While in SB go to Sterns wharf and eat at Moby Dicks. It has the best food and of course you sure can't beat the view.
On the wharf are shops and wine tasting. It's all very rustic and casual. You can walk up and down the beach and there is a really nice grassy area with trees for laying around or eating. The Fess Parker Double Tree Inn is right across the street from the beach and allows dogs. Don't dress up to go anywhere at all. It's ALL very casual. It's going to be chilly especially in the mornings and evenings, so bring a jacket.
Traveling down to San Diego is quite a ways and very crowded. You have to go thru LA area and that can make you crazy. If you do brave it, stop in San Juan Capistrano and tour the Mission. It's amazing.
If you travel north to see Hurst Castle, Madonna Inn, Carmel and so on, you may want to take the 1 the skims along the rugged cliffs by the ocean. There is a quaint little restaurant/store that makes you think you went back in time. They also sell T-shirts that read "I survived hwy. 1".
The town of Cambria is just wonderful with all the shops, especially the area close to the beach. There's a pizza place (again very rustic) that has the best pizza's we have ever had. (If your going up the road away from the beach on main st. it's on the left.
http://www.userinstinct.com/ca/cambr...restaurant.htm
The shops in that area are so charming.
Also go up to Monterey and take in the aquarium. It's jaw dropping, and the street it's on is right on the ocean
http://www.mbayaq.org/ then eat at Bubba Gumps that jets right out over the ocean. Great food!
I could list a few hundred wonderful places to see and do from San Diego to San Francisco, but you would have to live here a life time to take them all in.
This is the reason I always say living here is like being on a permanent vacation. It's heavenly.