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.