Take Me Away

Scott Hardie | December 27, 2013
The weather outside is frightful. Where do you most want to take a vacation, and what kinds of things do you want to do there? I'm asking partly to spark discussion, partly out of curiosity, and partly to see if Kelly and I have overlooked any great possibilities as we settle on our honeymoon plans.

Samir Mehta | December 27, 2013
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Erik Bates | December 27, 2013
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Steve West | December 28, 2013
Hawaii, specifically Maui and just a prop-flight from Waikiki. Incredibly beautiful beaches, waterfalls, and exotic flora abound. Get meals as often as possible from the roadside roach coaches and cheap diners instead of the "4-star" restaurants. The food is not only cheaper it's genuine local fare that can't be duplicated stateside. Yum!

Scott Hardie | December 28, 2013
These are great! Kelly and I have considered more than one of them, for our honeymoon and just future trips in general. We're leaning towards California, as neither of us have been there: A few days in Los Angeles, a few days driving up the coast, and a few days in San Francisco. We'd have more great options for attractions/shopping/dining than time to enjoy them all, that's for sure. The only other place that we're seriously considering is London, but I've already been there and the foreign travel logistics are a little daunting on top of all of the preparation we already have ahead of us in the next few months, so I wouldn't bet on that. Wherever we go, I'm sure we're in for a good trip.

Have a great time in Branson, Erik!

Samir Mehta | December 28, 2013
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Scott Hardie | January 1, 2014
Yes please, whenever you have time. Favorite restaurants would be good, as it's hard to whittle down the multitudes available. As for things to do, we gravitate towards the weird, offbeat, unique things that you can't find anywhere else, the sort of thing that turns up on Atlas Obscura. Thanks!

Samir Mehta | January 1, 2014
SF warrants a long discussion via message which I'll get to soonish (when is the trip)?

Some BROAD stroke points: if you drive up the coast, take Rte 1 the whole way - 5 saves time but is not worth any savings it reaps given the loss in beauty. Consider stopping in Paso Robles and San Luis Obispo. (I assume you're already factoring in Carmel, Monterey, and Hearst Castle). SLO is one of the hidden gems of California and one of my favorite places in the world. On the route, also think of the following options generally:

1. Phoenix Cafe in Big Sur - insane views of the ocean and really good food. If you hike there it's a nice starting or finishing point.
2. La Super-Rica Taqueria - Julia Child randomly gave this divey taco shop in Santa Barbara a rave review many many years ago. Totally warranted. I've dragged many many people here over the years - cheap food, great food, and a unique dining experience.
3. The Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo - they've maybe jacked their rates in recent years but this is a kitschy and fun hotel. If you can get a deal, their themed rooms are a fun way to spend an evening. Also, in SLO, go hiking - insane options to go hiking in Montana de Oro State Park. You WILL have a great day there.
4. If you want to do wineries, Paso Robles owns Napa - they have innovative wineries, it's not densely crowded with tourists, and you can actually get free samples. Napa is too overbuilt now.

Scott Hardie | January 3, 2014
Thanks for the great ideas!

Our trip will take up the latter half of March, with probably ten days on the ground. (Our wedding date is March 15.)

The Madonna Inn and Hearst Castle were already on our list, along with the Wincester Mystery House and La Brea Tar Pits. That's exactly the kind of weird and unique stuff we want to see.

We were definitely planning on taking Route 1. In fact, the trip was originally conceived as just a drive up the coast, based on ideas from this semi-official travel site, but we realized that we wouldn't be satisfied with the small towns alone and needed to add the cities as bookends.

We weren't looking on a per-town basis per se, like San Luis Obispo or Paso Robles (with the exception of Solvang because the whole downtown looks fun). We were focused more on assembling a list of attractions, restaurants, shops, and other activities that interested us, and plotting them on a Google map so that we could hit them in geographic order. But I'll focus my research on the cities that you mentioned and see what we like. We were already considering the SLO Botanical Garden for hiking and possibly Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa for historical interest, but it seems like there are far better options for both.

We probably won't bother with wineries, as I never drink and Kelly rarely drinks. That helps to narrow it down quite a bit, as winery tours seem to make up 20% of the activities available. Living in Sarasota helps too: We have little need for Disneyland and Universal Studios because we have so many theme parks nearby, and we have little interest in a beach as we live across town from one (although we'd like to visit the Venice Beach Boardwalk because, of course, it's weird and unique). Hiking appeals to me more and more as I continue to lose weight, and it's a favorite of Kelly's, so we'll definitely make time for that.

I'm trying to talk Kelly into trying In-N-Out Burger as a guilty pleasure. We have the whole rest of the trip to enjoy amazing, delicious, foodie-approved cuisine; I say let's spend one meal slumming like locals, and try this iconic fast-food chain while we have the chance. :-)

Scott Hardie | January 3, 2014
For SF and LA, we're considering hop-on-hop-off bus tours as a convenient (if pricey) way to get around. Erik and I had a good experience with that in downtown Chicago: You ride around and look at everything and listen to the tour guide, and when you want to see something up close, you just get off for as long as you like and then board the next company bus that comes around in the cycle. There are things that we want to *see* but not really *do* anything at, like the Hollywood sign which is iconic but not exactly interactive, or Rodeo Drive which is worth gawking at but I can't imagine actually shopping there. The bus passes last for 48 hours, so we'd have a third day in each city to see certain offbeat things that aren't on the tour. I hope this is a good plan.

Samir Mehta | January 3, 2014
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Scott Hardie | January 3, 2014
Neat! We will definitely consider that. Please keep the ideas coming as much as you have time to. :-)