I’m pretty bad at planning ahead for long weekends and end up utilizing them for boring things like catching up on laundry or going to the eye doctor. Let’s see if I can change that this year. The next long weekend is President’s Day weekend. I have Monday, February 16th off, and no idea how to take advantage of it. So, what should I do? Please post your ideas in the comments! Something to drive to and explore in Northern California would be great, but I’m also open to flying since it seems like I get on a plane at least once a month anyway.
After that, I’ll need ideas for Memorial Day.
san diego or los angeles
+1 san diego or los angeles
Last time I checked San Diego and LA weren’t in Northern California… :-p
If you go north, there’s obviously wine country, which aside from vineyards also includes things like hot springs & geysers, safaris, hot air balloons, and a petrified forest. Further north are Mt. Lassen and Mt. Shasta, and further east is gold country.
If you head south, there’s stuff along the central coast, though it might be cold and foggy at this time of year. Around Monterey Bay there’s Santa Cruz, of course, other things like the Elkhorn Slough, Mission San Juan Bautista, and Point Lobos. Further south there’s Big Sur, then Hearst Castle, then Morro Bay and San Luis Obispo.
I hope you like parks and/or missions, since we have a lot of both in California. Might be worth checking AAA’s VIA Magazine which is all about places to travel in the West.
Have you ever driven down the coast on highway 1? It’s an amazing drive, even if you don’t have a particular destination.
@Reid & Mike: Noted, I’ll look into it.
@Rowyn: Interesting, I did not know that California had its own version of Old Faithful. It’s pretty close so that might be the winner.
@Jason: I have (as far as Carmel), but there’s no reason not to do it again.