Drove down Route 1, Saturday morning, to spend a weekend in Monterey Bay with someone special. We stopped in Moss Landing, near Castroville, for deep-fried artichokes.
View Larger Map
After arriving in Monterey, we ditched the car at the hotel, then explored Cannery Row in the unseasonably warm weather. We soaked up sun, wandered beaches, snapped pictures, and took the obligatory aquarium tour. We grabbed a snack at a cafe, eventually meandering back to the hotel for check-in.
Bad experiences with two-star and four-star lodging had left me with a distaste for hotels in general. A particularly pleasant experience with a three-star near Phoenix made me realize that, as usual, I was doing it wrong. There's a happy medium between the Holiday Inn and the Westin, filled with reasonably-priced mom-and-pop outfits and cute bed-and-breakfasts that are much more my speed. On this trip, the Monterey Bay Inn did not disappoint.
View Larger Map
Our "park view" room did indeed overlook a park, but a partial ocean view came along for free. We watched the sunset warm the ocean with fiery hues until our bellies began to rumble.
Lack of planning led to a hungry and hurried walk through the downtown streets, searching for a restaurant with a reasonable vegetarian menu. After a few false starts, we finally stumbled upon the Paradiso Trattoria. Its vegetarian entrees included something called "polenta tower." We decided to give it a try.
Wine was great. Food was great. Service was excellent. The bill was reasonable. Serendipity made poor planning seem like genius. We ate and talked for hours, then wandered back to the hotel, to soak in a hottub under the stars.
Win.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
0 comments:
Post a Comment