Deetjens Big Sur Inn had been on my bucket-list of rustic places to stay in the west for several years. To walk through its hand-hewn double doors into a reception that is slap-bang in the center of its intimate dining room, is a step back in time to the early 1930s of coastal California homesteading.
Norwegian immigrants, Helmuth and Helen Deetjen purchased 120 acres in Castro Canyon, a stopover for travelers making their way along an original coastal wagon road (before Highway One was constructed in 1937).
Helmuth and Helen built a homestead that would soon serve as a haven of hospitality for weary overnight guests.
Over the years, "Grandpa" Deetjen built rooms in the Norwegian-style, using locally-milled, scavenged redwood, and naming each, individually: Antique Apartment; New Room, Champagne (pictured here) and Chalet.
Historic buildings are of single-wall construction. Don't expect any soundproofing here, nor television or phone and a no pet policy, no-smoking policy and kids under 12 only if you book both rooms of a two-room building.
Fireplaces or woodburning stoves provide the heat in most rooms, electric heaters in some. Some rooms have shared bathrooms. I'd recommend booking early enough to request your own bathroom and a woodburning stove if you're staying over in fall or winter.
Harking back to the open hospitality of its founders, old, hand-hewn doors have no locks or keys, though they are able to be secured from within.
Deetjen's is a beloved spot of many who make it somewhat of a pilgrimage to stay here whenever traversing the coastal route.
The restaurant is as popular as its rooms and friends in the Carmel area told me they make regular 50-minute Sunday morning expeditions down Highway One for the soul purpose of savoring Deetjen's signature Eggs Benedict with Hollandaise Sauce.
Breakfast and dinner featuring local foods and wine are served within four, warm and cozy rooms, each with its own fireplace and candlelight, vintage furnishings and heirloom decor.
My favorite spot at Deetjen's — a compact library and reading room packed to the rafters with local books and classic lit and a pay-phone to boot, should communication with the outside world be a must. Cell phone reach is spotty in the Big Sur area, refreshing, but essential to note if you find it hard to be incognito.
Pfeiffer Beach, a few miles north proved glorious for a sandy stroll.
Buzzard's Roost Trail took me by surprise with its near-constant climb through the largest continuous stand of ancient coast redwoods south of San Francisco. Considered moderate, I found this 2.5 mile loop fairly rigorous, though a beautiful hike through the Big Basin for a 360 degree spectacular view atop one of the highest points in Big Basin Redwoods State Park.
Established in 1902, Big Basin Redwoods State Park is California's oldest State Park, consisting of more than 18,000 acres of old growth and recovering redwood forest, with mixed conifer, oaks, chaparral and riparian habitats. This summer's Soberanes Fire in the region felled thousands of acres of brush-covered, remote areas deep into the Los Padres National Forest, destroying dozens of homes and closing state parks.
Considered the most expensive wild fire in U.S. history, it was mostly contained during my October visit and most parks had reopened.
To beach comb undeveloped Andrew Molera State Park after the seasonal return of coastal Steelhead fish, rolled-up pant legs and wading is required to reach the beach trail.
Reward for all this healthy outdoor exploration — purple sand created by dissolving almandine garnets in the bluffs above the beach.
Nepenthe, pictured below, is an iconic restaurant perched on the Big Sur cliffs 808 feet above the Pacific Ocean with sweeping views of the rugged Santa Lucia mountain range and wild south coast of Monterey County.
This beautiful, bohemian restaurant was opened in 1949 by William and Madeleine Fassett (better known as Bill and Lolly). The couple had bought a bat infested rustic 1925 log cabin (now faced by brick) with an unbeatable view on a grassy knoll surrounded by oak trees and moved in with their five children, two years earlier.
At one with land and sea, Nepenthe Restaurant was born from the family's roadside stand selling hot dogs and coffee. Captivated by Bill's story telling and this unique setting, visitors came from all over to visit fledgling Nepenthe (ancient Greek for "that which chases away sorrow").
Lolly soon looked beyond the simple hot dog stand and conjured images of Rome and Capri (where she had lived as a young woman) and sun-splashed terraces of coastal Greece. Super creative and a lover of art and beauty, she enlisted friends to add on rooms. There had been no electricity when they arrived and tourism was highly seasonal.
Resourceful and unconventional, Bill and Lolly fit right into this wild west existence where they forged alliances and built their restaurant through hard work and sacrifice and big pots of soup.
Today, the restaurant, a cafe and shop's striking architecture, patio, indoor and outdoor fire pits and terraced landscaping are deeply embedded in this wonderful place.
If you go:
Call ahead to make reservations for Deetjen's as early as possible. Breakfast is served from 8am to noon and until 12.30 on weekends. Dinner from 6pm. Room rates range from $105 to $290 plus tax — (831) 667-2377.
Nepenthe Restaurant serves lunch every day of the year from 11:30 - 4:30. Dinner is served from 5pm - 10pm every day except Thanksgiving & Christmas — (831) 667-2345.
Highly recommended — coffee/tea and a bite of baked goods at nearby Big Sur Bakery.
Next time I visit Big Sur, I'm planning on a lunch at swanky Post Ranch Inn. Room rates are sky high, but I have it on good authority that a lunch date in this extraordinary resort restaurant is well worth the big bucks. I'll keep you posted in that!
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