Big Sur is one of those places I’d heard of from time to time but was never quite sure what it actually was. I’m a big fan of John Steinbeck, and many of his novels are set in that area, so I knew it was somewhere coastal in California and full of marine life, but that was about it. Then I did the research, and saw the famous drive up and down the coast, and the pictures of cliffs and bridges and tide pools, and knew we should try add it to the itinerary (here's wikipedia's definition of Big Sur, if you're interested, it's basically a 90 mile stretch of rugged coastline).
But a person’s gotta eat, so on our way down the coast we stopped at the institution known as In-n-Out Burger. The menu was extremely limited, basically hamburgers, cheeseburgers, fries and shakes. But that’s all they needed, because it was awesome. Hands down the best fast food burger and fries I’ve ever had.
A person's also gotta sleep, and that's one of the drawbacks of the Monterey/Big Sur area, how difficult it is to find lodging. Campgrounds? Full. Hotels? Booked and/or expensive. Air BnB’s? Priced according to the market, which, you guessed it, is way high. We ended up renting an RV parked in someone’s driveway for a few nights near Monterey. On the surface, it didn’t sound bad—sleeps six, kitchen, shower, bathroom, TV. Reality? RV life is not for me. I’m not a huge guy, but the proportions of this thing were all shrunken down to where I felt like Will Ferrell in the movie Elf. The whole rig shook with every step, every surface felt cheap and uncomfortable, and you weren’t allowed to put toilet paper down the toilet (please deposit in the provided plastic bags, thank you--blech!). Give me our bare-bones tent camper any day over this perceived ‘luxury,’ thank you very much. Sorry. Rant over.
Anyway, it was a scenic area, the drives and beach walks and tide-pooling were lovely, and it was neat to walk in the footsteps of Steinbeck and see where many of his novels are set. Anne even found a low-tide cave along the beach, which we popped into and quickly retreated from as the tide started to come in.
Downtown Monterey was a bit too expensive for my tastes, and it was a little discouraging (but not at all surprising) to see the commercialness of Cannery Row and the wharf. But when in Rome, so we lined up to laugh at the sea lions, ate an overpriced tourist-trap dinner, and watched the kids each try a raw oyster for the first time. That last one was priceless, and hat's off to them for giving it a go. In the words of Jonathan Swift, "He was a bold man that first ate an oyster."
It’s a beautiful place, and one I’d go back to in a second, to enjoy the more quiet and natural beauty to be found there. As far as the RV’s and downtown Monterey, I’ll leave them to the other tourists.
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