A California Honeymoon: 11 days in San Francisco, Mendocino, Napa, Sonoma, Monterey, and Half Moon Bay

The California coast from somewhere north of San Francisco

UPDATED 1/22/2023

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Dustin and I both grew up in California - he in the central part of the state, me in southern. Our families each made their way to Charlottesville, Virginia - his during 4th grade, mine just before the start of 7th grade - where we ultimately went to high school together. We shared a few classes, but we didn’t really spend substantial time together until we started dating 6 months after high school graduation.

I feel patriotic every time I look at this picture

Neither one of us had been back to California since our families moved east, so we decided to return and explore it together for our honeymoon in July 2009. After our wedding we returned home for one night before catching a very early morning flight to San Francisco.

We had planned our entire wedding and honeymoon over a year in advance, but it never occurred to us to re-check our flight details as the date neared. The day before our scheduled departure, we had just arrived home and unpacked from our wedding, were sorting through wedding gifts, and generally on the post-wedding high and avoiding honeymoon packing when at about midnight, we checked our flight details on a whim and realized our flight was leaving several hours earlier than planned. What followed was a rush to pack and a short attempt at sleep for a few hours before high-tailing it to the airport. I learned after that to always double check flight details!

The eleven days of our trip were spent with a perfect variety of activities - hiking along the coast and picnicking on the beach at sunset, touring Napa and Sonoma valley wineries, exploring several Spanish Missions, visiting the Monterey Aquarium, and more. The best part was that feeling of familiarity that you only get in a place that reminds you of where you grew up - where the visage of the rocky coast and the smell and cushioned forest floor of pine needles on hikes just feel right.