Vacation Day 1: Monterey
One advantage to living to close to California is that when we’re planning our vacations, there are a lot of destinations to choose from all within a one-day drive. We certainly have our favorite places that we keep returning to, like Southern California because we were both born there and have family there, and Sacramento because we can be there with less than three hours in the car. But there are still a few places left in the Golden State that we haven’t been to yet, and once in a while we get the urge to check one off our list.
This year it was the Monterey Bay that fell onto our radar, and we wanted to go there to see what the place was like. I haven’t been there since I was young, and Viola I think has never been there. Plus it’s on the coast, and making a trip to the beach is always a welcome part of our trips. So we planned to spend a few days in Monterey this Spring Break, to get a sense of the town and see the main sights.
The first night we had scarcely dropped off our bags before we hit the beach.
This was just steps from our hotel room, and we immediately started splashing around in the waves.
Our hotel the next morning. Even at the beach you need a pool.
Phone home?
Next to the Monterey Fisherman’s Wharf is Wharf #2.
Sammy checks out the water.
A rusty fishing boat in the marina.
Live crab!
Monterey Yacht Club
A panorama view of the Monterey Fisherman’s Wharf.
The Fisherman’s Wharf is now a tourist area, nearly every inch covered with restaurants and gift shops. You could cobble together an entire meal from the free samples of clam chowder that everyone gives out here. Sightseeing boats also leave from the wharf.
The bird man of Monterey hangs out at the wharf, his dozen exotic birds available for pictures.
Jack looks out over the marina.
Just west of Monterey is the Point Pinos lighthouse.
The lighthouse was built here in 1855, and is the oldest light in California.
Also in Monterey is the Dennis the Menace Playground, part of El Estero Park.
This locomotive was donated to the park in the 1950s, and ever since has been climbed on probably by millions of children.
One last look at the Monterey Marina.
