A California Honeymoon: Moss Beach (Days 10-11)
UPDATED: 1/22/2023
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In order to get closer to San Francisco for our return flight, on our last full day, we drove from Monterey to Moss Beach, about a 2 hour drive. We stayed at Seal Cove Inn, which is right near Fitzgerald Marine Reserve. After checking in and getting settled, we hiked from the inn down some trails until we came to the reserve, where we were able to access the beach. We were hoping to find tidal pools, but due to the high tide had no luck and so wandered along the beach.
It’s an interesting thing how seals can be laying en masse along the beach and yet be so still that you can nearly walk up to them. Oops! We were probably much closer than we should have been before we even saw them. On a sad note, a little ways down the beach was also a dead seal pup with waves washing up and over him.
We had to get up extra early the following morning, and the innkeeper set out some breakfast items for us since we would miss the normal meal time. We definitely wished we had another day to stay in the area, but it was time to head home. The drive, about 25 minutes, to San Francisco airport in the morning was utterly beautiful. We weaved in and out of ocean views in an area that felt so isolated, it was hard to imagine how close we were to San Francisco, until there it was looming before us.
It was an absolutely perfect trip that occasionally I think we should re-do for fun, maybe for a milestone anniversary, and definitely with more days there!
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The eleven days of our trip were spent with a perfect variety of activities - hiking along the coast and picnicking on the beach at sunset, touring Napa and Sonoma valley wineries, exploring several Spanish Missions, visiting the Monterey Aquarium, and more. The best part was that feeling of familiarity that you only get in a place that reminds you of where you grew up - where the visage of the rocky coast and the smell and cushioned forest floor of pine needles on hikes just feel right.