Once a tiny Spanish settlement and a Prohibition-era hideaway, this quaint coastal town south of san francisco is the perfect place for an early Autumn getaway.

Of all the cities in the West, San Francisco is perhaps one of the most enchanting. Tucked away on San Francisco Bay, it’s a haven for artists, sightseers and romantics alike, a city that’s both historic and progressive. But 30 miles south of San Fran, nestled between the Pacific Ocean and verdant coastal hills, a tiny colony known as Half Moon Bay offers a certain small-town charm that the big city lacks.

Prior to the Revolutionary War, speckled sand crabs and the occasional wild horse were the only things that inhabited the lush crescent of land that makes up California’s San Mateo County. Post-1776, however, Spanish settlers streamed to the area by the thousands, drawn by ample, fertile land and plenty of opportunities to fish and farm.

First known as San Benito, the settlement grew slowly and was the first town in San Mateo County. Eventually, due to the prevalence of Spanish immigrants, San Benito became known as Spanish Town before it was renamed Half Moon Bay in 1874. (The city was officially incorporated in 1959.) As railroads crisscrossed the region and more and more migrants made their way west, Half Moon Bay evolved into a stopping point on the road to San Francisco, packed with plenty of inns and restaurants – some of which served as cover for fugitive rumrunners during Prohibition.