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Brian Clifton and Will Deatrick

Tops down on the Pacific Coast Highway

Tour America's most beautiful stretch of highway with two different couples in their SL500s

California Highway 1 between San Diego and San Francisco, a stretch known as the Pacific Coast Highway, is a famous driving route, perennially rated by car magazines as one of the top 10 in the world. But what are the odds that two different couples from different states would choose to drive the same route, in the same model of Mercedes, and then submit trip reports to The Star within six months of each other?

Odds or no, that's what happened. Brian Clifton of the Desert Stars Section in Phoenix and his fiancée, Maggie, recently decided that the California coast would be the perfect place for their honeymoon, in Brian's beloved SL500 (see Brian's "Buyer's Guide" in The Star, July-Aug 2010, pp. 56-59). Will and Deb Deatrick of San Diego made the same trip earlier, in their SL500, and submitted a trip report and pictures at the same time The Star received Brian's report.

What follows are the two couples' comments on where they went and what they visited, with their photographs of the journeys. If you've ever considered heading west to take this fabled trip, you could do worse than to consider their advice when planning your excursion.

Brian's notes

My bride, Maggie, a chef trained at Le Cordon Bleu Scottsdale, had never been to San Francisco, one of the culinary capitals of the world, so we decided to spend our honeymoon top-down in our 2001 SL500 cruising the beautiful Pacific Coast Highway.

Highlights of our trip were many. After the drive across from Phoenix, we started our real trip in San Juan Capistrano with breakfast at a carniceria and a visit to the mission, in active use since 1782. Then we headed over to Irvine to the Mercedes-Benz Classic Center. If you're an MBCA member and you haven't stopped here, I highly recommend it for the variety of classic cars in the museum and showroom.

After a stop near Dana Point, with a romantic walk at sunset on the San Clemente Pier, we went on to Hearst Castle at San Simeon, the opulent residence William Randolph Hearst built on the bluff above San Simeon to house his antiquities collection.

From San Simeon, the two-lane road along the cliffs of the Big Sur region is spectacular. With the top down, it's unreal. In the open air with the breeze and the height of the cliffs, you just feel so alive.

We checked out 17-Mile Drive at Pebble Beach and the Santa Cruz Boardwalk before staying overnight at the romantic Ritz-Carlton in Half Moon Bay. We watched the sun go down over the ocean from our table in the Conservatory Lounge.

On the way to San Francisco, we toured the well-advertised and historically interesting Winchester Mystery House in San Jose.

That still left several days to enjoy San Francisco. The restaurants are great; we stayed at Fisherman's Wharf. One low point: While touring Chinatown, we overstayed our parking limit and our car was towed. Next time we'll park the car and take the cable cars and trolleys.

On the way back, we stopped in Solvang, feeling as if we were in a small town in Scandinavia.

The trip was only a week long, but starting our life together with a trip in a Benz is something we'll never forget.

Will's notes

Driving from Poway near San Diego, my wife Deb and I drove straight up Highway 5, turning westward on California 152 to get to Monterey to relax for a few days before our leisurely drive down Highway 1.

We stayed on Cannery Row, where we could watch sea otters at play from our room. No trip to Monterey would be complete without a visit to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, indeed a highlight of the trip.

Symbolically starting our trip at the Point Piños Lighthouse in Pacific Grove, we followed the beach around to Highway 1, stopping at the Lone Cypress and Ghost Tree, registered trademarks of Pebble Beach.

Driving through the redwood groves of Big Sur, we stopped at Julia Pfeiffer State Park for a walk down to the beach. No wonder there is a song named for the winds here. Following the curving highway south on the cliffs, we were amazed at the speeds driven by locals in their pickup trucks, with only the 400-foot drop-offs convincing us not to give chase.

The huge pink Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo was worth a stop just to see the restrooms, complete with waterfalls. Then we stopped again for a few days in Pismo Beach, a relaxing place to sightsee and walk on the beach, even though it was too late in the season to see the elephant seals and their pups.

This was definitely a great trip to make in a roadster; just bring lots of suntan lotion.

Brian’s pictures

The Golden Gate Bridge from the Presidio. Chinatown in San Francisco - just don't try to park nearby. The outdoor pool at Hearst Castle in San Simeon. Brian and Maggie on their special day before the honeymoon. The Pacific coast between Carmel and San Simeon.

Will’s pictures

Coast road south of Carmel. Deb and Will on the beach in Monterey. Bixby Bridge and Highway 1. The Point Piños Lighthouse in Pacific Grove. Deb, the beach, and the Ghost Tree on 17- Mile Drive in Pebble Beach.