One of the joys of solo travel is that I get to go wherever I want. I’d heard about Half Moon Bay and wanted to check it out. Even though the weather wasn’t the greatest, it was still beautiful up and down the coast. I mean, let’s face it: when you think of the bay area, it’s natural to think of cloud coverage, fog, and grey skies. Like the desert, it’s beautiful in it’s own right.
Before I went to San Francisco for Labor Day weekend, I saw some beautiful pictures on Pinterest of Half Moon Bay and wanted to see it for myself. I put on a killer playlist (thank you Spotify) and took off for a long drive down the highway. I’m a California girl at heart and love being on the coast. Except for the lack of sunshine, I was in my element.
I just LOVE the dramatic coastline, don’t you? I’d be driving along the highway, coming around a bend and then BAM! There’s a really awesome part of the highway where you drive through the mountain in 2 short tunnels and then just open up to the best views ever.
Being that it was a holiday weekend, naturally there was a LOT of traffic driving down the CA-1. No worries. I’m used to it: I learned to drive in LA. The best part about the one-lane traffic? I got to roll my windows down and smell the salty air.
Related: The Survivor’s Guide to Driving in Salt Lake City, Utah
On my way back to San Francisco, I noticed a big graffiti-filled structure just off of the highway. Feeling fancy-free, I pulled over to see what it was. Why not? I had nowhere to go and nobody waiting on me.
A quick Google search later, I learned that it is called the Devil’s Slide. Apparently it used to be a military lookout…which makes total sense. It’s located high on a peak overlooking the bay.
Climbing up the slide was a little challenging…
…so I didn’t go all the way to the top…
You can take the girl out of California, but you’ll NEVER take the California out of the girl!
Ironically, the sky ended up clearing up after I started driving back into San Francisco. It’s all good: it made for wonderful sunset pictures…which will be a later post!
Have you ever visited Half Moon Bay before? What do you think of the Northern California coast?
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