The Coastal California Road Trip Most Tourists Don't Know About

If a road trip is only as good as its pit stops, you know this one is guaranteed to be great because Sausalito's floating homes are no run-of-the-mill roadside attraction. Pull off Highway 101, park the car in the open-to-all lot, and unholster your camera: These color-packed abodes sport the kind of maritime-theme add-ons that only a bunch of endearingly quirky houseboats could: weathered spy tours, portholes, bows in lieu of porches. (Pro tip: September is the Floating Homes Association's 30th Annual Tour, during which several homeowners open up their pads for voyeuristic visitors.)

At low tide expect major tide pool action around Muir Beach's rocky edge.

On the drive you'll spot as many barns as you will boats.

Related: 5 Insane Overwater Bungalows You Can Actually Afford

The stilted cabins at Nick's Cove are like California's answer to Bora Bora's overwater bungalows.

Even if there was absolutely nothing else of interest within a hundred-mile radius, Nick's Cove is cool enough to warrant the trip alone. First the welcome: Other spots give you little waters (if you're lucky), Nick's gives you a cocktail and platter of barbecue oysters. Next, the rooms (ahem, try standalone cabins): There are 12, with five over the water, the other seven with killer bay views, and all with a high-low, rustic-chic charm that'll have you kicking back on your porch with sandy toes and a cold beer one minute, and soaking in your sinfully huge copper tub the next. And, finally, the restaurant: It's a charismatic community hub that feels like a cross between a salty-dog dive and hunting lodge, only the food's superb. Go late, after the crowds clear out, go for a window seat, and go easy on the oysters (there are many in your future tomorrow).

Walk down to the end of this pier at Nick's Cove and you'll find THE spot for pre-dinner drinks, complete with a piano inside.

Even the cows are cuter in this neck of the woods.

A common scene here: Boats bobbing hypnotically in the gentle waves.

After breakfast (a basket of pastries, fresh fruit, hot coffee), bid adieu to Nick's and head south to the pint-size town of Marshall. Stop by the Tomales Bay Oyster Company and grab a bag of oysters. Since you're no longer able to eat them on-site, the smart road-tripper hops back in the car and cruises down the coast about half a mile to Millerton Point, and its sweep of beach. Of course this means you need oyster-shucking accoutrements and fixings on hand. Bring them with you, grab them while you're at Tomales Bay, or pop into The Marshall Store before you hit Tomales. Your mission for the day: Shuck, slurp, sunbathe. Repeat.

From here it's a picturesque drive down the coast that'll put you back at the Golden Gate right around picture-perfect sunset hour.

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