I think the 'Sur' in Big Sur is short for surreal because mannnn, this place is so so amazing and of course, surreal. I can't believe I lived in California for 5 years and had never been there before. So, don't make the same mistake I did, go to Big Sur when you get the chance to.
I went there during my summer break in September this year, I just haven't had the time to write about it. Actually that's bullshit because Lord knows how many nights I spent sitting in front of Netflix, watching Orange is the New Black and other films and TV shows. Honestly, how do some people get so many things done? More importantly, how do some people have the discipline to tell potential distractions, "Dude, stay out of my way!" ? Oh well, I'll try to get this done before I decide to go to Netflix again and resume watching Mad Men (Yes, I just started watching it last night).
Back to Big Sur, I went there with my little brother and we drove from Los Angeles. Before though, he rather heartlessly told me to drive there by myself as he had just been to Big Sur a few months before, and that his school had already started so he was really busy. Mann, it was about 5-hour drive to Big Sur and plus the road was hilly. I'd like to think of myself as a strong independent woman and I love solo trips but hey, it's simply too exhausting for me to do it alone. Maybe it was the terrified look on my face or maybe it was his love for his sister (read this sarcastically), but my brother decided to accompany me on the trip after all.
We made so many stops during our drive as I was blown away by what I saw. To see the ocean from such an altitude was a sensation I have never felt before. Trust me, it's different from seeing the ocean from a plane. That's why I personally think one must not go on this trip alone because you need to focus on the road when you're driving and one then is unable to fully enjoy the view. We particularly spent quite some time at the Bixby Creek Bridge you can see below.
Oh yeah, during our drive along the cliff of Big Sur, we realized that our rental car was almost out of gas. The fuel light kept blinking, reminding us incessantly that the car was very very thirsty. To this day, I still don't know why it slipped our minds to get gas. It wasn't like it was our first day driving a car but we somehow failed to think and act like experienced drivers. It wasn't fun driving so high above the sea level, with the road going constantly uphill, with no phone reception, and almost no gas. My brother was driving and I kept saying it's gonna be alright, we'll see a gas station soon enough according to Google Map and just ignore the fuel light that kept blinking, as if mocking us of our carelessness. But boyyy, Google Map isn't perfect either, there was no gas station where it said there would be, and so we continued driving and praying that we'll make it. We also considered flagging down other cars to ask for some gas but what are we gonna use to siphon the gas into our car? My brother then remembered from his last trip that there should be a gas station ahead, so on we continued, turning off the AC and the music (I don't know if it's a myth that turning off your AC would help save gas, but when you're desperate, you'll do anything to convince yourself you're making the situation better). And sure enough after miles of miles of driving with almost no gas, we saw a Shell gas station with ridiculously high price but we could not be happier.
So we drove to Carmel-by-the-Sea, where we were going to spend the night. We stayed in Normandy Inn, a cottage like inn for one night.
The town is very cute, it almost feels like a film set. I mean I asked myself do people really live there? There are so many cafés, restaurants and art galleries. I just somehow felt like I wasn't in the US but in some European town instead.
The next day, after exploring Carmel-by-the-Sea, we took the 17-Mile drive through Pebble Beach. You should definitely do this too, the drive was really relaxing and the view did not disappoint.
I'd like to thank my brother Calvin for going with me on this trip, taking over the wheel when I was too tired, and also for bearing with me singing out loud to Nicki Minaj's Anaconda (guilty pleasure, don't judge) throughout the drive. Also, thank you Bluey (our rental car) for being such a trouper instead of breaking down in the middle of nowhere up there above the sea. It was such a pleasure to drive you.
