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in Travel

Road Trip! Moonstone Beach in Cambria, CA

Road Trip! Moonstone Beach in Cambria, CA

Moonstone Beach in Cambria, CA.

In January, the hubs and I took a few days to get away and explore a new spot on the coast.

Last year I discovered that we have not one, but TWO beaches in California called Moonstone Beach (the other is in Trinidad). I’m a bit of a rock nut hound, so my initial reaction when I found this out was “There are actual beaches where I can just waltz right out and find gorgeous, flashy moonstones scattered about??? Are you FREAKING KIDDING ME?!?!?

Actually, yes, they were… but more on that later.

Wanting to stay as close to Moonstone Beach as possible, I found Fireside Inn on, you guessed it, Moonstone Beach. It’s located on Moonstone Drive in Cambria which, you guessed it again! runs right along Moonstone Beach. It was a fabulous place to stay- quiet, clean rooms, friendly staff, breakfast every morning! But by the looks of the rest of the inns along the beach I think it would be hard to find a bad place to stay.

Road Trip! Moonstone Beach in Cambria, CA

Inns and restaurants along Moonstone Drive across from Moonstone Beach.

There are boardwalks along most of the stretch between the roach and the beach, with stairs every so often for easy beach access. Anyone who has ever been to beaches in Northern California and has had the experience of butt-sliding down the steep, sandy, wet, slippery cliffs and then having to have your must-have-been-a-mountain-goat-in-a-past-life husband drag you back up can appreciate the greatness of beach access via stairs.

Road Trip! Moonstone Beach in Cambria, CA

Boardwalks along the beach.

Road Trip! Moonstone Beach in Cambria, CA

More boardwalks!

Road Trip! Moonstone Beach in Cambria, CA

Even more boardwalks! They’re everywhere!!!

During our stay, we could have literally never left Moonstone Drive if we didn’t want to. We had breakfast covered at the inn, and we could get lunch and dinner at the Moonstone Beach Bar & Grill or just dinner at The Sea Chest Restaurant. We did try the former and liked it, but were never able to get into the latter because it was always so busy, but we heard it was very good (probably the reason why it was so busy).

Being the suckers we are for touristy shops, we did explore the town a bit and found it to be nice for the most part. If you love antiques, you’re in luck- there are a TON of antique shops in town, as well as a lot of gift shops with a nice range of stuff to blow your hard-earned money on. The only down side we found is there are not a lot of hole-in-the-wall places to eat. Now if you love fine dining, you will be in Dinner Heaven- there is no shortage of high-end restaurants in this town. But if you are like us who like a good meal without having to take out a small loan to get it, there is just not a lot of choices. One place we did find and really liked was Sandy’s Deli on Main street. Their sandwiches and pastries are to die for and won’t break your wallet. Unfortunately, they are only open from 7am – 4pm, so they’re not an option for dinner.

Road Trip! Moonstone Beach in Cambria, CA

Main Street in Cambria, CA. I cropped the pic too much so it’s kinda small.

 Okay, so back to Moonstone Beach.

Here’s the thing- although there are rocks and minerals galore on this beach to make any decent rock hound drool, the moonstones that I was getting all worked up about? Well, they’re not technically moonstones. The stones that we all know and love as moonstones are a variety of feldspar, whereas the “Cambria Moonstones” are a variety of chalcedony. 

Road Trip! Moonstone Beach in Cambria, CA

Moonstone Beach “moonstones.”

I must admit that I was a bit disappointed to find out the moonstones weren’t really moonstones, but everything else about the trip was amazing and more than made up for it.

And the most amazing thing? It was actually WARM outside.

In January.

On a beach in Northern California.

Usually when we visit the coast, even in the middle of summer, I have to bundle up like Ralphie’s younger brother in A Christmas Story. But this time I was comfortable in a t-shirt and yoga pants.

I still can’t believe it.

Road Trip! Moonstone Beach in Cambria, CA

Tide pools on the north end of Moonstone Beach.

Road Trip! Moonstone Beach in Cambria, CA

Seals soaking up the sun on the rocks.

Road Trip! Moonstone Beach in Cambria, CA

Tide pools at sunset.

Road Trip! Moonstone Beach in Cambria, CA

Rocks along the surf.

Road Trip! Moonstone Beach in Cambria, CA

The colors!

Road Trip! Moonstone Beach in Cambria, CA

Evening clouds and surf.

Road Trip! Moonstone Beach in Cambria, CA

Hey look! Another sunset!

Road Trip! Moonstone Beach in Cambria, CA

Cross section of some of the rocks I collected at Moonstone Beach.

Road Trip! Moonstone Beach in Cambria, CA

The last evening on Moonstone Beach. (See how I snuck another sunset in on ya?)

If you ever decide to visit here, you won’t be disappointed (as long as you’re not too picky about the moonstones).

Michelle

10 Comments

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Comments

  1. ann says

    February 19, 2015 at 2:35 pm

    I love to rock hound myself nice pictures

    Reply
    • Michelle @ The Painted Hinge says

      February 19, 2015 at 9:35 pm

      Thanks Ann! 🙂 Rockhounding rocks! 😉

      Reply
  2. Kathy says

    February 21, 2015 at 1:13 pm

    Your rock finds are gorgeous as are the pics. I so enjoyed! Thanks for sharing. ~Kathy

    Reply
    • Michelle @ The Painted Hinge says

      February 22, 2015 at 10:52 am

      Thank you Kathy! 🙂

      Reply
  3. Kendra @ www.joyinourhome.com says

    February 26, 2015 at 9:05 pm

    Wow, Michelle! What a pretty holiday! Those seals look soo lazy laying there! That tree is gorgeous and so are the rocks! Thanks for sharing your get-away!

    Reply
    • Michelle @ The Painted Hinge says

      February 27, 2015 at 9:15 am

      You’re welcome Kendra! It was a ton of fun 🙂

      Reply
  4. sunny says

    October 28, 2017 at 2:57 am

    In Italy there are beaches where it is forbidden to take sand and stones, because when everyone does it…….
    A pink beach dissapeared…
    I hope you give back the stones to where they belong.

    Reply
    • Ted says

      April 19, 2019 at 11:10 pm

      Italy, pfffft.

      Reply
  5. Jason says

    June 26, 2020 at 5:20 pm

    Was there a part of the beach that was higher yield? North, south, surfline vs high tide? We have little kids so time (attention span) is limited! -thanks

    Reply
    • Michelle says

      June 26, 2020 at 7:27 pm

      Hi Jason! I’d say the northern area of the beach was the best. Look for areas with a lot of pebbles as those seem to have the best yields. I hope this helps! 🙂

      Reply

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I'm putting some finishing touches on the Christma I'm putting some finishing touches on the Christmas decor for our Christmas Eve celebration. It's a small celebration because of Covid (my mom, my hubs and me) but I still want it to be festive.⁣
⁣
From our home to yours, have the very best Christmas! 🎄❤💚⁣
.⁣
.⁣
.⁣
⁣
#christmasdecorations  #christmasdecor #farmhouse #farmhousestyle #farmhousedecor #farmhousechic #farmhousehomes #cozychristmas #vintagechristmas #homedecor #cozyfarmhouse
Hey guys! Sorry I've been seriously MIA around her Hey guys! Sorry I've been seriously MIA around here lately, so if I missed your comments, messages or tags please don't take it personally ❤ I know I need to up my Instagram game big time!⁣
⁣
Anyway, here's my Christmas dining room for 2020! I wanted to do a red and gold Christmas theme in here for so long and I finally did it! If you'd like to see more pictures, please visit my blog - link in my profile. ⁣
⁣
Have an awesome Monday, Merry Yule if you celebrate, and have a wonderful holiday week! ⁣
.⁣
.⁣
.⁣
⁣
#farmhouse #farmhousestyle #farmhousedecor #vintagedecor #vintagefarmhouse #farmhousechic #diningroom #diningroomdecor #christmasdecor #farmhousechristmas #christmasfarmhouse #christmasdiningroom
I don't know if I could have cut this any closer t I don't know if I could have cut this any closer to the unofficial cutoff to post Turkey Day projects (well, I guess I could have posted this ON Thanksgiving) but here's my DIY ornamental corn wreath tutorial - link in my profile!

I hope you and yours have a safe and happy Thanksgiving!!! 🦃🍁🍂🌾🧡
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#farmhouse #farmhousedecor #fall #thanksgiving #ornamentalcorn  #wreaths #farmhousethanksgiving #fallfrontporch #fallporch #farmhouseporch #milkcan #milkcans
Happy Saturday friends! Today I joined a group of Happy Saturday friends! Today I joined a group of talented ladies to bring you the bimonthly Lifestyle Of Love blog hop!⁣
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This month's theme is decorating with frames, so I jumped into the blog wayback machine to see what I could dig up that would fit the theme. I found this fall wreath from 2014 when I was in a shabby chic phase. Do you think it passed the test of time? ⁣
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There's much more where this came from - you can get the directions on how to make one of these frame wreaths for yourself as well as check out all the fabulous frame ideas from all the LOL ladies on my blog - link in my profile.⁣
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I hope you have the best weekend! <3⁣
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.⁣
#lifestyleoflove #falldecor #fallwreath #fallwreaths #farmhousestyle ⁣
#rusticchic #shabbychic #shabbychicdecor #farmhouse #farmhousestyle #farmhousedecor #farmhousechic #farmhousefall
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Are you a 7UP fan? Then you might like my vintage 7UP crate Christmas centerpiece I put together! It's part of this month's Thrifty Style Team, where every month I join a team of talented ladies to bring you DIY projects and decor inspiration that won't break the bank! You can find the link to this month's TST on my blog - link in my profile. ⁣
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Have an outstanding weekend! ⁣
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#christmasdecorations #christmasdecor⁣
#christmas #xmas #thriftystyleteam #7up #farmhouse #farmhousestyle #farmhousedecor #farmhousechic #myvintagehome #vintagefarmhouse #vintagedecor #farmhousechristmas #vintagechristmas
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