My friends, I need some help. See, I’m a planner, and I’m trying to figure out what we’re going to do for our next vacation. We only get a couple a year (if we’re lucky), so I try to make each one really count. For next year, we’re trying to decide between three different destinations. I need help figuring out which one to choose.

Patrons of the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California.

The first option, and the one that is probably the easiest to achieve, is a long weekend in Monterey, California. Given our proximity (Arizona), we could decide to either drive or fly there. It was one of the destinations during our honeymoon coastal tour of California, coming up on nine years ago. We stayed at the exceedingly lovely Hotel Pacific. We visited the Monterey Bay Aquarium. We had an altogether fantastic time, and we’d love to go back.

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Monterey California's Lone Cyprus

My husband and I got married back in June of 2002. For our honeymoon, we decided to drive up the Pacific Coast Highway. We flew from Arizona to Los Angeles, rented a Lincoln Town Car (oh, what a comfy road trip vehicle!), and drove the 101 from LA to San Francisco. We took a leisurely week to do it – staying a couple of nights near Six Flags Magic Mountain, a couple of nights in Monterey, and then the last couple of nights in San Francisco.

Today, on this rainy, chilly winter morning (yes, it does occasionally get cold in Arizona!), I’m remembering Monterey quite fondly. Upon our drive in, we passed by the famous Pebble Beach and noted that, while we’re not avid golfers, we certainly wouldn’t mind attending one of the frequent car shows that the club hosts.

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A summer’s day in Pt. Lobos, CA.  Notice the jackets and long pants, we stopped for hot chocolate after the fog floated in late that afternoon.

My pen-pal Kelly and her husband Justin visited from Australia in the spring, and as their hostess, I thought it would be nice to put together an itinerary, highlighting the best of the Bay Area (it was the least I could do, since she and her family have done the same for me!). Since their guide book covered San Francisco pretty well, I decided to put together a must-see list outside of the City:

On the day they arrived, in order to try to keep them awake, I suggested something low key and close to home, Stanford University. In addition to being one of the best universities on the West Coast, it also offers much to the local community. We started by visiting Hoover Tower and taking a ride to the top, for a panoramic view of the surrounding area. I am not a big fan of heights, so I stuck to the center area, but Kelly and Justin were excited to take pictures of the scene below. Then we walked over to the Cantor Museum, where we explored the outdoor Rodin Sculpture garden, before going inside to view the exhibits. My favorite is always the giant banana in the courtyard, and the permanent installation upstairs.

Our next adventure involved visiting a few of the 100+ Santa Cruz Mountain Wineries. Napa’s quieter, South Bay cousin, is home to some of my favorite wineries, just a 30 minute drive from our house. For Kelly and Justin, I suggested a visit to Ridge Vineyards, followed by a stop at Byington for a picnic lunch, and then finishing at Bonny Doon. Since we had time, we also visited the new Presentation Center, down the road from Byington, for a view of their new “Green” Welcoming Center.

Since I am such a foodie, I suggested our next day trip venture to the East Bay. We started in Oakland on College Avenue, with a stop at La Farine for some morning buns (who cared that it was already 11am!). For lunch, we stopped in at Oliveto at the Rockridge Market Hall, and spent time after lunch exploring the specialty food purveyors downstairs of the restaurant. Our next stop was Berkeley, for a quick tour of Scharffenberger Chocolate. I had made reservations ahead of time for the tour, and it was well worth it. Before heading home, we stocked up!

No trip to Northern California is complete without a visit to the Monterey Peninsula (IMHO), so for our final excursion we drove down to Point Lobos State Park, where, after entering the Reserve, we headed for the Sea Lion Point Trail, one of my favorite walks out to the ocean. On the way back, we stopped in Carmel for lunch at Casanova, and then headed up the coast to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. After a couple hours in the Aquarium, exploring the Kelp Forest, and my favorite, the Jellyfish exhibit, we headed home. By this time, I think I had exhausted my guests and they were ready for a vacation from their vacation!

Tell me, where do you like to take your visitors?