Shae’s mom and stepdad joined us on our road trip in California for Christmas 2021. It was a busy week-and-a-half as we stayed in three different locations and tried to see as much as we could during that time – wineries, redwoods, beaches and much more.
Here’s a roundup of everything that we got up to in that time.
Fort Bragg
Our first stop was Fort Bragg where we stayed in an Airbnb for three nights. There were two things we were there to see – Glass Beach in Fort Bragg and Avenue of the Giants with its giant redwoods in Humboldt Redwoods State Park.
Glass Beach
Glass Beach is, as the name suggests, a beach with glass on it. That might sound dangerous, but they’re small pieces of glass worn smooth over many years. Most of the glass was clear, brown or green, although there were the occasional pieces that were a different color.
Sea Glass Museum
A mile down the road in downtown Fort Bragg is the Sea Glass Museum. It’s a small museum that doesn’t take long to look around, but if you’re into sea glass then it’s worth a visit. The museum is free, although the owner does take donations.
Avenue of the Giants
Avenue of the Giants is the legendary stretch of road running through Humboldt Redwoods State Park where you can see giant redwood trees. It’s a fantastic experience and something that’s definitely worth doing if you’ll be in northern California.
I wrote more about it in this post, so check that out for more about everything that we got to see.
North Coast Brewing Co
After driving back from Avenue of the Giants, we all went to dinner at North Coast Brewing Co. Their Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout was excellent.
That wasn’t all that was tasty though. Their garlic waffle fries with white truffle oil were very good, as was their shrimp po’boy and Scrimshaw 1/2 shrimp, 1/2 fish plate.
Vallejo
After three nights in Fort Bragg, we drove three hours south to Vallejo. Vallejo is only 30 minutes south of Napa Valley and Sonoma, but staying just outside of those prime locations meant Airbnbs were much more affordable.
We stayed there five nights which included Christmas. In addition to some last minute Christmas shopping, here’s what we did during that time.
Cuvaison Estate Wines
We couldn’t go all the way to wine country and not go wine tasting. The first winery we checked out was Cuvaison Estate Wines, a beautiful winery with excellent wine and a lovely server.
What made this a particularly great winery was that it’s very dog-friendly, with pups being allowed both inside and out. That meant Truffles got to join us and she particularly appreciated getting to share in some of the charcuterie plate.
Tacos Jalicso
That night we picked up dinner from Tacos Jalisco. My burrito was great, while Shae enjoyed her enchiladas.
Sebastiani Vineyards & Winery
On Christmas Eve we went up to Sonoma to do another round of wine tasting, this time at Sebastiani Vineyards & Winery. We once again had a great server and some delicious wine.
Sebastiani was a fun place to visit as you can take a self-guided tour around their winery which has some simply enormous barrels.
Whiskey Bar & Grille
After wine tasting at Sebastiani, the four of us headed to Sonoma Plaza for some lunch. We hadn’t been sure what would be open on Christmas Eve, so we’d made a reservation ahead of time at Whiskey Bar & Grille.
It turns out that more eateries than we expected were open, but it was still a great choice for lunch. Shae ordered their spaghetti with shrimp in garlic white wine sauce, while I ordered their Codi burger that comes with bacon and onion rings – it hit the spot after the wine tasting.
Sonoma Plaza
After lunch we wandered around Sonoma Plaza, stopping in at some of the cute stores along the way.
Christmas
Our final full day in Vallejo was Christmas Day, so we spent the day opening presents, having a Zoom call with my family in the UK, getting takeout dinner from Black Bear Diner, watching movies and some much-needed napping.
Carmel Valley
Our final stop with Shae’s mom and stepdad was Carmel Valley where we stayed in another Airbnb for three nights. About 20-30 minutes from Carmel-By-The-Sea and Monterey, here’s what we did while we were there.
Valley Hills Deli
On our way to the Monterey Bay Aquarium we stopped for brunch at Valley Hills Deli. I think we all ended up getting their oak smoked tri tip sandwich which, although messy, was tasty.
Monterey Bay Aquarium
The Monterey Bay Aquarium is highly rated and it did seem to be a great aquarium. What made it less fun was how packed it was. Not even taking into account COVID concerns, the sheer number of visitors meant that I didn’t find it particularly enjoyable.
Rather than standing back a little from displays so that everyone could see the marine life and read information boards, people would stand right in front of them and not move for ages. That meant it was hard to get to see or read anything; that was a shame as it would’ve been a decent aquarium otherwise.
Carmel Beach
The next day we visited Carmel Beach which has some great tide pools where we saw sea anemones, hermit crabs and sea urchins.
Treehouse Cafe
After hanging out at the beach for a while, we went for lunch at Treehouse Cafe as they were pet-friendly on their deck. Shae ordered their mushroom truffle ravioli which she loved, while I got their gyros platter which was also very good.
Fairytale Cottages
Shae’s mom and stepdad own their own real estate company and love architecture. Carmel-By-The-Sea has a number of ‘fairytale cottages’, so after lunch we took a quick wander around town to see some of them.
What’s Next
The next day Shae’s mom and stepdad drove back up to San Francisco for their flight back to Virginia, while Shae and I continued our journey south to San Diego, stopping in Bakersfield for a couple of nights along the way. We’ll have more about where we stayed and what we got up to in San Diego and Carlsbad over the next couple of weeks, so stay tuned for those posts.
Great post! We are hoping to visit the same places in Northern California someday. I totally agree about the Monterey Bay Aquarium being too crowded to be enjoyable. I was there January 2019 and it was the same story.
I don’t think they allow dogs in the Aquarium (which is fabulous on an uncrowded visit, which won’t happen during the holidays). What did you do with Truffles during your visit to the Aquarium?
She stayed back at our Airbnb – it was about 30 minutes drive each way, so she was OK while we were gone.
Thanks! She is much better than our pups!!!
We’re really fortunate – I’ve always worked from home and so she’s used to having at least one of us around, but she doesn’t have separation anxiety when we do need to leave her.