LA to San Jose Roadtrip

A month ago we went on one of the most epic roadtrips ever! My friend Ashley was getting married in San Jose, CA and Drew, Ellie, and I decided to roadtrip there instead of fly! When it comes to Southern California, I’ve experienced most of it – but Northern California is all so new to me! There’s so much I haven’t seen, so this roadtrip was the perfect opportunity to create some new memories!

Our first stop was in the charming town of Solvang. This danish style city is full of windmills, bakeries, and wineries! We stopped by Olsen’s Danish Village Bakery and picked up the yummiest danish pastries!

From there we traveled only 5 minutes north to Buellton, a city I’ve never been to before! I read about this really cool gas pump museum (I know it sounds insanely random, but I’m obsessed with American Pickers and this place looked reaaaally cool). What we thought would end up being a quick little pitstop ended up being one of our favorite parts of the trip. Menhanll’s Museum of Gas Pumps and Petroliana was the hidden gem we never knew we were missing out on! There is so much I could write about this family owned museum, I’ll be writing a completely separate blog post for it, because there’s so much to say! If you ever want to check it out, make sure to call or email them first! Tours are by appointment only and trust me, if you’re on a roadtrip nearby you should definitely add this to your list!

After the museum we had worked up an appetite and since we were only 45 minutes away from San Luis Obispo I knew we had to stop there! Drew and I went to Madonna Inn one Valentine’s Day and ever since I couldn’t stop thinking about their carrot cake! We stopped by for lunch and giant slices of cake that we took with us to San Jose!

We headed straight over to San Jose so we could check-in to our hotel before it got too late. We stayed at The Fairmont San Jose and let me tell you guys, this place was GORGEOUS! All the employees were so nice and this hotel was a dream. The best part about it was it’s location! We were so close to everything! We ended up renting those electric scooters and road them around Downtown San Jose to explore.

One of the highlights of our time in San Jose was visiting the Winchester Mystery House! I’ve been dying to visit there for years and I was so excited to finally experience it! If you’re ever in San Jose this is for sure a must see!

Another one of our favorite spots was San Pedro Square Market! First of all, it is the cutest most charming place ever! We ended up having lunch there and I’m so happy we got to check it out, because it was really cool! They have these giant warehouse type buildings with all different kinds of food options in it! I got pizza (shocker, I know) and it was amazing!

After our eventful few days in San Jose, we headed back to Los Angeles. Our first stop was the Santa Cruz Boardwalk. We honestly could’ve spent all day here! I had no idea this place was so cool! If you’re on a roadtrip with your family/kids, this is definitely a place you should carve out a day for!

From Santa Cruz we made our way back south about 45 minutes to Monterey. I had never been to their Fisherman’s Wharf and wanted to check it out! This was another place we could’ve spent hours at! It was restaurant after restaurant serving up clam chowder (and giving samples to those passing by. I think Drew tried every single one of them). There are so many unique little places like that that make me love California so much!

It was starting to get late. We originally planned on stopping by Big Sur, but the highway was still closed. We decided to end our trip and finally make our way back to LA. We ended up getting detoured some weird way and found ourselves in what we genuinely thought was a movie set. We were in the city of Spreckle! Who has ever even heard of this place? This cute little farm town was in the middle of nowhere and of course we had to stop and explore it!

We ended up creating some of the best memories on a trip I’l never forget! If you ever have the chance to travel from LA to San Jose grab a friend and hop in the car. You’ll thank me later!

Xo,

Andrea