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“So I guess I’m stuck like this for the next 45 minutes?” my teen grumbled as she made herself comfortable on an antigravity chair. To be fair, I thought hanging out in a salt cave sounded like the perfect mother-daughter bonding experience.
Too bad I didn’t realize we’d be sitting in silence in a dimly light subterranean chamber in Santa Barbara, Calif., (pretty as it was encrusted with 45 tons of pink Himalayan salt) as a halo generator spewed a fine mist of salt particles over us.
It was all part of a larger plan. With our daughter off to school in the fall, it was now or never to take that road trip we’d always dreamt of: cruising the California coastline. Since a teen is no longer a child, not quite an adult, trapping one in a car is an easy way to get them to spend time with you. And with the number of troop-pleasing activities California offered, I knew I could easily make it up to my toughest travel critic.
Starting from San Francisco, we head south, making a beeline for Carmel-by-the-Sea, a charming seaside town straight out of a storybook. While Carmel isn’t family-friendly in the way of theme parks and quirky museums, it does offer a delightful white sand beach. After beach combing and making friends with dozens of well-behaved dogs, we pretend we’re well-heeled locals and admire the boutiques lining Ocean Avenue.
The next day it’s onto Paso Robles along Route 101, an exceptionally pretty drive. Motoring between farmlands flanked by undulating hills so green, thanks to the rainiest winter in decades, you could mistake this for Ireland.
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Known for its olive groves and vineyards, Paso Robles would be a capital spot to visit some wineries, but no teen I know likes to watch their parents drink while they can’t. Instead, we appreciate the terroir in a more thrilling way — soaring over vineyards and wild turkeys on zip lines in nearby Santa Margarita.
But with tasting rooms on every corner, it’s hard to ignore we’re in wine country. Overnighting at Allegretto Vineyard Resort, situated on eight acres of vineyards is the perfect compromise. Parents can nip into the on-site tasting room, while non-drinkers can visit the outdoor pool, meet the resident alpaca or explore the games and puzzles dotting the property on complimentary bikes.
Part of the beauty of road trips is the ability to change course. En route to San Luis Obispo (SLO), we make a slight diversion and head up to Morro Bay after locals insist we can’t miss this incredible marine environment.
Tucked away on the bay’s south coast lies a national estuary, protected from the ocean swells by a sandspit. It’s too shallow for predators, and hundreds of species have found a respite here amid the wetlands, salt marshes and mudflats.
“The bay is like a set of lungs. An inhalation of ocean water twice a day brings in fish and phytoplankton,” says Virginia Flaherty, owner of the Kayak Shack, where we rent our gear.
The water is glassy like a lake, and we don’t have to venture far when a young sea otter intently grooming floats by. We paddle past working oyster farms and a rookery, where hundreds of herons, egrets and cormorants nest on bare branches. Gliding back to the dock, we spot a harbour seal with its baby bobbing around. I don’t need to warn my family: everyone naturally stops, remains still and in the moment.
Feeling refreshed, we make our way into SLO, laying midway between San Francisco and Los Angeles. SLO’s very walkable downtown core begs to be explored, and we spend the afternoon popping into its many shops and the Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa, erected by the Spanish in 1772.
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We’d wanted to forage for seaweed, but with recent rain it’s not possible. Instead Kelpful, a local cooperative that sustainably harvests seaweed, offers us a class on making seaweed snacks and bath products. It’s a hit with the teen who relishes in deciding the exact ingredients and proportions for her seaweed infused bath salts.
We could’ve easily spent more days in SLO, but there’s a schedule to keep, so it’s onto Santa Barbara for the final leg of our journey. To get the lay of the land, we immediately hop on a bike tour with Cal Coast Adventures.
Cycling by a mix of Mediterranean and Spanish-Revival architecture doesn’t impress the teen as much as zipping past the homes of gazillionaires overlooking Butterfly Beach. And since there’s a gorgeous, paved oceanfront trail, we also nab roller skates from Xanadu Skate Boutique and soak up the California sunshine on old school wheels.
Like many spots in California, Santa Barbara is wine country and also boasts a flourishing artist community. Slyly, I coax my brood into another activity, this time a sip and paint session at the Santa Barbara Wine Collective. My daughter is reluctant, thinking it’s just an excuse for the parents to get tipsy. But this is no ordinary paint and sip class.
Local artist Danielle Renee offers a variety of templates for us to paint, much like an adult colouring book. The twist? There’s no paint: only wine ranging in age and varietal is the medium. Unhurriedly colouring our canvases with the watery (undrinkable) wine proves to be another hit. It’s a good reminder for us all that travel is about more than getting from A to B as quickly as possible. Trying new things is part of the journey, even if you discover you’re not a fan of salt caves.
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