Burgers and Dashboard-Jesuses and other Big Sur, CA General Tips

Favorite Thing: In&Out is a rather well known burger chain which originated in SoCal in 1948. With a simple menu, it relies on never frozen ingredients and doing things like cutting their own potatoes and making real milk shakes. For the longest time a very religious family privately owned it, but I am pretty sure it has gone corporate as of late.

You can order your burgers in different fashions, which are not on the menu. Grilled onions are my favorite, but you can also ask for “animal style” which I think comes with pickles and mustard. (Gross if you ask me).

Since the In&out Corp, the quality has slipped a little and the hamburger patties have shrunk. But the John 3:16 is still hidden on the bottom of the cup.

Fondest Memory: John3:16 reads: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life”

But this will only include 1/3 of the world’s population. Can 66% of the Earth be wrong? Regardless, whatever higher power you may (or not) believe in, she did some nice work. I’m going camping in Big Sur. Sweeeet…

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Favorite Thing: When driving to Big Sur from the Bay Area, you will be driving through areas such as Monterey and Carmel. This is also very close to the Laguna Seca Raceway. You can tell it is race season by nice arses in camouflage.

Fondest Memory: She walked in the picture, what was I supposed to do?

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Favorite Thing: Big Sur, the “town” (read: there really isn’t one) is located 150 miles south of San Francisco and 300 miles north of LA. But it is actually a 90-mile stretch of rugged and awesomely beautiful coastline between Carmel to the north and San Simeon (Hearst Castle) to the south.

Fondest Memory: If you plan to drive it once, it is better to drive south, because it is much easier to stop your car off the side of the road, especially on tourist days.

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Favorite Thing: 1937, the present highway was completed after eighteen years of construction at a considerable expense even with the aid of convict labor. The highway has since been declared California's first Scenic Highway


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Favorite Thing: ...while driving over Bixbie Bridge

I’ve been to the Hearst Castle a few times with the family, and found some info on good ol’ Billy Randolph. There are some interesting tidbits about the mansion that they don’t elaborate on when you take the tours, but I feel is important to know. Chinese Slave Labor built much of the Castle. He took some slaves for his own personal usage from the Railway labor. Also, while taking the tour, you will see many artifacts that look like they belong in Catholic Churches. Well, surprisingly enough most were in Catholic Churches until he paid a visit to them with his mob-squad and instructed his goons to take what he wanted. Extorting extortionists.


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Favorite Thing: The earliest known people to live in the area were the Ohlone, also called the Costanoan, Native Americans. (Cliff dwellers in Spanish, I think) Peaceful bands of this tribe populated present-day California from the Golden Gate to Big Sur some 3,000 to 3,500 years ago. They were hunters and gatherers, until they were virtually wiped out in the late 1700s by European diseases and attempts to change their religion and lifestyle. (read: enslaved)


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Favorite Thing: Electricity did not arrive in Big Sur until the early 1950's, and it still does not extend the length of the coast or into the more remote mountainous areas. No worries, the locals do not want you to go wandering around those places anyway.


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Favorite Thing: Have you noticed how gorgeous of a day it has been to start a wonderful holiday weekend? We arrive to our destination, Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park. It is located about 40 miles south of Carmel, and about 12 miles South of (the town of) Big Sur. Lesser known. Lesser visited. Just the way I like it.


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Favorite Thing: We knew the campsite was located next to the ocean. We walked into the light. Luckily for us, this did not mean death. Actually, it is the safest way to cross Hwy 1. Otherwise you play Frogger in between two sharp bends.

Fondest Memory: The Campsites were not marked. Luckily Kevin and I bumped into Tesh, he knew the way. He just spent a couple hours hiking the wrong way up into the mountains, looking for the site, with backpacks on. Hehe That must have sucked.

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Favorite Thing: of Nectaaaar!!! This was one of the many views from our campsite. This is going to be niiiiiice. I didn’t know what to expect before I came. It is sometimes good to not have expectations. Sometimes. Then you are not disappointed. …I don’t know how I could have been.


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