Save Me San Francisco! Day 1: Driving down Highway 1

And we finally arrived in the Bay Area! My aunt and uncle let Ryan and I crash at their place while Ryan's sisters stayed at a nearby hotel. That night we arrived, Ryan and I were exhausted, but greeted very warmly by my aunt and uncle, who helped us plan out our time in the area.

My aunt and uncle were going to be working the first day we had there, so they recommended we go down Highway 1, which we ended up doing.

For those of you that don't know, Highway 1 is a stunningly beautiful highway that winds its way down the California coastline. But its not just a coastal highway, there are beautiful beaches, gorgeous homes, steep cliffs and all of it relatively untouched.

The first thing we did was go down the coast and eat lunch at a beautiful spot that overlooked a bay. Afterword, we kept driving and for the most part just did sightseeing and stopping to take pictures along the way. It was so beautiful that we didn't want to turn around, especially Ryan who wanted to go the whole way. But we had to remind Ryan that we had more to do and see back up the coast.

So reluctantly, we headed back, but not without going to Carmel, a very beautiful city off of Highway 1. We walked on the beach and let the tide roll in on our feet, but soon stopped after we realized the water was ice cold! And then we got back in the car and did the 17-mile drive that takes you by the Pebble Beach golf course where they've had a few U.S. Opens. The coastline here was extremely gorgeous and we got to see some deer along the way as well! We walked around the clubhouse at Pebble Beach and we were a funny sight in our everyday clothes while men and women dressed very well were mingling in the clubhouse. But we didn't care! Haha.

Then we finally made our way to the beautiful and more commercial Monterrey. We had fun walking Cannery row, where we found a candy shop where I got every flavor of saltwater taffy that you can imagine while the girls got a huge supply of atomic fireball candies. Then we had dinner on the pier and sat at a table looking over the ocean at dusk. We loved watching an otter swimming in the water and enjoyed our clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl, a San Francisco favorite!

Here are some photos from our most picturesque adventure (and Ryan's favorite part of the whole trip!)

Well, that was day one. Day two brought our visit into the city of San Francisco, check back for that update next.

Nick