Highway 1 / Pacific Coast Highway

It has been a longtime dream of mine to take a roadtrip down Highway 1, largely in part to this song by The Ataris (hello, throwback to 2003). In our Ford Mustang Convertible, I actually got the chance to experience "cruising down Pacific Coast Highway, put the top down, crawl into the backseat" and it honestly lived up to my every expectation. If you get a chance to do this drive, I cannot recommend it enough.

We started our journey in Santa Cruz, where we decided to explore the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, California's oldest surviving amusement park.

After hanging around the beach a bit, soaking in the sun and enjoying the feeling of sand in our toes, we were off to Monterey, which marked the start of the 17-Mile Drive.

The 17-Mile Drive is a scenic route through Pebble Beach, known for its world-famous golf courses and, of course, the gorgeous coastline.

After making (many) pit stops for photos, we ended up in Carmel before continuing on to Big Sur. Here, the terrain was less rocky, more green, and so so beautiful. Big Sur is also home to the iconic Bixby Creek Bridge, which you may recognize from various car commercials and TV shows.

After looking at these pictures, I really can't believe it's already been a week since I've been back... this day now feels like forever ago. Stay tuned for my next California vacation re-cap, where I'll be sharing some snaps from the lovely city of San Francisco!