Something about Big Sur that causes a writer and his words to reach a literary climax together. Take one of the Dharmabums. Jack Kerouac preferred to hang out and bang out tomes on the typewriter in North Beach in San Francisco, but, on ocassion, he and other notables would seek out the solice and solitude that Big Sur had to offer. It was a rest and recreation pit stop for the Writers on the Storm, and after getting spiritually laid by the Muse of literature, the writer, now rejuvenated, would furiously pound the keys and the words would spill onto the page as fast as the spring snowmelt in the Sierra's.
Art is on overdive here, and galleries have proliferated to such a degree that you are sure to find an art medium that appeals to you. You can shop for treasures in unique boutiques, haunt the art galleries that are abundant, enjoy fine restuarants with a decidedly vegan flair for the veggie-phile. Meat eaters can enjoy any number of joints with pizza, burgers, beer and wine, from mainstreet to beachside saloons on the sand! The beach bars have that touch of Jimmy Buffett class, and reminds you that "It's five o'clock somewhere" or perhaps even 4:20!
The real treasure in the Central California Coastal region is in her wealth of what Mother Nature has to offer. The regions eco-system is highly protected, and that allows for a stimulating array of opportunities to see things like condors with massive wingspans, and defying the laws of extinction by making a comeback that is nothing less than awe inspiring. "Summertime and the living is easy" so the song says, and it is for our largest member of the mammal family, the whale. Traveling in pods, whales of the Humpback. Grey and the Blue family, make the region a migratory stop on their continual oceanic route. Summer in particular the oceans bounty offers a plentiful feast for these largest of magnificent beasts and there is nothing more exciting then spotting them in their natural habitat, eating and breeching as though putting on a Broadway show for a theater full of anticipatory critics. In the end you will yell out a "Bravo" for the marine life cast of these ocean going thespians.
Sea otters also put on quite the show for an appreciate audience of nature lovers. Playfully floating, barking and cajoling one another, they are the court jesters of Neptunes Kingdom and thier antics conjur up visions of the choreographed play of the Three Stooges! Hey Moe!
Hiking is a diversified experience as well. You can take to the seclusion and anonymity of the redwood forests surrounding the area at areas like the Los Padres National Forest, or enjoy the water wonderland and coastlines by hiking in Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park. There are also three more state parks in the area to give your Birkenstocks a rustic test drive.
Being from the Great Lakes originally, I grew up with an appreciation of lighthouses. Not necessarily the structures alone, but the life that went on behind their brick walls during squalls, storms and the peace of sunny days as well. The Big Sur lighthouse is one attraction that will appeal to the nauti-boy or nauti-girl in all of us! It sits high in the sky, actually on volcanic promontory above the crashing surf below.
In Sausalito just north of San Francisco's Victorian architecture, you can stay on a houseboat to get a taste of the Bohemian lifestyle. It will trasport you to a place of houseboat terror as depicted in the film "Cape Fear" or you will feel the swashbuckling vibes of Erroll Flynn on a South Pacific Adventure. Southern California has it's share of unique head to bed abodes. Gas up and take to the road on Route 66 through Southern California and when the asphalt day has gotten to you..simply wigwam it in a concrete facsimile of a tee-pee. In keeping the kitsch at bay, and in keeping with the artistic Big Sur ambiance, there are no houseboats, and certainly no wigwams..but, dammnit, you can yurt it! Yep, a yurt!
To origins of yurts are older than dirt. They went through a evolution of use thanks to nomadic Mongol peoples who lived in the near ice age northern extreme regions that were lacking big time in big timber. Tropical weather? Forgettaboutit. It was freeze your ass off weather, so the yurt was developed, a curious shelter constucted to withstand the northern extremes of Mother Nature. It was covered with hides and animal skins of yaks which were protection against the harsh conditions. The yurt was easy to transport to the next point of migration for these migratory tribes, so in effect, the yurt is the advance prototype of todays recreational vehicle...manufactured by Mongol Motors, Inc! In Big Sur, the art of yurting, is alive and well, not to mention treehouse abodes high above in the forest canopy. But, yurting, (No, I don't really think that is a word either, but, I liked the sound of it in my head and the looks of it on the page!) Treetops is resort that has 16 yurts to choose from, count them..that's right 16! Then again, if you have a tent to pitch, stake your claim at one of the campsites, but tent or yurt, the Pacific Ocean is spread out before you as a Neptunian canvas masterpiece. The resort also has a hot tub and offers massage to untie the knots of tension that may be wrapped too tight. What excites me most about this place is that is a grid-free zone! They use a couple of propane-fed (zero emissions) turbines to power the resort where and when power is needed, and, the best part, the heat exhaust from the turbines, is put to use to create radiant heat in other parts of this most resourceful of resorts that has resorted to a code of re-use, and that includes recycling! All glass, aluminum, cork, plastic and cardboard is collected and sent to local recycling facilities. Garden volunteers work to compost restaurant scraps back into the earth.
Bug Sur is a place of rejuvenation, where your soul and spirit emerge and take you to places miles deep on a journey to the center of your innerself that you never dreamed existed. It's a place on earth where you don't have to seek for Mother Nature...Mother Nature will find you. Art will surround you in her protective shroud of creativity, the ocean view and will massage your spirit...and dammit..sleeping in a yurt rocks!.