Of all the wonderfully scenic drives across America, and there are plenty, perhaps no other is as romantic and wild as the Pacific Coast Highway that parallels, and sometimes hugs up close, California’s spectacularly dramatic coastline.
Stretching from Seattle to San Diego, the whole of the PCH is roughly 1,800 miles long, but the California section that meanders from Mendocino County to just south of San Juan Capistrano is considered the heartbeat of the highway. Along the way, it passes through several wine regions including Sonoma and San Luis Obispo, San Francisco where it crosses the Golden Gate Bridge, and farther south through Monterey, Big Sur, Carmel-by-the-Sea and San Simeon.
A PCH trip is one to be savored and unhurried. The road is serpentine, coiling for those hundreds of miles among small villages and towns, towering rocks, jagged cliffs, surf-carved beaches and staggering mountains that plunge straight into the Pacific. Evening drives are the best, when the setting sun alchemically transforms the ocean into shimmery pools of gold. Oftentimes, you can catch glimpses of whales, dolphins and seals underneath the wings of a trillion seabirds gliding along the shoreline.
MacCallum House Inn and Suites in Mendocino
It’s been a few years since I’ve been to Mendocino, but if there’s one thing I can’t forget, it’s the warm, quiet and laid-back atmosphere, the perfect backdrop for a beautiful Victorian gingerbread inn such as the MacCallum House Inn and Suites. The inn, built in 1882, is in the heart of Mendocino Village, so there’s plenty to see as you stroll through town, including boutiques, art galleries, cozy cafés and trendy restaurants. For the ultimate in romance, ask for a room with a river stone fireplace or wood stove that burns real wood. Outside, verdant lawns and flower gardens dot the property, while inside, you’ll find extra touches like hardwood floors, clawfoot tubs and sleigh and wrought iron beds. The MacCallum suites overlook the ocean and offer the best views. Room rates include a gourmet breakfast; its restaurant offers seasonal fare, richly delicious Northern California cheeses and, of course, California wines.
The Lodge at Bodega Bay in Sonoma County
Love is always in the air at Bodega Bay, a small oceanside PCH community about an hour’s drive north of San Francisco but worlds away from hullabaloo of the city. The hillside pastures where the 83-room Lodge at Bodega Bay is perched sweep regally down to the bay and just beyond that to the Pacific. Most rooms have private patios and fireplaces, ideal for those special moments when you just want to be alone, but take your PCH getaway a step further and book a room with a Jacuzzi in it. The onsite spa offers locally inspired treatments, among them the Sonoma coastal massage and the Cabernet grape seed scrub. The menu of Drakes Sonoma Coast, the onsite restaurant, highlights seasonal, local fare, but always expect beef and seafood. The honey is harvested from the lodge’s own beehives. And don’t forget to sip California wines at the lodge’s cozy Fireside Lounge as you gaze out onto the bay.The Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo
California is chock full of wonderful, eclectic inns, but the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo is the queen of them all. The landmark inn emerges from the PCH like a confectionery dream, over the top in deep, dramatic frenzies of color. The dining room’s signature pink palette — the chairs, bar, chandeliers, everything pink — is fun yet still romantic and, I’m not sure why, reminds me of Barbie dolls. Each of the 110 guestrooms is decorated differently, but for a couple, I would go for the Romance Suite with its turquoise color scheme and rock shower, the Love Nest Suite adorned with lovebirds entwined with hearts and vines, or the Old-Fashioned Honeymoon Suite finished with more earthy tones and a freestanding clawfoot tub. The Madonna Inn is whimsical, chaotic, kitschy and fabulous all in one neat package.Post Ranch Inn in Big Sur
If you want to take your romantic PCH journey to the next level, then plan an overnight stop at the rustic-yet-posh Post Ranch Inn in Big Sur. Almost camouflaged into Big Sur’s oceanside cliffs — it was built to integrate with Mother Nature — the inn is the Shangri-La of California in that it is soulful, peaceful, idyllic. The elevation of the inn is 1,200 feet, which means endless, breathtaking views of the Pacific. During the day, watch the California condors soar through the air, and then at night marvel as the constellations light up the sky. Besides those views, the extras are wood-burning fireplaces, forest meditation, yoga and even falconry. The two-room spa is renowned for its organic treatments but it also has a walk-in couples shower. Dine at the inn’s Sierra Mar where dinner is a four-course prix fixe menu that changes daily. Post Ranch Inn, 47900 Highway 1, Big Sur. Call 800-527-2200 or visit www.postranchinn.comSeven Gables Inn at Pacific Grove
At the Seven Gables Inn at Pacific Grove, every room has a dazzling view of the Pacific, Monterey Bay and the Monterey Peninsula. Rising three stories, the inn, completed in 1886, is a historic masterpiece of Victorian architecture. The yellow mansion, trimmed in clean white, looks as if it leaped from the pages of a fairy tale. You’ll find no cookie-cutter rooms at the inn, as smattered among its seven buildings are 25 individually-decorated guestrooms. The welcome package includes a bottle of California wine, bottled water and snacks. The inn is consistently named in “best” lists for romantic inns, including one of the “Ten Most Romantic Inns in America” and USA Today’s “Most Romantic Inns in the U.S.” At the end of the day, simply lie down and let the melody of the Pacific’s powerful waves lull you to sleep.Seven Gables Inn, 555 Ocean View Boulevard, Pacific Grove. Call 831-372-4341 or visit www.thesevengablesinn.com.
