our west coast wander // big sur and slo

Part two of a photographers' road trip continues! Our short time in Yosemite was rad and filled with new experiences, but by the time we were packing up the rental car on our last day, we were definitely ready to get back to civilization, see the ocean, and sleep in a room that didn't have canvas flaps for doors (or rogue squirrels looking to jack our stuff).

We drove down the famed Highway 1 through Big Sur, and stopped at lookout points along the way to take in views like this one. Sometimes I forget that I live in a state that has such pretty coastlines, so this photo is a good reminder. Even if the apocalypse happens one day and California breaks off and sinks into the ocean, at least it'll look damn good doing it. It'll be very rich-men-refusing-to-wear-life-jackets-on-the-sinking-Titanic of us.

Here's a photo of the Bixby Creek Bridge that I took not too far away from the first photo. We were trying to find interesting angles/locations to shoot the bridge from, but that harsh midday light made it kind of hard. This is the best I could come up with. 

We also made a quickie stop at the Nepenthe Restaurant , where I instagrammed Adrienne and Kristina as the unofficial phone booth babes of Big Sur. I blogged about this awesome little spot a few years ago when the mister and I were doing our up-the-coast trip, so you can see lots more photos of Nepenthe and Big sur right here!

And then we arrived at one of my favorite places on the planet, The Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo! Every room is themed and fantastically decorated, everything else at the hotel is pink, and you just can't NOT be in a good mood while staying here. This was my second time staying there, and you can read about my first time right here (you must, MUST check out the work of beauty that is the steakhouse dining room).

Going from camp lodgings to this place felt absolutely decadent. We grabbed dinner and drinks at the Silver Bar inside the hotel, and we discovered that we happened to be there on the night where a bunch of 20 and 30-somethings held their weekly swing dancing. Talk about great people-watching. Kristina (after telling us she knows how to swing dance) even got invited to dance by a very eager young man, and it was so fun to watch.

But did we call it a night? Oh no, my friend. Not in the least. When you put three photographers in the San Francisco room with lighting equipment and color matching clothes, it's a good bet they'll stay up until 2:30 in the morning taking portraits and taking advantage of every single space in the room. Which of course we did. I took the above shot of Kristina while she was working on her self-portrait. I also worked on my week 38 photo with Kristina's help. She let me borrow that awesome red dress as well as her LED light panel to help light the scene.

This was taken the next morning before we had to check out. That red wall is just too good.

The rest of the day was spent wandering around the downtown area of SLO and making little pit stops, like this one in their famous Bubblegum Alley! A germaphobe's nightmare, a photographer's delight. It is equal parts disgusting and fascinating. Literally thousands of pieces of gum lovingly placed by locals and tourists alike. The more creative folks would even spell out entire words or sentences using gum. That's like, ten packs of Orbitz at least. It's really something to look at.

I can't help but share this photo that Adrienne took of me, because it is too comical/perfect that my shirt kind of blends in with that crazy wall. And if you're looking at this and are immediately reminded of this scene from Garden State, I like you and we should be friends.

What kind of person would I be without contributing my own saliva-ridden germ packet to the wall? Some things you just have to do.

We also visited the Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa, and took more photos, and wanted to eat those delicious smelling grapes. 

One of Kristina's many talents is knowing where all the good tapas joints are, and this day was no exception. She led us to a cute little place called Luna Red, where we tapas'd and sangria'd like three grown women should. It was so good, and a great way to end our little six day road trip.

Let's do it again :)

left coast roadtrip part one // quirky tavern, quirky inn

It's wanderlust-travel-photo time! The mister and I took our little trip up the coast only last month, but it already feels like ages ago. So much happened as soon as we got back from that trip: our landlords told us we had to move, the mister departed on his wooden ship for another long deployment, and I had to look for a new home all by my lonesome.

So these photos are way overdue, and since we stopped at various places along the way, I shall break them up into separate blog posts. So consider this part one :)

Our first stop was Santa Barbara, and it was just a quickie stop since we needed to head to San Luis Obispo to spend the night. I remembered reading about this neat place called the Cold Spring Tavern, a former stagecoach rest stop from the late 1800s.

This place was awfully charming, and the food was so good! Everything tasted like a home-cooked meal, and the woody, smokey smells of things cooking outside reminded us of his home in Pennsylvania. Husband-approved.

If we ever go back, that "live music & dancing" thing sounds pretty rad. I bet it's a totally different atmosphere at night.

And then we were off to San Luis Obispo, or more specifically, the Madonna Inn! This was probably the first time the mister and I stayed at a hotel strictly for the purpose of just hanging out at a hotel. Because this is no ordinary hotel. I had heard about this magical place and its themed rooms, and the pink steakhouse inside, and the pink bar, and thought to myself, "Well naturally we need to spend a night here, and experience the glorious-ness firsthand."

Our first couple hours were spent enjoying their pool with adult beverages by our side, and it was fantastic. Lots of families there with their kids, lots of pregnant women for some reason, and several busty blonde types celebrating someone's bachelorette party I think. Lots of good people-watching. This was the part where I put my digital camera away and shot a bunch of stuff on my film camera. So no pretty pool pictures here, sorry.

 

We need to talk about this dining room for a second. What a glorious place that is. Just unabashedly, shamelessly pink. Grown men eat giant hunks of steak here, and they love it. And they feel like men as they order another scotch and stretch their arms out on all that pink vinyl.

We decided to keep it casual and have dinner at their Silver Bar instead. The full menu from the steakhouse was available, and my husband later said the steak he ordered was one of the best he's ever had. And you can't really see it in the photo above, but off to the right is a dance floor, and when a live band started playing oldies, we people-watched some more, and ended up dancing to a song or two.

And the room. When I was booking this place online, there were only like five or six themed rooms to choose from (booo), but out of those five or six, the Captain's Bridge room had (to me) the most pleasing color palette and decor. Why hello, sweet chesterfield couch, I am going to sit on you with my husband and take silly photos of ourselves, because that's what I like to do when I'm in a great-looking hotel room. (See here, here, here, and here.)

This is one of those places I would happily return to again and again, and just make it a vacation tradition. Especially with my future kiddos. We'd all have a blast staying in a different room each time, so the kids wouldn't get all bored like "Ugh, not this hotel again." And the mister and I would win the "Cool Parents" award for life. But okay, back to the present. This place was the perfect way to end our first day. Stay tuned for day two at the Hearst Castle :)