Monterey, California

I spent the weekend with family in Monterey, California.  It was beautiful!  We did some of the typical tourist stuff, such as ride a bicycle surrey around Monterey, visited Cannery Row, and some things not so close such as Bixby Bridge, the 17 Mile Drive, Fishermans Wharf, and Garrapata State Beach.  Normally we also go to one of the best aquariums in the world, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, but this visit we did not, as we have been there quite often and wanted to spend time doing other things.  If this is your first visit to Monterey, though, it will not be complete unless you spend the day at the aquarium.

Fishermans Wharf has many great places to get a bite to eat, but we spent our time in one of the candy shops found here.  Some of the best candy I have ever eaten!  Try the white and milk chocolate dipped rice krispy with MnM's on it, if you want something sweat and crunchy.

There are plenty of beautiful things to see in Monterey, even if the day is mostly overcast!  Almost all of these pictures were taken when the sky was more cloudy and blue, and we just got lucky finding some blue sky peaking through.  If you are worried about the clouds, often the sun will burn through them by the afternoon, even if the day starts out cloudy and dreary.

This next set of pictures is from random areas around Monterey, such as along the bike path that the 6 seater surrey can take.

 We also visited the San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo Mission in Monterey, too!  This is a beautifully preserved mission founded in 1771 that also doubles as a school today.  They have a museum you can walk through and see some pretty neat historical stuff, as well as extensive grounds with some wonderful gardening.  Something we learned on our visit, if you arrive during/before Mass is about to begin in the church, there is no entry fee, they just ask a donation.

The 17 Mile Drive takes you around world-renowned Pebble Beach as well as several other golf courses and some incredible houses.  Before starting the drive, you can also visit Asilomar State Beach.  Along the 17 Mile Drive, you can also see the Ghost Tree and the Lone Cypress.

Bixby Bridge near Big Sur, CA is another famous landmark along Highway 1.  That is the first image below.  The rest of from some stops along the way.

Finally, one of our last stops was Garrapata State Beach.  This is one of our all-time favorite beaches because it is so incredibly beautiful.  This beach is very large yet remarkably empty no matter when you visit.  There is parking along Highway 1 for this beach, and then you walk down a short trail to some cliffs, where you then proceed down a few sets of stairs to reach the beach.  In the past, the stairs have been washed out, and so we have visited this beach when we were the only people on it.  Be prepared for some massive waves, especially if you visit in the winter.  This is not a good beach for swimming as there is a high chance you will run into rip-tides.  If you walk along the beach, there are several points where the beach narrows and waves can rush up quickly, so don't turn your back to the ocean.  Pass one of these points and you will come within view of a bridge.  The Doud Creek also runs under this bridge and out to the ocean.