Southern California

I'm going to be in LA for a few days in March and am going to extend my stay by

a week to either drive from LA to Monterey and back or from LA to SanDiego and

back. The idea being I'd like to spend a few days on the pacific coast highway

looking for pictures to build a travel story around. I'm probably leaning

towards LA to Montery and back so, can anyone give me some tips on places to

stay, must see locations, iconic images, interesting locations, great

restaurants etc. This would be for a freelance travel article so, I need to

build a decent shot list in advance to get an idea of how to lay out my trip.

 

Thanks,

 

Dan

Make sure you stop at a <a href="http://www.xerces.org/Monarch_Butterfly_Conservation/sites_to_visit.htm">Monarch Butterfly overwintering site</a>. Bring a long lens and a macro lens, as you'll want both.

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If you go past San Simeon, stop for the elephant seals.

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Check out the redwoods.

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Take a look at Morro Rock.

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Visit a few places at either end of your trip, like the La Brea Tar Pits and the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

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Check out the numerous state parks along the coast.

Good choice. The Pacific highway north, to Monterey and back, is vastly more interesting. I

suggest you do the drive along the inland highway to Monterey in one day, then south

along the Pacific coast highway at a leisurely pace, taking 3/4 days. Stau at motels along

the way.

 

Couple of places I recommend you go see: San Luis Obispo, Hearst Castle, Big Sur,

Monterey's Cannery Row, the sea otters and sea lions playing around in the kelp forests,

and Carmel.

 

Bring your tripod and polarizer, and have fun!

There is little comparison between the trip to San Diego from L.A. and the trip to Monterey. Not that there is nothing between Los Angees and San Diego but just there one is about 2 hours and the other could take two days or more, each way and not really cover all that might be of interest.

 

I started to think of what to tell you and decided, this isn't going to work. Too little space and too many places.

 

So a few suggestions. Google all these places, etc.

 

Check all of the California missions, from San Carlos Borromeo south. San Juan Capistrano if going south, Santa Barbara, La Purisima Concepcion and San Carlos Borromeo if going north (but most have different aspects which might appeal to you).

 

Santa Barbara for general interests, dining. Buellton and Solvang, Los Olivos, Santa Ynes as yo go north from Santa Barbara. Santa Maria (actually the whole central coast region is famous at least locally for barbecue). F. McClintocks and A.J. Spurs are popualr and busy (I happen to like Spurs better, seems more reasonable (IIRC), they can both be quite busy at their primary locations and probably the smaller locations as well. The Shell Beach Mcclintocks location originally was popular but not as a restaurant.

 

San Luis Obispo is about halfway between L.A and San Francisco, is important now as a tourist area, Maddonna Inn, and for CalPoly. It's also the "big city" as it were, for a good part of the central coast so a lot to choose from there. Go north on 101 to go through Steinbeck country, west to Morro Bay and the coast through Cambria, San Simeon and Big Sur. The coast drive south is somewhat more scenic as you are on the cliff side.

 

Dining ranges from local favorites to very toney winery and gourmet fare, especilly from Santa Barbara north.

 

There used to be a really plain looking barbecue (central coast oak smoked) in Paso Robles (the best I'd found!), it's gone gourmet, I met the new owners on their closed night at Spurs in Templeton! So you'll fnd a wide variety of eating experiences and it's hard to keep up with them. Main Street Grill in Cambria, combination fast food and really good wood smoke barbecue again, reasonable and a good contrast to Cambria's other fare - ranging from B&Bs to very eclectic. Hearst San Simeon draws a lot of tourists and it's also a convenient stopping point between L.A and San Francisco/Monterey, etc. Morro Bay is nice as a place to stay, I usually eat in some of the other spots in the area.

 

Spending sometime on a California map and google should help flesh this out.

From your portfolio it seems you are a people photographer. Let me suggest- There is a large number of great wineries in the Paso Robles area down to Santa Inez - Buellton. That?s a stretch of 100 miles or so. Golden California hillsides, scrub oaks, vineyards, clouds, great people. Very photogenic and very fun.

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Hearst Castle is touristy but interesting. If you a golfer, La Purisima is one of the best California public courses, and there are a number of fine courses in that area.

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Great food, great wine. Comparatively cheap. Great people, great wineries. It?s worth 4 or 5 days if it fits in your schedule. Oh, and did I mention the wineries?

Stay at the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo, right off the 101. Kitchy. Lots of interesting photo ops here for the ultimate in 50's idea of luxury.

I agree about taking the coast only one way. I've lived in Santa Barbara and Monterey, and the 1 is a gorgeous drive, but lonnnng. From LA, take the 101 up to Santa Barbara, stay there one night, hit State Street for great food (Arigato for the best sushi in town), or the wharf if you like seafood. In the morning, take an early stroll along the harbor and watch the fishermen getting ready to go out to sea. Rent bikes or something and bike down towards Montecito. Middle of the day, drive up to the wine country in Solvang, walk around there, do a little tasting if you want, then drive north on 101 and either stay in San Luis or drive all the way to Monterey (3 1/2 hours from SB).

 

Plenty of places to stay in Monterey. In the morning, go to the Aquarium, spend maybe 2 hours there, then walk around Cannery Row (only need about 30 min really), and then drive south through Pacific Grove. Go down 17 Mile Drive (ripoff at $8 or $9), but still gorgeous. Go slowly, take the inland route through the trees, or go along the coast for some great shots of crashing waves, tide pools if the tide is low, etc. Pacific Grove has beautiful purple iceplant flowers that bloom in springtime. Go south to Carmel for lunch maybe, then head south down the 1 and just plan to be ready to stop anywhere you see a good spot.

 

Bixby bridge is famous, that might be fun to stop for an hour or so and really explore finding a unique angle to shoot it from (like the Golden Gate Bridge, unique angles are rare). Also, the famous beach waterfall at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, as you get close to Big Sur.

 

Farther south, you get some great shots of green open pastures with livestock and whatnot. Then you get to San Simeon and Hearst Castle, which is great for photos. The elephant seals are cool too. Stay in Cambria, great little bed and breakfasts and good restaurants. From there, if you're done with the coast, you can head back inland to 101, or you can go farther south to Morro Bay and then cut back inland to San Luis Obispo, and back down the 101 to Los Angeles.