Friday, July 17, 2009

California Coast


It is a thrill a minute on the California coastal highway, as we curve and sway through exciting winding roads along the edge of the cliffs overlooking incredible views of America's western coast. It's a death-defying, breath-taking, awe-inspiring journey! My feeble attempts at capturing the splendor by camera just cannot come close to reproducing the visual experience. And the visual is only a small part of this experience. The sounds of the pounding surf, the birds, and even the elephant seals' song are so much a part of the experience. And the fragrances of the journey: lovely pine; the wild fennel that grows in remarkable profusion; wild mint; flowering trees; and of course, the salty aroma of the sea, ever-present and ever-evocative.

We make a regrettably brief stop in the picture-postcard town of Monterey; breeze through little Carmel-by-the-Sea; spend a day in charming San Luis Obispo; and overnight in Santa Barbara. Too fast: this deserves a longer run! But we do, at least, take time in SLO to enjoy a fabulous gourmet dinner at the al fresco restaurant Novo, where we dine under the stars beneath a grand tree by a creek (serenaded throughout dinner by nearby frogs). And we poke into a hip little gallery where one of the featured artists is Mike Marcus.

And of course, we take a moment to say hi to the ducks of Monterey.

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