Monterey/San Simeon-Day Three:


In the morning, we packed ourselves up, and started the trek down. It took only three trips this time, and with the loading zone out front, we made it out of our hotel in only 45 minutes…which is still TOO long. We decided part of the way out to stop and eat, so we backtracked, found the least busy café in Pacific Grove; Mauricios, and had breakfast. The food was great diner food; scrambled skillet with avocado, cheese, and hash browns with eggs. Service a hair slow, but the food made up for it. After that it was off to the 17 Mile Drive. The views here were phenomenal. We enjoyed multiple beaches, (those lumps are sea lions)

where I had from the softest to coarsest of sand to massage my now tired feet. Best pedicure I can recommend. I found a few lovely shells, a small crab on his quest for food, and more seaweed than the kelp forests of the aquarium. We stopped just short of the Carmel gate, at the golf resort in Pebble Beach. With a fantastic vista, we sat there for an amazing glass of wine. A couple of competitive blackbirds flew inside, chased each other around a bit for a scrap of food, and easily found their way out despite the picture window.

This was a nice stop before our drive to San Simeon. I was amazed to find just as many wonderful beaches, and a few beautiful stops. We made sure to hit the famous Nepenthe, where we stopped for a glass of champagne, a coffee, and a trip to the shop. After taking a photo of a couple with a view, my first, we headed down to the shop. I bought a floating lotus flower (no Nepenthe magnets) and off we went.

San Simeon was a beautiful place. Just off the town, we found the elephant seals. Massive, brutal, ritualistic animals, lounging on the beach, fighting for dominance, or just out for a meal. Please ignore the man on the right, but watch these two seals fighting, not to the death, just for the win. Amazing creatures.

Our hotel, a basic lodge, seemed to have more amenities than we had thus far. We had food vouchers, a mini-fridge, less stairs, porch furniture, and a great view of the ocean. We ate at the base of the hotel, San Simeon Lodge, a family owned restaurant with a single great presence. A lovely older woman made sure that we were well taken care of, down to boxing our food, running for additional silverware for our room, and generally making sure we were happy. We finished what we could of our meal, took the rest and headed to our room. After sitting and watching the sunset on our “porch” and having a nice conversation from a state disability manager from Fresno, we watched Dr. No, and headed off to bed.

Monterey-Day Two:

In the morning, we were up fairly early, which turned out to be a good thing. After dismounting and mounting the three flights of stairs for our free continental breakfast and coffee, we dressed, and left. We drove to Cannery Row, and actually found a great parking spot. Good idea to get here right before everything is open. We made our way to Monterey Bay Aquarium, noting the various places we may like to check out later. After a brief 10 minutes in line and waiting for the doors to open, we were let in in groups like cattle. It was an amazing space. All the beams, pipes, and structure from the original cannery were still in place. We tried the otters but they must have been up top sunning. I snuck into the gift shop quick for my token magnet, the best choice in my house for a souvenir. We went to the kelp forest instead, tried to see the octopus through a crowd of excited children, and got a chance to touch a few starfish and crabs in the touch pool. The stingrays weren’t playing, however, so no touching today. My videos are rather short.

They had a very cool tide pool wave that you could stand under, under the plexi. Then the wave would come over you like you were one of the rocks in the ocean. Neat. By this point, having skipped breakfast in favor of a croissant and coffee, I was pretty hungry. We stamped our hands to come back later, and went to find food. We landed at the door of Bubba Gump’s Shrimp Company just as they were opening for lunch. We sat on the bay side and looked out on the otters, seagulls, kayakers, and divers. The restaurant has a Forest Gump theme, with a flip-over sign to tell the waiter to stop. The food was tasty, and they were large portions. We couldn’t quite eat it all. I had to get a Bubba Gump magnet too.

Back to the Aquarium. Our invisible hand-stamps let us back into the aquarium without incident, and we went upstairs to finish our tour. We started with the open sea, saw beautiful jellyfish (which I could have watched for hours),

wandered past playful puffins, and zipped over the bridge to the penguins….and apparently all the children too. This was the splash zone, an area just for kids, with just water in thigh high pools and toys in the water….goody. Here we were able to stand under the plexi again, this time with a wave of seaweed overhead. We were at the top of the kelp forest now. This is so peaceful, or it would be. After about a million strollers later we made our way back to the bridge, realizing we had missed the seahorses. I am so glad we went back for them. Such delicate little creatures. 

I was astounded at the tiny jellyfish, but the dwarf seahorse was so small, like a tiny bath toy, smaller really. Something you might out in a dollhouse. By this point, we were getting tired of maneuvering around people, and made our way back onto Cannery Row. Slipping a few more coins in the meter, we went up to the Taste of Monterey wine bar, overlooking the bay with a huge glass window.  

We relaxed there, me with my chardonnay, Dan with his sauv blanc. This was a nice way to relax. Afterwards, we tried a little shopping and headed back downtown. We parked, found a couple of nice shops, moved the car (parking time limits), found a little wine bar/tasting room (Wine from the Heart),

moved the car, shopped the other side of downtown, moved the car the last time, and finally went to the hotel. On the last pass to the hotel, the same street kids were playing the bongos, interrupted by a man from the bar claiming to be “better” on the drums. He was invited to play, and quickly declined. Coward. I slipped out later to view the crowds, and the “lead” kid from this group sent a friend to fetch me for conversation; an apparently drugged conversation. I politely chatted, and escaped back to the hotel.

After, again, a brief nap, we decided dinner and a drink were in order. We called Montrio, the best looking bistro we had been by, who said there were no tables until 9:30. It was 7:30. No. BUT, I had a feeling…we went by there anyway, with our bottle of wine from Wine from the Heart, a corkage Voucher for that purchase, and high hopes. Good call. Apparently there was bar seating and we were seated in moments. We had a little table near the door with a nice windbreak. After reading the short and sweet menu, we had our uncorked bottle and were prepared to order. I ordered a beet salad and truffle tater tots. I was expecting great things from the beet salad, but I ended up not so sure about it. The cheese was not strong enough for the tasty, potent beets, and the whole thing was in a broth-like substance, not a salad. The blood oranges were a nice complement to the beets, but again, the cheese felt like they ran out of the right one. Now, let’s talk about those truffle tater tots I mentioned. These are to DIE for. They are basically a deep fried mashed potato with some cheese in the middle. But I must say, wherever they added this truffle oil, it was perfect. I am a truffle fanatic, so too much or too little is easy, I know, I’ve worked with it myself. This was such a basic food, but so elegantly done, that, for those almost solely, I will eat here again and certainly recommend it to others. The service was quick and friendly, and the atmosphere smart and cozy.

We (tried) to end the night with a martini (giving a second chance to My Attic) at our “local” bar. We walked in, dressed very well, and were completely ignored for 15 minutes. We ultimately walked OUT. We found quick service and friendly people back at the Crown and Anchor. This martini was great, prepared correctly, and on our outdoor/patio spot-table within 8 minutes. Much better. I couldn’t take anymore, and decided we would be best off in our room. Climbing again our stairs, we put on an old movie and fell asleep to the sounds of downtown.