Odds & Ends 

The Monterey Bay Coast and Beyond

The drive on Highway 1 from Monterey to Santa Cruz offers some interesting spots to stop for a quick bite to eat or just to explore. Here are a few that I visited and some others I missed but that are worth a mention.

Castroville

This town is "The Artichoke Capital of the World". There is an Artichoke Festival every year with all kinds of activities and the crowning of the Artichoke Queen. Guess who the very first Artichoke Queen was in 1948? None other than Norma Jean Mortenson, better known as Marilyn Monroe!  

https://artichokefestival.org/

A great place to eat in Castroville is Phil's Fish Market & Eatery. If you love seafood like I do this is the place to go. There is also the Giant Artichoke Restaurant and a Japanese restaurant.

                     http://www.philsfishmarket.com/

Moss Landing

I only drove through this town so I can't tell you too much. It has a beach - Moss Landing State Beach but from information that I read, there are dangerous rip currents so swimming is not safe. There is a big power plant that you pass when driving through. 

Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve is a few miles east of Moss Landing. It is a coastal wetland, a large tidal salt marsh with an abundance of wildlife. There is  a visitor center, picnic areas, a boardwalk and trails. I did not get a chance to visit the reserve but I think it is worth a visit. 

As you leave Moss Landing you will see J & S Surplus, a military surplus store. I did go into the store and look around but I loved the outside more as you can see in the photo.

Aptos

OK - In Aptos I did only one thing. Eat ice cream. Marianne's Ice Cream is a small ice cream shop but they have amazing flavors. And the ice cream is "hand-crafted". Yum! Delicious.

Marianne's also has 2 shops in Santa Cruz.

https://mariannesicecream.com/

The next stop was Santa Cruz. Check out my previous post on Santa Cruz.

Now, let's head south on Highway 1 from Monterey. This takes you through Carmel-By-The-Sea to Big Sur, a beautiful, scenic drive along the coast.

As you drive down the coast you will see many state parks. There is the Big Sur area where there are amazing beaches, state parks and breathtaking scenery.

Close to San Simeon is Hearst Castle. What an unbelievable place! It is hard to believe one person could possess all that opulence. It really is extravagance in the extreme.

View from the drive below

                        

      
                     

As you can see there is so much to do and see in this short stretch of coastline. Something for every taste. Anyone who loves the ocean this coastal drive is one of the best. It is definitely some of the most spectacular scenery I have experienced.