Here's what I am thinking. We leave Starbucks (Starbucks, Bernal Road, San Jose, CA) at 10:15am. There is a Shell gas station on the corner of Bernal and San Ignacio.
Head through the hills over to Phils. Highway 1 is always backed up once you head south from Watsonville. So I am planning to go around the back of the power plant through the wildlife area into Moss Landing. We can then have lunch at Phils. If anyone is game and not in a big hurry, we can head over to Carmel or Monterey, or back North to Capitola. If we head North, we can drive back over Old San Jose Highway.
Starbucks to Phil's Fish Market & Eatery - Google Maps
Scott
BTW, I have never been on the back road out of Watsonville. It should be a good road just looking at google earth. If we find it to be crappy, we can always cut off onto Salinas rd.