​Our next stop: Big Sur!
 
I know I said the drive from Santa Cruz to Carmel was incredible, but the drive to Big Sur is better. The Marine Layer is crazy. I learned the quote from Mark Twain on our drive, the coldest winter I ever had was a summer in San Francisco. PSA: don't wear shorts because you will not want to get out of the car! I decided to not stop to go to the bathroom on account of way under dressing.
 
Get your phones ready; there are plenty of places to stop: Seal Beach, you have to hear the lion seals; they make fart noises! They are the best! You can't miss a photo op of the Bixby Bridge. The famous bridge of Big Little Lies. Cue Cold Little Heart.
 
Some places worth pulling over on the drive to Big Sur: Big Sur Bakery have gluten-free options and great coffee and tea. Big Sur Smokehouse at the foot of Ventana with great bbq. Try the tri-tip barbecue sandwich. If you stay at Ventana, you can sign up for a picnic lunch with food from the smokehouse.
 
The "nicer" restaurants on the "island": Nepenthe, Sur House, Sierra Mar.
Two great hotels: Post Ranch Inn and Ventana.
 
We stayed at Ventana. This was quite the experience. It's a cross between heaven on earth and what Evan and I called "adult rehab". Evan and I kept talking about how, depending on which hotel you stayed at, the weather conditions are so different despite the fact they are across the street from each other.  It is possible to stay in your hotel room for the whole vacation. The room service is fantastic. They give you an iPad, and you can schedule meals, toiletries, turn down service, etc., all through the device in the room. My favorite part was the bathtub that came with a salt scrub. There was a partition that opened up, and you could watch tv from the bathtub. I may have done this with a glass of wine a few times on our stay.
 
Enough about the room… the grounds were fantastic. There are two pools, a gym, spa cabanas, and a restaurant with the most amazing views. Every day at 4 pm, they had a cocktail with wine, or a house crafted cocktail, and most evenings, they had smore kits. Evan and I started our day with 7 am sunrise yoga. It was very peaceful. Then we went on a hike around the property. I wouldn't recommend the hike we did; we headed up the back road behind the rooms and pool. The hike to do would be Julie Pfiefer State Park. Unfortunately, it was closed when we went. So make sure to look it up online before your stay if it is open.
 
Ventana has many lunch options, picnic on the beach, which just means on the grounds by the pool, picnic in the redwoods, or lunch by the pool. We picnic in the redwoods. It was fun, but not sure it's a "must-do." The picnic site is not as tucked away in the redwoods as we were expecting—instead, it's on the path to the Sur House restaurant.
 
Jumping to Sur House, the restaurant is excellent, the are a few options for dinner. We had the all-inclusive experience, so our dinner was 3 courses. The menu stayed the same each day with choices of chicken, fish, steak, or tofu. Healthy, and the service was fantastic. If you are staying in Big Sur for more than 2 days, I would recommend making reservations at other restaurants to change up the cuisine.