Monterey CA

After having worked an average of 55 hour weeks for almost three months, it was time to take a vacation. Even if just a short one. The great thing about the Bay Area is the cool places there are to visit within such a short distance. So we decided to take an overnight trip to Monterey, CA, which is about 1.5 hours away. We were very disappointed from our Utah trip that the pool wasn't working at the hotel. Most places in Monterey had seasonal outdoor pools that were closed, but we were able to find one that was around the same price as the others and had an indoor pool! So we got to take Jackson swimming for the first time!

Usually he splashes all over the place in the bathtub. But I think he was a little bit overwhelmed by all the noise (lots of kids in an indoor pool) because he was really chill. He had fun though, and so did we.

That evening we went to Pier 49 to try and find a good place to eat and check it out. It was very windy and thus, pretty chilly.

I use Yelp a lot and found a place that had really good ratings. It was called Old Fisherman's Grotto. Unfortunately, when we got there it said no strollers allowed and we had brought Jackson's stroller. So we walked around a bit more. All the restaurants offer a taste of clam chowder to try and get you to come in. The person at Old Fisherman's Grotto said they only don't allow strollers because waiters were tripping over some, but he'd keep an eye on it if we left it outside. So we decided to eat there. Yelp said this place was $$ (out of a total of $$$$). So usually I would expect meals to be between $13-20ish each. Well, we were definitely surprised to see the menu. Much more than we had expected. I went with one of the cheapest items, a clam chowder bread bowl, and it was super tasty. Christina was going to do the same, but I told her to get whatever she wanted. So she got a macadamia encrusted halibut with sweet potatoes. They were both really good! Jackson was pretty good the whole time in his car seat.

Here's Jackson and me at the hotel the next day.

We went for on the scenic 17-mile drive. There were a lot of places to get out. At Spanish Bay we got out to walk around. Jackson got to use his sunglasses.

 We also borrowed a baby carrier from friends.

The last place we visited was Cannery Row in downtown Monterey. No pictures from there, but it was fun to walk around. Overall, a fun and relaxing get-a-way.