California's Scenic Highway Drives: The 101 Highway
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California's Scenic Highway Drives: The 101 Highway |
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Gorgeous Pacific views , golden rolling hills and quirky road signs are all part of the 101 driving experience.
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Driving the 101 Freeway
The 101 Freeway is California's Cinderella, its Rodney Dangerfield, it's less-respected inland monster. While the 101 is seen by most commuters primarily as a functional thoroughfare through the uninspiring Los Angeles Valley, past the likes of Thousand Oaks and through Ventura and Santa Barbara, it is the Pacific Coast Highway just to the west that gets all the glamour. PCH, after all, has much of California's spectacular coastline, often running right along the edge of the Pacific Ocean, going past Hearst Castle and through spectacular Big Sur.
But the 101 is not to be overlooked for the beauty if provides its travelers. It is, in fact, one of California's most scenic highways, and even possesses somewhat of a quirky personality along its route. This is a look at the most frequently traveled section of the scenic spots of the 101 from Ventura to the Monterey Peninsula. Certainly there is more – much more – to the 101. From Monterey it goes to San Jose, through San Francisco, over the Golden Gate Bridge, past Sonoma and through the gorgeous Mendocino and many of its wineries. But for now, SurfsideSam.com will focus on the lower section of the highway.
Its beauty begins to reveal itself in Ventura, when it presents huge, elevated and wide-open views of the Pacific. It goes through significant spots such as Ventura and Santa Barbara but also seemingly endless small dots on the highway map: Carpinteria (with it's Santa Clause Drive!), Goleta State Beach (with fish tacos from a bar/restaurant right on the sand), Lompoc (sounds like that should be on the 395 not the 101), the replica Dutch village of Solvang, Nipomo, Grover Beach, San Luis Obispo, Paso Robles, the interesting-sounding Santa Margarita and a place called Spreckels. Each time a town is approached, a sign announces its arrival, and each contains its elevation and population. Though the latter is likely somewhat dated, it's interesting to note the approximate number of people that live in these places. Mostly, it's in the 10,000 range.
And ahh, the road signs. They are what give all of America's highways their distinct personalities. Along the 101, travelers encounter several billboards for wineries (in Monterey County). and at least a couple dozen for split pea soup at Anderson's Pea Soup in Buelltion. In fact, the frequency of those Anderson's signs – the person who put them up must have once lived in Florida and traveled down I-75 – has become a landmark all their own for frequent 101 travelers. (Anderson's Pea Soup itself is, as one might ascertain from all those billboards, a tourist trap restaurant/gift shop/entertain-the-kids-for-half-an-hour kind of place.) A particular favorite roadside sign of Surfside Sam is this one near SLO: "Pigs for sale." Pigs? In California, along the 101!? Apparently. Another great sign is this one: Speed Limit 70. Yeah, 70 mph! For much of the stretch of 101, the speed limit is 65 but between roughly Santa Margarita and King City it's 70 (which means about 75). Just be careful on the stretch from King City to Monterey to keep the speedometer hovering around 65; regulars know the California Highway Patrol is particularly, er, keen, on people keeping to the posted speed limit there.
It's tempting to jump off at just about any of the exits along the 101 to explore, be it the large pier or, perhaps, to the Channel Islands harbor (and, perhaps, onto the Channel Islands themselves). The 101 leads the way to exploring these remote islands off the coast. Or Santa Barbara and its downtown and harbor, Goleta State Beach where a bar/restaurants sits right on the sand reach to serve hungry customers grilled fish tacos, the cute downtown of San Luis Obispo, or any of the dozens of beaches. The Madonna Inn is right off the 101. No, that's not a place owned or devoted to the one-time pop diva, but a historic hotel with themed rooms, ideal for couples seeking a wild adventure. The spectacular ocean vistas run nearly 100 miles from Ventura to Solvang. It goes past, rather briskly, Point Conception. This is a scenic point with a lighthouse near Lompoc. It's where the Santa Barbara Channel meets the Pacific Ocean and sailors know it as the Cape Horn of California. The only time to really have a chance to get through it fairly unscathed is at 6 a.m. This can be a very unforgiving place for boats, skippers and crew. It's much more cozy to be on the 101. Unfortunately, there is no sign pointing out its precise location. It's near the tunnel, just north of Goleta. Once the 101 turns inland, it may lose its ocean views for a while, but it gives way to something almost equally as spectacular: Small, rolling hills that are golden in color and beautiful to admire. Every now and then, those small hills turn into gigantic ski slope-sized canyons. South of SLO, there are some very steep hills. When one approaches the Monterey Peninsula, that's the ideal time to put the song "Me and Bobby McGee" on the stereo. For Salinas is not just where the John Steinbeck Museum is located but is where Janis Joplin lost her man (Kris Kristofferson?): "Somewhere near Salinas, Lord, I let him get away..." So while the Coast Highway certainly justifies all its ohhs and ahhs, its road running parallel just to the east has many beautiful attributes, as well. The US Highway 101 is, too, one of California's most scenic highways. SurfsideSam.com covers beach cities and towns around the world. © 2011. All rights reserved. |
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