big sur // the best of california forever

As little as one year ago, if you had told me I would be living in California and doing things like driving down the coast to spend a few days in Big Sur, I would have never believed you. If you had then told me those would be some of the best days of my life, I would have laughed in your face.

But here I am, and one thing is clear: I am a California girl at heart. Wisconsin and Chicago, I still love you; but I undoubtedly belong here. Who knew that this spectacular little piece of the world would have such a profound effect on me? Certainly not me. Frankly, this love affair came out of nowhere.

And it just keeps getting better and better.

Big Sur has a little something for everyone, and everything for me. Literary ties (Henry Miller, Jack Kerouac, John Steinbeck), live music (Grizzly Bear at HMML), hip hotels (Glen Oaks), tall tall trees (redwoods), sweeping ocean views (everywhere), delicious food (Nepenthe), and nature hiking (ok, not my favorite thing, but Dave loves to hike and I love him).

PLUS, on the way back to San Francisco, we drove along the edge of the Salinas Valley, where my favorite book takes place (East of Eden and, for the record, it looked nothing like how I pictured it). We also passed through Castroville, the "Artichoke Center of the World," which I found pretty thrilling. Dave was far less enthused about this segment of the trip as we are still eating artichokes. But seriously, I scored 10 artichokes for $2! What a steal.

Simply put, our time in Big Sur was magnificent. Every single moment. Even the ones where it was so dark and so quiet that I longed for the familiar sound of an ambulance siren or garbage truck just to know I was still on earth. Because even in those (admittedly scary) moments, you could still see every single star in the sky.

Big Sur, you stole my heart.