Big Sur, Carmel & Monterey

The last week in July, Patrick's mom flew down from Oregon to visit us. We had been looking forward to the visit for a while. Not only was Patrick's mom in town, but it was also a great vacation for all 3 of us.

For five days we traveled up the coast to see the sights. We stayed 2 nights in Big Sur and 3 in Monterey, stopping to see Carmel-by-the-Sea on the way. In Big Sur, we did some short hikes, enjoyed the scenery, went to open mic night at the Henry Miller Library (the only time in my life I think I will see a sitar player and a violinist jam together) and relaxed on the beaches. We stayed at Deetjen's in Big Sur, which was built by a Danish man in the early 2oth century. It was rough around the edges, but all 3 of us loved it. It had charachter, and adding to that charachter was the shower arrangement. Check out the picture below!

On the way up to Monterey, we stopped in Carmel. We walked the town, had lunch and relaxed on the beach. That afternoon, we had some great wine on the patio of the Mission Ranch, which is owned by Clint Eastwood. This was one of my favorite places on our whole trip. The grounds were absolutely beautiful. Sitting on the patio, with wine glass in hand, you could see the ocean in the distance, while the fluffy grass before you was being cropped by a herd of sheep. Who knew there was something so relaxing about sheep. Wait, maybe that's why you are supposed to count them when you can't sleep?

During the 3 days we had in Monterey, we walked Cannery Row, went to some wine tasting rooms, saw the Monterey Bay Aquarium, ate our way down Fisherman's Wharf, and drove into Carmel-in-the-Valley for a day of wine tasting. On the drive back to Pasadena, we made a pit stop at the Madonna Inn, a place Patrick and I had seen online. It was just as over the top in person as it appeared online. There were buses full of tourists taking pictures of the craziness; so we joined right in...

Overall, on the trip we saw seals, sea lions, pelicans, elephant seals, jelly fish and otters. We did some short hikes and lots of walking around town. We enjoyed the sights and drank some great wine. The concensus between the three of us was that Big Sur was our favorite area and that wine tasting and open mic at the Henry Miller Library were our favorite activities.

Elephant Seals battling it out

Our first great view of the Big Sur coastline

Mom and son

Gorgeous Big Sur coastline

McWay Falls

Deetjen's

Window at crotch height and a shower that only washes your chest. Who thought this was a great idea for a shower???

Playing at the beach

Carmel Mission

Fisherman's Wharf in Monterey

View from Fisherman's Wharf in Monterey

Madonna Inn