Thursday, July 23, 2009

Otters, and Sea Lions, and Stand Up Paddlers...oh my!

I love Monterey! The last time I was there was 1993, and it was only a day trip from San Francisco. During that trip, I was so excited to go there that I was inspired to read John Steinbeck's, "Cannery Row." This year, as I was planning my trip, I was sharing that tidbit with a friend and she suggested I read "Sweet Tuesday." Unfortunately, never did since I don't make the time for reading that I should, but I did start to pick up "East of Eden," which had fallen by the wayside a while back. Maybe I'll actually finish it before the end of summer!

As I was saying, I love Mo
nterey! Since I was headed to Northern California, I decided that Monterey was a must. After my first visit to Monterey I kept saying that someday I'd go back and spend more time there. I didn't spend that much more time there on this trip, but at least I stayed overnight this time. I left Paso Robles at around 10 a.m., and it took about 2 hours to drive to Monterey. I was amazed at how easy it was to follow Mapquest's directions. This was a slightly complicated drive in the sense that I had to travel on a lot of different roadways, and a lot of the roads transitioned into different street names.

On the way there, I drove through Salinas, an agricultural town that serves as the locale of many of Steinbeck's books. There's a John Steinbeck Museum there that I considered visiting, but I decided I wanted to spend my time in Monterey, which was a good decision for me. I just love the feel of Monterey. It's such a nice, quaint place, busy enough to keep you occupied, but quiet enough to make you feel calm and give you a sense of inner peace.

I arrived at my hotel, the Monterey Bay Inn, and my room wasn't ready, so I walked down the street to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. I didn't have to wait long to buy a ticket, but once I got into the aquarium, my first thought was, "what recession???" It was packed! I intentionally left Paso Robles a little later in the morning partly to avoid the "June Gloom" (fog) and partly because everything I read said the aquarium is usually crowded in the morning when they open and tends to be less busy in the afternoon. I asked a cashier in one of the shops if it's always that busy and she said it usually is, partly because school is out.

I spent a couple hours at the aquarium looking at the various exhibits and spending a lot of time outside at all of the different lookout areas. I took a number of pictures, although the crowds made it difficult to get some of the shots I wanted. After I was satisfied that I had seen what I wanted to see, I went on the hunt for lunch. I passed a number of restaurants during my walk to the aquarium, and noticed the Fish Hopper, a place I read about on review sites like Yelp and TripAdvisor. I decided to give it a try.

It was right on the water, so i
t was nice to be able to look at the ocean during lunch. I decided to start with a cup of clam chowder, which was okay. Not bad, not the best either, but satisfactory. It was tough choosing an entree, but I decided to select something different that I wouldn't find at home. I selected a dish with abalone, prawns, and scallops in a buerre blanc sauce, served over veggies and mashed potatoes. I completely loved the first few bites, but after a while, I felt like there was some kind of taste that was overpowering the seafood, particularly the scallops. Maybe they were just slightly too browned, I'm not sure. I'd give them another chance, but I did feel it was slightly overrated based on the comments I read.

After lunch I headed back to the hotel to check in to my room. The hotel was pretty convenient, right on Cannery Row and on the ocean, but it was just a tad isolated from where most of the action was. However, it was the closest hotel to the Fisherman's Wharf, and near a beach where there were a lot of sea lions. La Bellasera set the standard pretty high and was the best of my trip, so Monterey Bay Inn was a slight let-down, but it was still pretty nice, particularly with the ocean view. I was a little surprised that it had exterior hallways which gave it more of a motel feel, and there was a strange congregation of flies right outside my room for no apparent reason. There's also no restaurant in the hotel, although they offered room service from the restaurant in a nearby hotel. But other than that, it was fine.

After I settled in, I headed out for a walk, this time in the other direction toward Fisherman's Wharf. At the hotel, I could hear seals from my room, but couldn't quite see them. During my walk, I discovered TONS of them lounging on the rocks across the little inlet from my hotel by the harbor. I also saw a number of starfish there. I continued my walk all the way into part of Downtown Monterey before turning around. There were so many great little things to explore and take pictures of, and I noticed in Monterey that there were a lot of pretty flowers everywhere. Who knows, some of them might have been weeds, but they were still really pretty!

My last place to explore for the day was Fisherman's Wharf. There were quite a few shops and restaurants here, and I thought it was interesting how ALL of the restaurants had carts set up outside serving samples of their clam chowder! If I wasn't still full from lunch, I probably could've made a meal out of samples! After the wharf, I took my time walking back toward the hotel, stopping to take pictures and watching sea life. I was disappointed that there weren't more otters around, but was happy that I was able to see two of them frolicking in the water on my walk back.

Because of the lack of a hotel restaurant and the distance between the hotel and the rest of civilization, I decided to go in search of dinner even though I wasn't really hungry yet. I started to head back toward the aquarium, but didn't see anything that caught my eye, so I turned around back toward the hotel. On the walk back, I looked out on the water and saw a couple of stand up paddlers! Although I knew it wasn't just a Hawaii thing, it still took me a little by surprise. After this, I discovered a little Mexican take-out place almost right across the street from my hotel. Perfect! I could just take it back to my room.

The menu had a lot to offer, and it seemed really authentic. I mean, the gu
y cooking didn't even speak English, so I figured it had to be good, right?? I ended up ordering a combo plate with a cheese enchilada and chile relleno. The plate was served with rice and beans. I also picked up a watermelon soda, just because it looked good. I got it back to my room and decided to dine on my balcony overlooking the water. I took a couple of bites of the food and quickly assessed that it was like eating oil. That's the only way I can describe it. There didn't seem to be any flavor in anything except for the watermelon soda. I was pretty disappointed - in fact, probably the most disappointing meal of the trip, especially because I had gotten my hopes up because of the non-English speaking cook. Oh well, one not-so-good meal out of two weeks worth of eating out really isn't bad! And at least the view was perfect.

Next up: drive down the Pacific Coast Highway.


Saturday, July 11, 2009

Goin' back to Cali, Cali, Cali...

I'm determined to break my habit of not finishing trip reports, even though I've been home for a week and a half! One friend made a comment that I at least finished the Vegas portion, which for me is an accomplishment!

I'll try to break this up into bite-sized pieces, but this was my agenda for the entire trip, to put things into perspective:
Tue. June 16, departed HNL @ night

Wed. June 17, arrived Vegas around 7 a.m., stayed at the Plaza Club in Downtown
Mon. June 22, the baseball
peeps left in the afternoon and I checked into Treasure Island
Wed. June
24, drove to Paso Robles, CA, stayed at La Bellasera
Thu. June 2
5, drove to Monterey, stayed at the Monterey Bay Inn
Fri. June 26, drove to Avila Beach, stayed at the Avila Village Inn

Sun. June 28, drove to Redondo Beach, stayed at the Hotel Portofino & Yacht Club
Wed. July 1, departed LAX @ about 6 p.m. to return to HNL

So why did I choose the
route I did? I figured if I was going to Vegas, I might as well also go to LA to visit some friends, especially one that just had a baby. But it's been a long-standing goal of mine to drive down the California coast. I've been to Monterey before, and from Southern California, I went as far north as Santa Barbara, so I wanted to cover the area between those two points. I especially wanted to see Big Sur because of the arched bridge I've seen in so many pictures that I'm sure you've seen too. Planning stops was interesting. The drive from Vegas to Monterey is 8 hours, and I didn't want to do that in one day, especially by myself. The halfway point was Bakersfield...seriously??? Bakersfield is boring. In my hunt for an interesting place to stay, I found Paso Robles, which I'd never heard of before. In my research, I came to the conclusion that it would be the next up-and-coming big wine country of California. And there was a hotel, La Bellasera, that received stellar reviews, and I decided that is where I should stay after a long day of driving.

Back to my story...

Since I was driving beyond the halfway point between Vegas and Monterey, the drive was estimated to be about 6 hours. I knew I'd stop along the way a few times, so I decided I should allow at least 7 hours, which turned out to be a pretty good guesstimate. I decided I should leave Vegas around 7 a.m., but in actuality I woke up early and started the drive at about 6:15. I stopped off at Jack and the Box to pick up breakfast before hitting the freeway. Ironically, the one place I made a wrong move while driving was in Vegas, the place I know second best next to home! I was fine the rest of the way.

The drive was actually somewhat interesting. I guess part of it is because I'd never been that route before since I'm used to driving toward Anaheim or LA, but this route involved heading north toward Bakersfield. I stopped once I think around Baker, one of the very small towns after crossing the California border, simply because a wave of tiredness set in. I pulled into a parking lot (I think it was a Taco Bell) and slept just for 10 minutes, but it helped immensely. I was all set to go for another couple of hours.

After a while I needed to make another stop, partly for a "nature break" and also to fill up on gas, so I stopped in Mojave, a desert town with some kind of air force base. I had to go 1-2 miles away from the highway, but it was easy to navigate my way. I found a McDonald's with a clean restroom and picked up an iced coffee (for the first time EVER, they handed me the coffee before I even put the change away in my wallet - amazing!), then found a gas station. Gas stations are weird in California - so many different types. This one only took debit cards, for a service fee, and cash. But the cash machine is kinda cool, like a slot machine that you slide your money into. Anyway, after this, I was ready to go for another couple of hours.

I was about 90 miles away from Paso Robles and came across a cute little town called Wasco. Apparently they are known for roses or something, there were huge fields of roses that were very pretty. I decided to stop for another nature break and also to get a snack since I was getting a little hungry, but I didn't want to eat a full on meal yet. I found a Carl's Jr. that did the trick (the little crunchy burrito things are good!). Then I was ready to conclude my drive for the day.

I approached Paso Robles and followed the Map Quest directions. However, they steered me toward a street, that was supposed to lead me to my hotel, that was undergoing major construction. Fortunately, the construction guy directing traffic was very helpful and steered me in another direction to the hotel, which would have been more efficient than the Map Quest directions. I soon realized it was my fault that Map Quest told me to go that way, since for part of the drive, I was trying to avoid the 101 (freeway) for part of my trip.

La Bellasera turned out to be an AWESOME hotel! Definitely the best of the entire trip in many ways: nice room, nice facilities, good restaurant, great service, and good location. I was so glad that I booked this hotel, but a little sad that I was only going to be there one night. I probably could've stayed another couple of nights and found lots to do there including exploring Downtown Paso Robles and checking out some wineries. Oh well, something to look forward to on a future trip!

After checking in, I was ready to eat a full meal. I decided to head to Downtown Paso Robles. I didn't have anything in mind, but I did browse quickly through a tourist magazine for ideas, then I set out on my drive through Downtown. The Downtown area was very cute and quaint, lined with little shops and restaurants, and lots of parking along the streets. I spotted Vic's Cafe, a place I remember seeing in the tourist magazine, so I decided to give that a shot. It was a very casual place where locals seem to go. I ordered a Vic's burger that came with a bunch of toppings including guacamole and ortega chilis, with a side of potato salad. It was all very good, and very homemade. I walked around Downtown for a little bit, but I also wanted to check out a large strip mall I came across on the way to the hotel that had a Kohl's in it.

After that, I headed b
ack to the hotel. As I was parking, I noticed there was a back way into the parking lot, and my curiosity got the best of me, so I jumped back in the car and headed out the back way. Lo and behold, another strip mall, right across the street! And there was a Target! This was perfect since Elastagirl asked me to pick up something from Target that she wanted after she returned home.

I just wanted to relax that night, especially after the long drive. The sun didn't set until around 8:30, so the
days were longer there too. I ordered room service from the hotel restaurant, Enoteca, which turned out to be excellent! The person at the front desk recommended the filet mignon, as did the nice man I spoke to on the phone who took my order (he also said the lamb was very good). I enjoyed my meal along with some wine I brought with me from Vegas that I bought at Trader Joe's.

All in all, a good day that ended nicely at a beautiful hotel!