Let's start with some pictures first, shall we?
This year we drove through some serious terrain, weather, and folks who should never have received a license to wind up in a beautiful spot! The Monarch Resort on the peninsula of Pacific Grove was a great place to stay. It was clean and affordable, free hot breakfast, and close to everything. It was a bit dated, but the staff were very friendly.
We are so silly....it did not occur to us to make a reservation for dinner until the Sunday before we left! After an hour of calling around, we found what must have been the last dinner seating at 1pm at the The Sardine Factory. It was walking distance from the aquarium so went for it. The name does not do the establishment justice! Let us start with the free parking..free! A miracle in and of itself in Monterey. Next up, children under 5 (I'm lookin at you Savvy and Sami!) eat free. And when they say eat, they do indeed mean the full portion sized Thanksgiving prix fixe meal. Speaking of the food...5 star quality. Is that a thing with food? Take whatever rating system you want to use, pick the best point, and that is what we had.
Every 5 months or so, the girls switch up what hey want to be when they grow up. For a brief moment there, Cass was wanting to be an engineer ballerina. Recently, maybe over the last two months, Cass has vehemently expressed her desire to be a marine biologist and Savvy would like to be a coral reef doctor so they can occasionally work together as partners. These girls were shaking with excitement at the wonders the aquarium presented.
We were close enough to Carmel, that we decided to jot on over there too. It is a picturesque hamlet really, recently named one of the top fairytale places to visit by the BBC. Y'all know I love some British TV and News!
The town is also known for having a celebrity as their mayor: Clint Eastwood. Now, I may not agree with Mr. Eastwood's politics, but Mayor Eastwood's town was darling! The shops were cute...pricey I am sure. It was a bit of luck that we discovered a little cafe that was open and packed with people wanting treats as they "rested" from eating earlier in the day. Matt's face was priceless when he discovered the size of the croissants!
All of our leftovers did make it to the next day and were eaten.
We headed to an organic farm in Salinas where Adriana and Serj once worked. It was neat to walk around and see the different crops, learn about this small part of agriculture that allows for independent farmers. Then they took us to a fantastic hole-in-the-wall restaurant. Matt even ordered in Spanish. The peppers that adorned my plate were coated lightly with salt and roasted to perfection- thought at the end I was a wimp and couldn't finish it! Still, some of the best carne I have had in a long time.
Finally, we visited a friend of theirs in Prunedale, with deserts from a local panaderia. Nancy was a joy to meet as were her niece. I hope we meet again, if they come to visit Reno!
The drive back was much better! Instead of the 9 hours it took us to get to Monterey, it was 5 hours home. Much better. (I did tell someone today that even though it was a long drive, I got to spend it with the loves of my life- how often do you get such one on one time ti talk, laugh, and catch up?)And we still had two full days to enjoy being at home before returning to work and school today. It was a fantastic holiday!
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| We had books, movies, CDs, crayons, and snacks ready to go! |
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| The roads really were not that bad. |
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| The problem was drivers who were over confident and over compensated, causing spin outs and accidents that cause delays. All wheel drive does nothing on ice people. |
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| Finally! Sun! |
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