California Weekend Getaway: Buellton Beyond Pea Soup

What is Buellton known for?  A lot of people know Buellton as the home of Pea Soup Andersen’s, a favorite California road trip stop for families with kids.  In fact, Pea Soup Andersen’s is pretty much responsible for putting Buellton on the map.  Wine fans know Buellton for being part of the Santa Ynez Valley Central Coast wine region made famous in the movie Sideways (a movie I will never forgive for being so detrimental to Merlot).  In our never ending quest for unique California weekend getaway destinations, we decided to give Buellton a visit for Romeo’s birthday weekend.  What we found was the quintessential small town with super friendly people, gorgeous natural surroundings, good restaurants, wineries, and distilleries, and fun things to do and see.  Buellton is also incredibly dog-friendly, which meant Rome could spend his birthday weekend on vacation and with our furry children.  Top that off with glamping (glamorous camping) in a luxurious safari tent and you’ve got a California weekend getaway that’s pretty hard to beat. 

Santa Maria: A Secret Central California Weekend Getaway

As Southern Californians, we are constantly looking for new California weekend getaway destinations to explore.  We found one of Central California’s secret getaways in Santa Maria.  Santa Maria is probably more popular among visitors coming from other countries than among travelers living in the United States.  This is something that should change because Santa Maria is a quick California getaway with many varied attractions for travelers.  If Santa Maria is known at all, it is known for its wineries, but Santa Maria has so much more to offer including one of California’s best missions, farm-fresh produce, lip-smacking barbeque, hikes with stunning vistas, and quaint museums.

A Weekend Getaway to California’s Carmel-by-the-Sea

Carmel Beach at sunset.

I had always wanted to visit Carmel-by-the-Sea.  I imagined a posh town by the ocean filled with large, sparkling white buildings, high-class shopping, palm trees swaying, gentle waves lapping at the sand, and me walking along the sidewalks with my two little dogs at my side.  Living in San Diego, the thought of a weekend getaway to California’s Carmel-by-the-Sea seemed so easy.  Yet we hadn’t ever seemed to make it happen.

The Scenic 17-Mile Drive of the Monterey Peninsula

China Rock

One of America’s great scenic drives is 17-Mile Drive on California’s Monterey Peninsula.  As is the case with many of America’s scenic drives (some of our other favorites include the scenic Apache Trail and the historic Columbia River Highway), 17-Mile Drive has been a tourist attraction for a very long time.  The first travelers along 17-Mile Drive explored the Del Monte Forest by horse-drawn carriage as early as 1881.  Now visitors pay an entrance fee at one of five gates to view the Monterey Peninsula’s dramatic coastline, visit 17-Mile Drive’s 21 marked points of interest, and get a glimpse of what is probably the Monterey Peninsula’s most famous attraction, Pebble Beach Golf Links.