cattle country, a road known as one of 14 most beautiful roads in the world. A road biker’s dream! I can’t tout Turri enough and suggest my guests use it as much as possible because it leads directly into HWY #1, Our Coastal Discovery Route!
- Take scenic Turri, to South Bay Blvd. where you will be entering “The Valley of the Bears”.
- Turn left and find your way to Baywood Park and then to Sweet Springs Nature Preserve. Heaven on Earth!
- Travel SW toward Montaña De Oro State Beach, where you will find majestic craggy cliffs, much like Big Sur.
- Find your way to “Morro Dunes Nature Preserve” and walk Morro Dunes Trail, which leads to the most serene sand dunes.
- If you get hungry Celia’s Garden Café is good for breakfast; they are famous for their Eggs Benedict, but serve many other fine things too! Kids love it and there are tables on the lovely garden patio. It’s busy on weekends, less so on weekdays.
- Take South Bay Blvd. toward Morro Bay and take Highway 1 up the scenic coast.
- Stop in Cayucos for some Brown Butter Cookies!
- Head toward Cambria, stopping in the famous town of Harmony to stretch your legs. Then continue up the coast to the William Randolph Memorial State Beach in San Simeon.
- There are a few pull-offs on Hwy 1 near Piedras Blancas lighthouse where you can see enormous Elephant Seals in their natural habitat!
- Walk the pier where you can catch a glimpse of the castle and sometimes view whales playing in the waters with their calves or some elephant seals on the beach below.
- Bring chairs and towels, sit for a while and soak up the harbor and take in its huge significance. This protected cove gives visitors the opportunity to hike, swim, sunbathe and fish. The pier was built to welcome antiquities from Europe and items needed to build the famous La Cuesta Encantada, The Enchanted Hill (aka Hearst Castle). It’s quite interesting spending time below the castle as one can begin to imagine the enormous challenges Mr. Randolph faced when building his castle on the hill. San Simeon is also graced by a few gorgeous homes that were built for workers in the early 1900’s
- I suggest then walking or driving over to Hearst Ranch Winery for a glass of wine outside on one of many picnic tables. Share a couple of burgers made with Hearst Beef, delicious, albeit expensive thus the share!
- Off to Morro Bay for fresh-caught fish for dinner. I’m pretty sure you can purchase right off a fisherman’s boat now. If not, Giovanni’s Fish Market is fabulous.
- Prepare dinner at the Bee’s Knees. I am happy to provide produce from our gardens for a salad or would like to invite you to help me pick.
All of these activities are very safe, away from people and extremely distanced, all outside. The great outdoors is what we have to offer on the Central Coast of California. I feel it’s important to note that most, if not all of the activities I’ve suggested cost nothing, excluding meals of course.
Wildheart Coastal Adventures
Custom Designed, Private Adventure Tours on California’s Central Coast
If you can dream it, we can make it happen! The Central Coast is an amazing place of diversity and beauty — an adventure enthusiast’s dream come true! At Wildheart Coastal Adventures we build custom adventure tours for all ages, from kayaking to hiking to multi-sport adventures. With decades of guiding experience in multiple sports and a wealth of naturalist information accumulated over a lifetime, Mandy is uniquely qualified to deliver a fun, informative, and professional tour for all ages.
