"Where exactly is the beautiful coastline in California"
This cracks me up. We live in Carmel, and taking 1 south of us to say Morro Bay is gorgeous, curvy, (car sickness galore). It is the "beautiful coast" that everyone talks about near Big Sur. BUT, I have to say, that for us, the most beautiful west coast is the whole Oregon coastline!!! It is far more accessible then the California Coastline, in my opinion....
Now back to redwoods. There are some amazing groves in Big Sur, but Humboldt and Calaveras have them beat....the Mariposa grove in southern Yosemite is pretty darn amazing, too!