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Days 7-8 – Big Sur, 17 Mile Drive, Travel // Monterey 2024

Isaac Church — Sat, 17 Aug 2024 03:30:19 +0000

Today is our final full day in Monterey. Faith and I decided to take the morning to return to Big Sur and finish up exploring that area, and then return to Monterey after lunch to spend some time with the family.

Alta Bakery

As a final breakfast treat, I decided to return to Alta Bakery and get pastries for everyone. I picked up a croissant, a ham and cheese croissant, a cinnamon bloom, a raspberry pastry, and yet another cup of “light roast” coffee that wasn’t actually a light roast.

Alta Bakery

We all sampled some of each pastry, and supplemented our breakfast with eggs and some other healthier breakfast items.

Alta Bakery

Alta Bakery and Cafe

Monterey, CA

Excellent pastries and cafe menu. Pricey, but high quality.

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

Captain + Stoker

Faith, Walker, and I loaded up and headed again to Captain + Stoker for coffee before starting our adventures for the day. Faith got an iced latte, and I got two pour overs, Guatemalan and Costa Rican, for us to split (don’t judge me, I was really tired). It was just as excellent as our previous visits.

PCH

Faith, Walker, and I drove back down the PCH, retracing our steps from yesterday, but this time without being stuck in a car parade. Our first pullout was by Carmel Highlands, an exorbitantly-priced community popular with artists and celebrities. Celebrities such as Ansel Adams, John Denver, Edward Henry Weston, Jack London, Brad Pitt, Joan Fontaine, John Madden, Clint Eastwood, Betty White, and many more have lived there over the years. For the peasants, there is just a small pullout affording a narrow view of the bay below. If you want a better view, I guess you have to fork out $50M for a house, or something like that.

Carmel Highlands

Continuing south, we soon arrived at Garrapata State Park, where we pulled over for a view down the coastline towards the Bixby Bridge. Garrapata is Spanish for “tick”, but those pesky little creatures have apparently long been eradicated from this area.

Pacific Coast Highway - Big Sur

We pulled over a few times to take some pictures and take in the breathtaking view of the Pacific.

Hurricane Point Vista Point

Point Sur Lighthouse

Hurricane Point Vista Point

We made another semi-lengthy stop at Hurricane Point to hike around some; however, the wind was blowing so hard it forced us to get back in the car before long.

Big Sur Center

Before we knew it, it was time for lunch, so we started to assess our options. We stopped at Big Sur Station, the region’s visitor center, to grab a couple maps, and then made our first attempt at lunch, at the Restaurant at Big Sur River Inn. Their cafe didn’t have a great selection, and the restaurant was somewhat expensive with a long wait, so we decided to look for other options.

Driving south, we stopped at Cafe Kevah and Nepenthe, probably the most famous of all the Pacific Coast Highway restaurants. I took one glance at the menu and saw it was $32 for a grilled cheese, and immediately headed back to the car. The view was really nice, though. We briefly stuck our heads in the Phoenix Shop, a gift store below the restaurant, but were too hungry to spend much time there even though it was an intriguing establishment.

Finally, we settled on eating at Big Sur Taphouse, per the recommendation of our guidebook (once again, it paid off to have a paper copy of a guidebook with us!). This place was much more reasonably priced, and offered footlong burritos. Faith got barbacoa, and I got carnitas. The accompanying salsa was extremely spicy, but the burritos themselves were outstanding, and packed full of meat. The ambiance of the place was very interesting – it definitely had a unique wild-western feel.

Big Sur Center

Big Sur Taphouse

Finishing up our lunch, we decided to start gradually making our way back north.

Big Sur Taphouse

Big Sur, CA

The food was fantastic, and it was a really neat building. Also considerably cheaper than everything else around here.

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park

Per the recommendation of the attendant at Big Sur Station, we decided to visit Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park to find a hike. It was extremely hot on this southern stretch of coastline, so we decided to forego the longer hikes that go up into the hills of Big Sur, and instead take a shaded trail through the giant redwoods next to the Big Sur river. We took the River Path trailhead to the Redwood Deck, and then arrived at the Big Sur Lodge, a rustic hotel reminiscent of a National Park inn.

Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park

After perusing the inside of the Lodge’s gift shop and refilling our water bottles, we trekked back to the car and headed continued our drive. I now realize I never took a picture of the lodge, but it’s worth stopping by if you’re in the area.

Andrew Molera State Park

Pulling in to the parking area for Andrew Molera State Park, we debating doing the one mile hike down to the beach and its famous driftwood shelters. We decided it was simply too hot, especially for Faith and Walker, and we would find something else to do instead.

17 Mile Drive

Instead of going for a hike on the beach, we decided we’d find a different activity with two distinct advantages: 1) it was further north, where it was significantly cooler outside, and 2) it was a scenic drive that we could enjoy without further wear and tear on our already worn-out legs. So, we decided we’d pay the entrance fee and try the famous 17 Mile Drive around the Monterey Peninsula through Carmel, Pebble Beach, and several other ritzy oceanfront communities.

We made it through the entrance gate, and initially attempted to visit the gift shop at Pebble Beach Golf Links to get a memento, but because of the car show, you had to ride a shuttle (30 minutes each way) from a parking lot somewhere inland. Skipping the souvenirs, we instead began the well-marked drive around the peninsula, following a brochure the gate attendant gave us.

First, we saw some of the inland side of the front nine of Pebble Beach Golf Links.

Pebble Beach Golf Links

We quickly neared the ocean again, stopping at a few landmarks such as Spanish Bay Beach, “The Restless Sea”, Point Joe, China Rock, Bird Rock, Sea Rock, Fanshell Beach, and Cypress Point Lookout. I didn’t take pictures of every location, and mostly just tried to enjoy the leisurely drive and the scenery. It was easy to do, since it was the perfect temperature to have the windows down so we could feel the sea breeze.

Cypress Point

Pescadero Point

Cypress Point

Ghost Trees at Pescadero Point

Pescadero Point

After driving through Crocker Grove, we came to Pebble’s signature landmark and logo inspiration: The Lone Cypress. Then, we drove past the sun-bleached Ghost Trees at Pescadero Point.

The Lone Cypress

Continuing along the shoreline, we drove past more of the peninsula’s famous golf courses, including Monterey Peninsula Country Club’s Dunes Course, and The Links at Spanish Bay.

Monterey Peninsula Country Club

Fanshell Beach

Monterey Peninsula Country Club

The 14th hole of MPCC is especially picturesque, so we stopped by the tee box of the par 3 and enjoyed the view for a while

Monterey Peninsula Country Club

Winding back inland and uphill past Poppy Hills Golf Course, we finally emerged back on the main highway, and drove the rest of the way into Monterey.

Goodbye to Pinkertons

Back at the house, we joined the weekly Friday afternoon frisbee game at the park, and played for well over an hour. Afterwards, Faith and Anna fed the kids dinner while I started packing up our suitcases. We gave all the Pinkerton kids and Walker one last chance to say goodbye to each other, and then it was bedtime for everyone. Walker wasn’t quite old enough to know what was going on, but his cousins were very sad to bid him farewell.

Dos Victorias

William and I drove downtown to pick up dinner for the four of us from their favorite local Mexi-Cal joint, Dos Victorias Mexican Food. We ordered four California-style shrimp burritos; they didn’t actually have beans in them, but had rice, chipotle mayo, pico, slaw, and a few other toppings. It was exceptionally crowded in that part of town, but after some creative maneuvering around all the crazy traffic, we managed to secure the burritos and head back to the house.

Monterey, CA

The burritos were insanely good, and generously sized. Four burritos weighed almost five pounds. It was probably the best Mexican meal I’ve ever had, even though it was just a single burrito with no sides. The tortillas were also from the local torilleria, Rosa’s, like many of the other places we’d been.

Dos Victorias

Monterey, CA

Incredible shrimp burritos. They have truly perfected them. I’ll be thinking about this place for a long time.

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

After dinner, we ate a little bit of leftover ice cream and sat out on the patio visiting for a few hours. Finally, we finished packing up and got in bed right at midnight.

Travel Home

The next morning was a painfully early start; we rolled out of bed at 03:57. After feeding Walker a small breakfast, we left for the airpot at 04:45, after one small mishap when we realized we’d left Walker’s water bottle sitting on the kitchen counter and had to turn around.

We successfully checked in at the airport, and used their outdoor seating while waiting on our flight, which allowed Walker to move around some. We all slept most of the first flight, which took us back to Phoenix.

Monterey airport

Taking off from Monterey

In PHX, we found out our flight back to CLT was delayed by an hour, which thankfully gave us time to find some food. We chose our airport staple, Panda Express, and found an empty gate where we could sit down and eat, because apparently the Phoenix airport doesn’t believe in having tables.

PHX Airport

Panda Express

PHX Airport

I picked up a box of See’s Candies to take back to Mom and Dad, and then we boarded our flight back to NC, which went fairly smoothly. We were all ready to be done traveling at that point.

Our flight landed at 17:00; Mom and Dad picked us up at the airport. We picked up dinner from Chick-fil-A in Lincolnton, and took it back to Granite Falls to eat, along with a few of the chocolates from See’s. After letting Walker play for a while, we drove back up the mountain, arriving back in Boone right at 20:00.

See's Candies

Back in the NC mountains

We unpacked a little, headed straight to bed, and all slept straight through until 11:45 the next morning. I got up and picked up some Stick Boy pastries from Hatchet Coffee for breakfast, and we attempted to settle back into our normal routine after a summer full of travel and time zone changes.

The Best Things we Saw Today

Isaac

The best thing I saw today was… “17 Mile Drive and all the golf courses”.

The best thing I ate today was… “the shrimp burrito”.

Faith

The best thing I saw today was… “the giant redwoods”.

The best thing I ate today was… “the shrimp burrito”.

Conclusion

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Thanks for following our travels! Stay tuned for more trips in the future…currently, we don’t have anything planned for a while, but you never know what might pop up.

– Isaac, Faith, and Walker

Trip Reflection

This was a fantastic trip, even though it was ill-planned and very last minute. It is hard to pick favorites for most trips, but especially this one. If we had to pick just one activity highlight, I think it would be the whale-watching tour. For food, it would definitely be all the California-style Mexican food.

I don’t think we’ll get to visit the Pinkerton’s out in California again (they’re moving soon), so we’re extremely glad we made the trip while we could! It’s a beautiful area, and honestly one of my favorite places I’ve visited.

Pacific Coast Highway - Big Sur

The post Days 7-8 – Big Sur, 17 Mile Drive, Travel // Monterey 2024 appeared first on Isaac Church // isaactchurch.com.

Day 6 – Big Sur, Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park // Monterey 2024

Isaac Church — Fri, 16 Aug 2024 03:39:00 +0000

Today, we headed down on the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH, or Highway One) towards Big Sur and the cluster of state parks south of Monterey. William had to work, so it was the three of us, plus Anna and the Pinkerton kids.

Breakfast

First thing in the morning, I made a run to ACME Coffee Roasting in Seaside. This was a very strategic stop, because I got to conduct a triple food review! ACME also sells some baked goods from two Monterey businesses: Parker-Lusseau (French pastries) and Red’s Donuts. The coffee was very good, but roasted a little dark for my taste. If you like slightly darker roasts, you’ll probably love it; it was very good as far as that style goes. I got a pour over of their lightest roast, a Mexican that was on the darkest side of medium-roasted. Points deducted for spelling my name wrong…

ACME Coffee

Red's Donuts

Parker-Lusseau

The donuts were very good, although the maple was much better than the old-fashioned. I’ve yet to consume a better old-fashioned than Daylight Donuts. The ham and cheese croissant from Parker-Lusseau was outstanding.

Red's Donuts

Monterey, CA

Very good donuts with all the classics

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

Parker-Lusseau

Monterey, CA

This is a quintessential French patisserie, with excellent croissants. I regret I didn’t get too try more of their selection.

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park

Loading up the car (and the trailer-hitch cargo carrier) to the brim with five kids, three adults, several bags of picnic food, two strollers, and several backpacks, we started the drive south. Little did we know, the Pebble Beach Tour d’Elegance car parade was making its way down Highway One, and we were right in the middle of it. It was somewhat comical to see hundreds (maybe thousands) of people lined up on the side of the road taking photos of all the cars. We decided to just play along and wave to everyone as we drove by.

Finally clearing the persistent morning fog and the slow cruising traffic, we arrive at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, and after some confusion as to where the trailhead was, we started the short hike to the viewpoint.

Pacific Coast Highway

Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park

After emerging from the tunnel, we were greeted with an unbelievable view of the beach below, where a waterfall dropped straight onto the sand next to turquoise water.

Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park

Lunch

Back in the parking lot, we decided to go ahead and eat lunch, and had a picnic in the shade. It was a lot of fun, and it was a nice stopover after being in the car for a while.

Pfeiffer Beach

Leaving lunch and driving back north, we stopped at Pfeiffer Beach, a semi-private area that required driving an extremely steep, winding road to gain access. This beach is famous for Keyhole Rock and for having patches of purple sand, which were not particularly visible today. Speaking of sand, the wind was blowing so hard it was constantly pounding sand into your face/eyes, and stung terribly.

Pfeiffer Beach

Finding refuge from the wind in an alcove by the creek, the kids spend a while building dams and playing in the sand. It was a lot of fun, but a long drive home awaited us, so we decided to hit the road after a couple hours.

Pacific Coast Highway

Continuing north on the PCH, we saw some more beautiful views, including Point Sur Lighthouse, and and Naval Facility Point Sur, a decommissioned Cold War era listening station.

Pacific Coast Highway

Point Sur Lighthouse

Bixby Bridge

We arrived back at the famous Bixby Bridge, this time in full daylight with no fog. The dirt road that winds behind the bridge was open, so we pulled off and snapped a few photos.

Bixby Bridge

The bridge has an iconic arch structure, and was completed in 1932 at a cost of just $200,000.

Bixby Bridge

After fighting more traffic in Carmel, we finally made it back to Monterey, and immediately headed to the park for some more outdoor fun.

Chowder

As soon as William got home from work, he and I headed back to Old Fisherman’s Wharf to pick up a half-gallon of chowder for dinner. Anna had made homemade sourdough bread and a salad to accompany it. It was a wonderful dinner. The chowder was just as good as when Faith and I had it yesterday, and best of all, we didn’t have to split a single portion this time!

Sourdough bread

Old Fisherman's Grotto

Monterey, CA

The best clam chowder I’ve ever had.

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

Evening

After dinner, I took Walker on a stroll around the neighborhood, and then continued the walk myself for a while once he was in bed.

Neighborhood walk

After all the kids were in bed, we decided to break into the Revival ice cream, and split the two flavors: dark chocolate and Bee’s Knees (caramelized honey, beeswax and house-made “honeycomb” candy). Both were outstanding.

Revival Ice Cream

The Best Things we Saw Today

Isaac

The best thing I saw today was… “driving down the Pacific Coast Highway”.

The best thing I ate today was… “chowder with homemade sourdough”.

Faith

The best thing I saw today was… “Pfeiffer beach”.

The best thing I ate today was… “clam chowder and homemade bread”.

Conclusion

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Tomorrow, we’re headed back to Big Sur to continue exploring some spots we didn’t have time for today.

– Isaac, Faith, and Walker

The post Day 6 – Big Sur, Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park // Monterey 2024 appeared first on Isaac Church // isaactchurch.com.

Day 5 – Monterey Bay Whale Watching // Monterey 2024

Isaac Church — Thu, 15 Aug 2024 03:30:57 +0000

Today is a very exciting day, as we’re doing something unlike anything we’ve ever done before! Faith and I are headed on a whale-watching tour. We are leaving Walker at the house to play with his cousins, since the boat company doesn’t allow children under 3 (they actually don’t technically allow pregnant women either, but we talked them into it).

Breakfast

After feeding Walker breakfast, Faith and I headed to Captain + Stoker to grab some breakfast and coffee. Faith got a flat white, I got a pour over, and we got a couple pastries (vanilla cream filled bun and an orange-cinnamon morning bun) to split, plus a little something for later.

Captain + Stoker

The coffee was just as excellent as before, as were the pastries..

Captain + Stoker

Monterey, CA

Excellent coffee, pastries, and atmosphere. My only complaint is the shortage of seating.

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

Fisherman's Wharf

We arrived at the marina, only to find out that boarding had been delayed until 10:00 due to [rough seas, I think]. The guides advised us to go ahead and take two Meclizine (Dramamine) to get it active in our system to prevent seasickness, especially for Faith since she’s pregnant (we had cleared it with her midwife beforehand). To kill some time, Faith and I walked around the Old Fisherman’s Wharf, observed some of the Monterey Car Week exhibitions, and explored more of the waterfront area.

Fisherman's Wharf

There were an immense amount of sea lions, which were both extremely loud and smelly. We stopped in a public restroom on the wharf – it was definitely the loudest restroom I’ve ever been in, as there were hundreds of sea lions barking directly beneath me, below the pier!

Fisherman's Wharf

Crêpes-in-Waiting

Monterey Car Week

After walking past several lots full of cars that are each worth more than our house, we came across a French crêperie, and decided to stop in for a lemon-sugar crêpe as a snack.

Crêpes of Brittany

Monterey, CA

Great crêpes in a cozy little cafe. Very good service, and the owners were very nice. A great place to find refuge indoors on a chilly morning, accompanied by some hot breakfast.

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

After finishing off the delicious crêpe and filling up our waters, we strolled through more of the car show displays, and slowly made our way back to the boat docks.

Monterey Car Week

A Whale of a Time

Boarding the Sea Wolf II, we sailed out of the harbor and headed out towards open water. First, it’s worth talking about why Monterey is such a big whale-watching destination in the first place. The Monterey Canyon, a mile-deep submarine canyon, is just offshore, and provides ample depth for deep-water species of marine mammals and fish to come very close to the coastline and stay there for extended periods of time.

Monterey Canyon

You can read more on the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary’s website.

The ride out to the canyon was very rough on the choppy water. People were getting seasick left and right. I had never been out on the open ocean in a boat this small, but I gathered it’s not usually that bad. The crew offered lots of ginger chews, additional Meclizine, and reminded everyone to keep their eyes on the horizon line. Overall, they were very helpful and reassuring to those who got sick, although some people were clearly not suited for the voyage.

Soon, we got closer to the canyon – far enough out that we couldn’t see land in any direction, and the crew began to talk us through the aforementioned geography. They also reminded everyone of the spotting procedures; we were supposed to call out the location of any sightings using the “clock” system. Soon, we saw lots of birds hovering over the surface of the water, a sure sign there was a whale nearby.

Then, boom! Out of nowhere, a humpback breached out of the water, twice in a row. I was actually the first one to spot it, and called out, “two o’clock”. I managed to fire off a burst with my camera, but unfortunately my lens instantly fogged up when I took the cover off, so my photos are mostly blurry.

Monterey Bay Whale Watch

After a short lull, we saw two more humpbacks working together to corral their lunch. They put on quite the show for us, and would stay nearby for a while.

Monterey Bay Whale Watch

We ran across pod after pod of humpbacks, and some of them got extremely close to our boat. One of them actually went underneath our both, which literally took our breath away! It came so close I probably could’ve reached over the side and touched it as it went by.

Eventually, we got caught in “whale jail”. It’s illegal to run the boat motor when whales are within a certain distance, and we were surrounded by [I have no idea how many, but definitely more than 12] humpbacks at one point. We were at the mercy of the rolling ocean, and the boat was rocking side to side at a greater-than-45-degree angle. This triggered another round of seasickness for some people, but Faith and I had crested the proverbial hill and our inner ears were in great shape by this point. At the end of this post, there’s a video I took towards the end when the boat stabilized and I was finally able to get my phone out without hanging onto the railing for dear life.

Monterey Bay Whale Watch

After breaking out of whale jail, I looked down and noticed some friendly creatures bumping our boat and playing with each other. Our guide told us these were Dall’s porpoises, a lightning-fast marine mammal that can dive over 1,600′ deep and swim at over 36 MPH.

At one point, we saw a blue whale surface very briefly, but I was not able to get a picture of it. We saw lots of other creatures either briefly or from a distance, including a couple other types of whales. Up close, we saw lots of seals, sea lions, and sea otters.

Monterey Bay Whale Watch

Doll's Porpoise

Here’s the official/final list of marine wildlife spotting from the boat company:

17 humpback whales (tail throwing, lunge-feeding)
1 blue whale
5 fin whales
1 minke whale
4 Pacific white-sided dolphins
7 Dall’s porpoises

Land, Ho!

The ride back in towards the shore was much smoother. The Meclizine was really kicking in now, so the gentle rocking of the boat almost lulled us to sleep. We were both thankful for the anti-nausea medicine, otherwise I don’t think we’d have enjoyed the trip at all. We arrived back in the Monterey harbor, greeted by the of US Coast Guard station, docks, fishing piers, and the barking of the sea lions.

Monterey Bay

I don’t give star ratings to activities (just food), but I would recommend this as a must-do experience in Monterey, or in California/on the west coast, for that matter.

Snacks, House, Snacks, House

Quite famished from the deep-sea excursion, we decided to get a bowl of the famous clam chowder from Old Fisherman’s Grotto. It was delicious – definitely the best chowder I’ve ever had. When we ordered, the cashier headed back into the kitchen and brought out a guy who was definitely my doppelgänger, short red beard and all. I should’ve taken a selfie with him. Also pictured below is the final spinach and Gruyère pastry from Captain + Stoker that we ate as a snack on the boat. It was also delicious.

Sitting on a bench, we simultaneously enjoyed our chowder and a view of the harbor, and then headed back to the house for the afternoon.

Old Fisherman's Grotto

Monterey, CA

The best clam chowder I’ve ever had.

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

I was struggling immensely to stay awake, and was still pretty hungry, so I decided to run back out for another snack and some caffeine. First, I stopped at Captain + Stoker (again), this time to get a kouing amann (French butter cake pronounced “koon-ya-mahn”) and a Guatemalan pour over. Then, I headed to downtown and got a cardamom morning bun from Ad Astra Bread Co., and a small sample cup of fantastic olive oil ice cream from Revival Ice Cream. The morning bun was fine, but a bit dry and definitely overpriced, while the ice cream was excellent. Best of all, there was no line, and I got a couple pints (bees knees and dark chocolate) to-go for later this week.

Captain + Stoker

Revival Ice Cream

Ad Astra Bred Co.

Revival ice Cream

Monterey, CA

Though expensive, this is excellent ice cream. You need to get the olive oil!

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

Back at the house, I chugged my coffee down in hopes that it would wake me up. Instead, I think the caffeine acted as an accelerant for the Meclizine, because I fell asleep (completely zonked) almost immediately on the couch, and didn’t remember anything until William woke me up a few hours later.

Dinner

After a short trip back to the neighborhood park, we regrouped for dinner back at the house – this time having Asian shrimp stir-fry.

Asian stiry-fry

Lamborghini

I headed back out to fill up the car with petrol at a very tight-squeeze station, made a brief stop to take photos of the sunset and another high-dollar sports car at Del Monte Beach, and then returned back to the house.

Del Monte Beach

We all headed to bed early, exhausted from a long day. All our appendices were very sore from stabilizing ourselves on the boat!

Video

Here’s a short video from today’s adventures.

The Best Things we Saw Today

Isaac

The best thing I saw today was… “the whales lunge feeding”.

The best thing I ate today was… “the clam chowder, and all the pastries”.

Faith

The best thing I saw today was… “the whale going under our boat”.

The best thing I ate today was… “clam chowder”.

Conclusion

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Tomorrow, we’re headed south on the Pacific Coast Highway.

– Isaac, Faith, and Walker

Monterey Bay Whale Watch

The post Day 5 – Monterey Bay Whale Watching // Monterey 2024 appeared first on Isaac Church // isaactchurch.com.

Day 4 – Aquarium, Asilomar Beach // Monterey 2024

Isaac Church — Wed, 14 Aug 2024 03:30:46 +0000

Today is our fourth full day out in California. We spent the day exploring Monterey’s waterfront.

Morning

It was another early morning, at least by the west coast’s time zone. We woke up at 06:30 and spent the morning at the house. I made a few cappuccinos to go around, we partook of some bagels, and then began to formulate a plan for the day. We had planned to all use the Pinkerton’s aquarium passes, but Anna had left her ID in William’s truck, and thus wasn’t sure if we’d still be granted admission without it. Finally, we worked out a plan to use her passport instead, and started to make our way down to the waterfront, arriving just after the aquarium opened at 10:00.

Cappuccino

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Rather than paying for parking in Monterey, we parked down the road within the city limits of Pacific Grove, where street parking was free. We walked the Monterey Bay Coastal Trail back to the aquarium, enjoying beautiful ocean views along the way.

Pacific Grove

Arriving at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, we passed through security and bag check, and began to explore the exhibits. The Aquarium is very unique; most of the building was an old sardine cannery, and building is right on the water, providing space for “live” exhibits. This area of Monterey is known as Cannery Row, of John Steinbeck fame. The street was formerly named Ocean View Avenue, but was renamed after Steinbeck’s book popularized the name paying homage to the sardine packing plants that once lined the street.

Monterey Bay Aquarium

The aquarium’s exhibits were spectacular; enjoy a few photos I took.

Monterey Bay Aquarium

A small section on the lower level of the Aquarium is dedicated to the old canneries.

Monterey Bay Aquarium

We walked around until 12:30, when we started to get pretty hungry and decided to take a lunch break.

Sea harvest // Cannery Row

The Pinkerton’s packed their lunches, while Faith and I decided we’d walk somewhere for lunch. Most of the restaurants on Cannery Row were extremely expensive, so we opted to walk several blocks away from the busiest area in an effort to find a better deal.

Cannery Row

That turned out to be a good decision; we soon arrived at Sea Harvest Fish Market & Restaurant, a fresh fish market offering a small lunch menu served on paper plates.

Sea Harvest Fish Market & Restaurant

Succulents

Sea Harvest Fish Market & Restaurant

We ordered a seafood combo plate (with cod, shrimp, and calamari) and a grilled rockfish sandwich with fries, complete with tartar and cocktail sauce. The food was outstanding, and extremely fresh. I’d never tried rockfish before, but I thought it was delicious. Faith and Walker had never had calamari, and they both loved it! It was the perfect amount of food, and was very well-prepared.

Sea Harvest Fish Market & Restaurant

Sea Harvest Fish Market & Grill

Monterey, CA

Fresh-from-the-boat seafood, excellent lunch specials, and an old-school atmosphere make this the “total package” for a seafood joint.

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

Aquarium

We walked the Monterey Coastal Path back to the aquarium, gained reentry by scanning our invisible ink hand stand stamps with their UV light, rendezvoused with the Pinkertons, and resumed our tour of the museum. We started with a tank full of sardines, followed by some bioluminescent deep sea creatures.

Monterey Bay Aquarium

We visited the kids splash zone, where you could touch all varieties of sea creatures, and finished at the penguins, a favorite of all the kids.

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Monterey Bay

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Leaving Cannery Row, we walked along the shoreline back to the car, loaded up, and headed back to the house.

Pacific Grove

Afternoon

I decided to make a coffee run for Anna, Faith, and me while the kids had their quiet time and naps. I headed to Captain + Stoker (named after the two positions on a tandem bicycle), a cafe just a short drive from their neighborhood on the outskirts of downtown.

Captain + Stoker

Anna got a Japanese flash brew (iced coffee), Faith got an iced Americano, and I got a pour over of an excellent Costa Rican coffee. While Faith worked and read some, I took Walker on a stroll around the neighborhood, stopping at multiple parks to try out all the swings.

Captain + Stoker

Monterey, CA

Excellent coffee, pastries, and atmosphere. My only complaint is the shortage of seating.

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

Dinner

Soon, it was time for dinner, so we all made our way from the park back to the house. Anna had made a delicious California-style Mexican feast, complete with homemade Rosa tortillas (from a local tortilleria), chicken marinated at the local Sante Fe Mexican grocery, cheese, refried beans, red rice, chips, sour cream, and elote. It was incredibly delicious, and a real treat to finally have great Mexican food, unlike most of what you get on the east coast. We cleaned up from supper, and then decided to go on a bit of a spontaneous outing.

Mexican for dinner

Asilomar Beach

At the suggestion of William and Anna, Faith and I got Walker in bed, and then headed to Asilomar State Beach to watch the sunset. We arrived just in time, as the sun was just about to dip below the horizon. The beach sits next to the iconic Links at Spanish Bay, and you could see much of the golf course from the public beach.

Asilomar State Beach

It was incredibly beautiful, and especially nice because we didn’t really get to enjoy any Pacific sunsets on our trip to Washington earlier this year except for one on our belated ferry ride.

Asilomar State Beach

The sun finally dipped beneath below the crest of the Pacific, but its glow persisted for much longer.

Asilomar State Beach

We stayed on the beach for a while, even though the stiff ocean breeze had us shivering. It didn’t help matters that I stepped in a tidal pool. But, in my defense, the water was so clear it was difficult to see in the twilight!

Asilomar State Beach

Finally, we decided to head back to the car, since our hands and foot were starting to get numb.

Wet shoe

Ocean View Boulevard

We drove along the shoreline back toward Pacific Grove, enjoying the last of the gloaming over the Pacific. We drove past Pacific Grove Golf Links and Point Pinos Lighthouse, and then began to see the light’s of Monterey’s Fisherman’s Wharf.

Pacific Grove Golf Links

Ocean View Boulevard

Point Pinos Lighthouse

Ocean View Boulevard

No Ice Cream

On our way home, we decided to make a quick pit stop in old town Monterey to pick up some ice cream from Revival, a well-regarded local establishment. Unfortunately, we weren’t the only people with that idea, as the line was out the door and down the street. So, we headed back to the house for the night, deciding to postpone our ice cream tasting.

Downtown Monterey

Revival Ice Cream

Wrapping Up

Back at the house, we visited with the Pinkertons some more, and started to make plans for tomorrow and the rest of the week. Finally, we headed off to bed, ready for another fun day.

Video

Here’s a short video from today’s adventures.

The Best Things we Saw Today

Isaac

The best thing I saw today was… “the sunset at Asilomar Beach”.

The best thing I ate today was… “Mexi-Cali for dinner and the rockfish sandwich”.

Faith

The best thing I saw today was… “the sun setting over the Pacific”.

The best thing I ate today was… “calamari and Mexican for dinner”.

Conclusion

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Tomorrow, we’re taking a special boat tour!

– Isaac, Faith, and Walker

Asilomar State Beach

The post Day 4 – Aquarium, Asilomar Beach // Monterey 2024 appeared first on Isaac Church // isaactchurch.com.

Day 3 – Pinnacles National Park // Monterey 2024

Isaac Church — Tue, 13 Aug 2024 03:00:00 +0000

This morning, we woke up early, and Faith, Walker, and I left the house shortly after 06:00 to drive to Pinnacles National Park. We started driving north on the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH), and then veered inland just after Marina.

Monterey, CA

Fort Ord Dunes State Park

Prunedale

Our first stop was in Prunedale, CA at Gourmet Central Bake House. This bakery specializes in gourmet croissants, and also croissant roulettes, which are basically giant wheels of croissant dough filled with flavored pastry cream. We got strawberry and lemon meringue croissant roulettes, a chocolate chip “cannoli” danish, and an apple danish.

Prunedale, CA

Gourmet Central Bake House

The pastries were fantastic, and [unbelievably] much bigger than they look in the pictures. We saved most of them to take back to the Pinkertons to share, but also snacked on some of them throughout the day.

Gourmet Central Bake House

Prunedale, CA

Amazing laminated pastries that are tasty to eat and beautiful to look at.

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

We continued driving through the morning fog, and it finally began to lift as we neared the city of San Juan Bautista.

Prunedale, CA

San Juan Bautista, CA

San Juan Bautista

In San Juan Bautista, we stopped in Vertigo Coffee, hoping to try some of their highly-spoken-of beans. Unfortunately, their drip/pour over setup was out of order, so I had to settle for a cappuccino, which was very good. They also had excellent, fast customer service.

Vertigo Coffee

We drove south through the Central Valley, at first seeing many patches of fog, but it eventually cleared up and we could see the gorgeous rolling hills and mountainsides that lined the road.

California Central Valley

Pinnacles National Park

Soon, we arrived at Pinnacles National Park, paid the day use entrance fee, and began to drive Pinnacles Parkway west into the center of the park. We’d intentionally arrived early to beat the heat, as it regularly reaches over 110°F after noon during the summers. In the mornings, it is still very pleasant and bearable, aside from the beating sun.

Pinnacles National Park

Before I get any further, here are some facts about the park:

By the numbers:

Became a national park in 2013, and the 9th in California
First set aside as part of Pinnacles Forest Reserve in 1906
Elevation ranges from 824′ to 3,304′ (North Chalone Peak)
Has one of the largest annual temperature swings of any park – the mean high is ~106°F (July through October), and the mean low is ~22°F (December through February)
5 major habitat types: chaparral, woodlands, riparian, grasslands, and rock/scree
13 indigenous sites, the oldest of which is over 2,000 years old
The park has 2 entrances (east and west) with roads that almost connect

Fun facts:

Formerly referred to as the “Palisades”
The park is prime habitat for prairie falcons and California condors.
Geology originated via activity from the Neenach Volcano near Lancaster, CA
The park sits on the San Andreas Fault. Scientists believe the fault has actually moved the park 195 miles over time.
Wildlife in the park includes black-tailed deer, bobcat, gray fox, raccoon, jackrabbit, brush rabbit, ground squirrel, chipmunk, and several species of bats. Less commonly, there are badgers, coyotes, a wide variety of rodents, and mountain lions.
There’s a “pig fence” that runs through the park, meant to prevent feral pigs from entering.
Used to be home to tule elk, grizzlies, and black bears

After passing a flock of wild turkeys, we parked at Bear Gulch Nature Center, polished off the remainder of the strawberry croissant roulette, and headed for the trailheads.

Pinnacles National Park

hiking

After consulting the park ranger, we decided to do a loop hike, consisting of the High Peaks, Moses Spring, and Bear Gulch Cave trails. The trail first climbs up the “high peaks” section, with stunning views of the park’s namesake rock spires, distant mountains, riparian zones, and boulders.

Pinnacles National Park

Ascending a fairly steep section of switchbacks, the trail arrived at Bear Gulch Reservoir, a lake created by a small stone dam/footbridge. We stayed at the lake for a while to rest and hydrate, and then continued on the loop.

Bear Gulch Reservoir

From the Reservoir, you have the option to take the trail through the Bear Gulch Cave. We were fortunate that it was completely open, as it often is closed due to occupation by one of the park’s many endangered bat species, or because of semi-seasonal flooding.

We descended the steep rock stairs to the entrance of the cave trail, but quickly realize it was too tight of a squeeze for us with Walker in the backpack carrier.

Bear Gulch Cave

Pinnacles National Park

Bear Gulch Cave

Instead, we took the upper Moses Spring trail (after a slight mishap where I squeezed between the wrong rocks, thinking it was the trail, and then had to quickly back out before I got myself into a “tight spot”) back down Bear Gulch, passing Moses Spring and the oasis-like riparian zone that the water feeds.

The trail goes through some cool rock tunnels, and then through some trees that were actually already showing their fall colors.

Pinnacles National Park

Peaks View

Back at the car, we drove out of Bear Gulch, and headed to Peaks View, a roadside pullout with a clear view of more of the parks famous rock spires. The park is famous for its birds of prey, particularly the once-almost-extinct California condor and prairie falcons. The condors are particularly amazing birds. As adults, they stand up to 5′ tall and have a 9-10′ wingspan; they are the largest bird in North America.

While at Peaks View, we saw both a prairie falcon and a condor soar above us – it was very easy to tell because of their distinct wing shape, and the size of the condor. We are fairly certain it was a juvenile condor, because it didn’t quite seem full grown, and didn’t yet have the trademark colorful head of adults. Unfortunately, we didn’t get any pictures because they moved so fast.

If you go on this NPS webpage, you can actually read profiles about every condor in the park. This webpage has facts about condors, and this page has info about the effort to avoid extinction.

Pinnacles National Park

Before we left, we swung in the lower visitor center parking lot to feed Walker a snack and browse the camp store and gift shop.

Bear Gulch Nature Center

Pinnacles National Park

Hollister

Leaving the park around 10:30, we drove back towards Hollister, passing a giant horse-racing venue, the county fairgrounds, a reservoir, and lots of farmland.

Central Valley, CA

Back in Hollister, we pulled over into a Target parking lot so we could make a lunch plan. Walker had been taking his second nap of the day on our drive NW out of the park, but had just woken up as we pulled into town. So, we decided to go ahead and eat lunch, since he was clearly quite hungry.

Acting on the recommendations of Google and my guidebook, we decided to try Super Taqueria, a very popular local joint that was clearly somewhat of a hole-in-the-wall. It’s always a good sign when there are people from every possible walk of life waiting in line, and we were certainly not disappointed with the food. Faith got an asada (grilled lime-marinated steak) quesadilla with an order of their homemade chips, while I got a cabeza (braised beef cheek) burrito. By the time we left, the lunch rush had really started, and the line was unbelievable.

Super Taqueria

The food was amazing, particularly the asada in Faith’s quesadilla. I think this trip is going to ruin east coast Mexican food for us.

Super Taqueria

Hollister, CA

Definitely don’t judge this book by its cover; the food is amazing. But, beware – la salsa es muy picante.

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

Just down the street from the Taqueria, we ordered two tuxedo Dutch Freezes (dark and white chocolate) from the walk-up window at Dutch Bros. They were fantastic as always, and very refreshing after a long, dry hike.

Dutch Bros.

P.S.: I’m not posting another rating for Dutch Bros., but I never miss an opportunity to visit one.

On our way out of town, we stopped for gas at a local station, but I had a ton of trouble with their pumps. The first nozzle I tried leaked. Then, the second pump I used would not take card payments. Finally, after waiting on two vehicles to finish at the third pump, I successfully filled up the tank. Even though it took a while, it was $1.20 cheaper per gallon than gas in Monterey, so it was worth the extra time.

Monterey

On our way back into Monterey, we got a much clearer, fogless view of the beach and the dunes. Around 14:00, after battling some traffic congestion, we arrived back at the house. While Walker took his third nap of the day (I guess “hiking” really wears him out), I took a walk around the neighborhood, and Faith and Anna played a game.

Seaside, CA

Dinner // Park

Once Walker woke up, I took him to the neighborhood park to play on the swings and in the grass. The kids all spent time running around the yard; meanwhile, I started cooking dinner for everyone. I made gnocchi with sun-dried tomatoes, pancetta, parmesan, and fresh herbs; and Caesar Brussels sprouts salad. Anna had made homemade focaccia and tomato soup. We enjoyed our excellent dinner (not pictured), and then the kids all played outside again until bedtime.

Monterey, CA

Sunset // Bed

Faith and Anna went down to the Monterey Bay waterfront to watch the sunset. When they got back, the four adults polished off the rest of the pastries for dessert, and then we all headed to bed around 22:00.

Sunset

The Best Things we Saw Today

Isaac

The best thing I saw today was… “the view from High Peaks Trail”.

The best thing I ate today was… “everything was equally excellent, and I’m not sure I can choose…but I guess the Mexican food”.

Faith

The best thing I saw today was… “the hikes at Pinnacles (especially trying to get into the cave), and my walk with Anna”.

The best thing I ate today was… “Dutch Bros.”.

Conclusion

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Tomorrow, we’re taking all the kids to the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

– Isaac, Faith, and Walker

The post Day 3 – Pinnacles National Park // Monterey 2024 appeared first on Isaac Church // isaactchurch.com.

Day 2 – Point Lobos, Cypress Grove // Monterey 2024

Isaac Church — Mon, 12 Aug 2024 03:00:20 +0000

Today was our our first full day in Monterey. For Walker’s sake, we’re attempting to stay [roughly] on EST for the duration of the trip. We planned on today being a slower day, with church in the morning and an activity TBD in the afternoon.

Polite Awakening

Around 04:45 this morning, I heard some stirring in our room. I rolled over, checked the time, and decided I’d sleep a little more. A few minutes later, I hear “Da-Da?”. Someone realized I was awake, and sleeping in his room for some reason. A few more minutes passed, and then we hear a much more adamant, “DA-DA!”. Eastern time, indeed.

Tiptoeing downstairs, we fixed ourselves some cereals and tried to keep a very excited Walker somewhat quiet while exploring all the “new” toys. Soon enough, everyone else joined us for “Sunday cereal”.

Coffee // Church // Potluck

Before our trip, we’d already made plans to visit the Pinkertons’ church up in Seaside. They headed out a little early because they were teaching Sunday School; meanwhile, Faith and I drove to Café Mia Brew Bar & Bistro in Marina to get a cup of coffee before the service started. After a very nice service, we joined the congregation for their weekly potluck, and got to meet some of the Pinkertons’ friends.

Church potluck

Seaside, CA

After church, we swung in Target to pick up a few supplies, and then drove back along the coastline to Monterey.

Trader Joe's // Alta

Back at the house, the kids had their quiet time. I ran out to Trader Joe’s to get some groceries (I’d volunteered to help cook this week). Unfortunately, as soon as I got in the store, they announced their point-of-sale system was having issues, and it would be a while before people could check out with credit card transactions.

Naturally, I decided I’d walk down the street to a bakery. Alta Bakery and Cafe was sold out of their breakfast pastries, but they did have a few tasty things remaining. I got a tomato-plum tartine, and two gougères (a cheesy choux pastry) to go. They also gave me a free cup of drip coffee, since it was close to closing time.

Alta Bakery

Alta Bakery and Cafe

Monterey, CA

Excellent pastries and cafe menu. Pricey, but high quality.

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

Back at Trader Joe’s, I was able to successfully complete my shopping run, and then drove back to the house.

Point Lobos State Natural Reserve

Loading up two cars, we all drove south to Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, the “crown jewel of the California State Park System”. This peninsula has fascinated many “big names” of history, including photographers Ansel Adams and Edward Weston, architect Frederick Law Olmsted, and a variety of filmmakers. The area was also the inspiration for the book Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson.

On the north side of the park, we parked our cars next to Whalers Cove, finished off the tomato-plum tartine, and began our hike around the peninsula.

Point Lobos State Natural Reserve

Seagull

Point Lobos State Natural Reserve

"...the greatest meeting of land and water in the world."

Francis McComas, Landscape Painter

From the North Shore Trail, we could see Pebble Beach Golf Links across the Carmel Bay. We also began to see lots of wildlife (particularly birds), including a blue heron, cormorants, pelicans, and an eagle.

Pebble Beach

Point Lobos State Natural Reserve

Pebble Beach

Point Lobos State Natural Reserve

Blue Heron

The trail continued wrapping around the north side of the peninsula, passing Bluefish Cove. Soon, we turned south near the East Grove, and began to see sea otters out in the water. If you look closely in the third picture below, you can see the Carmelite Monastery in the distance.

Point Lobos State Natural Reserve

Sea otters

Point Lobos State Natural Reserve

By Cypress Cove, there’s an interesting section where the trail actually goes over a natural bridge on top of a tidal cave. It’s hard to see from the two pictures below, but the water is actually coming in from underneath me at my 6 o’clock, opposite the large rock pile in the photo.

Point Lobos State Natural Reserve

We continued towards the farthest outcrop of the peninsula to the area known as Cypress Grove, one of two existing areas where you can find Monterey Cypress trees. Further south, we could see the coastal mountain of Big Sur, and had another clear view of Pebble Beach to the north.

Point Lobos State Natural Reserve

Pebble Beach

Past Headland Cove, we looked out across Devil’s Cauldron to Sea Lion Rocks, which were covered with the lovable, vocal marine mammals. Somewhere along the way, we also saw a few harbor seals, which are differentiated by their internal ears and shinier coats.

Point Lobos State Natural Reserve

We hiked the loop around the Allan Memorial Grove, through the heart of the cypress forest.

Point Lobos State Natural Reserve

At some point, we realized we didn’t have enough time to hike back to our cars and make it out of the gate by the mandatory 19:00 cutoff. William and I decided to run back to our cars, which were just under two miles away if we cut inland and didn’t wind around the coast. We drove back to pick up everyone else at the southern parking lot, and made it out before they closed the gates.

late Dinner

Back at the house, we fed the kids leftovers for dinner, and then we cooked a separate late dinner for the four of us. Anna broiled chicken thighs and made a salad; meanwhile I made gnocchi with fresh herbs from their garden.

Chicken thighs and gnocchi

Salad

We headed off to bed, tired but ready for another big day tomorrow.

Video

Here’s a short video from today’s adventures.

The Best Things we Saw Today

Isaac

The best thing I saw today was… “Point Lobos”.

The best thing I ate today was… “the tomato-plum tartine from Alta and Italian pasta salad at the potluck”.

Faith

The best thing I saw today was… “Point Lobos (especially Mary showing off her Arabic counting skills)”.

The best thing I ate today was… “food at the potluck”.

Conclusion

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Tomorrow, Faith, Walker, and I are branching off and headed inland to Pinnacles National Park.

– Isaac, Faith, and Walker

The post Day 2 – Point Lobos, Cypress Grove // Monterey 2024 appeared first on Isaac Church // isaactchurch.com.

Intro, Day 1 // Monterey 2024

Isaac Church — Sun, 11 Aug 2024 03:00:13 +0000

Here we are again! Just a few weeks after our trip to the Pacific Northwest, we (Faith, Walker, and I) are heading back out to the west coast, this time to visit Faith’s sister Anna and her family (husband William // children Mary, Madeleine, James, and Ransom). Last fall, we visited them in Havre de Grace, MD, but they recently moved to Monterey, CA. They’ll soon be moving overseas, so we wanted to take the opportunity to see them one last time before then.

This was definitely a very last-minute trip – probably the closest to departure that I’ve ever booked flights. Thankfully, I had some airline miles and credit card points to use, so we didn’t have to pay anything for the flights (which would have been very expensive last-minute!), and were able to fly into Monterey instead of one of the larger international airports.

BNE

Saturday morning, we left Boone around 08:00, stopping briefly at Bald Guy Brew in Blowing Rock to grab some drinks, since I’d used up all our coffee at the house. Faith got an iced Americano, and I got a pourover of their Ethiopian Gigesa Natural. We also tried one of the seasonal specials, a iced cubano shot – this is made by putting a layer of turbinado sugar on top of the espresso puck, pulling a shot through it, and then mixing with a small amount of milk, cinnamon, and ice. It was delicious as always!

Bald Guy Brew Coffee Roasting Co.

Boone/Blowing Rock, NC

I guess I don’t do a lot of local food ratings for the High Country, but I figured it’s about time I threw some in the mix…

Bald Guy is the standard by which I judge all other coffee shops. Don Cox (the bald guy), is a master coffee roaster who pioneered fair trade/organic/etc. before it was even the “cool” thing to do. They specialize in medium-roast single-origin coffees, and only buy the highest possible quality beans.

This is not a shop for sugary drink-lovers, but if you like quality black coffee and enjoy medium roasts, you won’t find a better spot.

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

We made a pit stop in Granite Falls to eat a cheese omelette (courtesy of Mom), and then Mom and Dad drove us to the airport in Charlotte.

CLT

Once we got through TSA and to our gate, I went to fetch us some lunch from Wow Bao, a Chinese restaurant in the airport. We got two bao buns (sweet steamed buns filled with spiced meat and vegetables), citrus chicken over white rice, and a few ginger chicken potstickers.

Wow Bao

The food was very good, and fairly reasonably priced for airport food. The airport was pretty chaotic because a lot of flights had been rerouted there due to weather; there was a surprising amount of University of Michigan fans around because of the diversions. I made sure to let them know I was an App State fan any chance I got.

PHX

The flight was long, but very smooth – Faith and Walker napped some, while I watched part of a WWI movie and the Olympic men’s basketball championship game.

We had a layover in Phoenix, an airport (also city/state) we’d never visited before. I was surprised by how many mountains there are around the airport. I was not surprised by the heat (depending on the source, it was somewhere between 106-111°F outside). PHX is a large airport, but didn’t seem overly crowded. It was an almost 20 minute walk to our gate, but we made it with no issues.

PHX Airport

In the airport, we got food from La Madeleine Country French Café, which was a shockingly good meal, even by non-airport standards. We got a hot sandwich with turkey and sun-dried tomato pesto, a chicken Caesar salad, and salt & vinegar chips.

La Madeleine Country French Café

PHX Airport

Here’s a first: a restaurant in an airport earning a star. A great place to get a hot sandwich while your plane’s tires are melting on the runway.

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

PHX Airport

MRY

We had one more short flight (about an hour and a half) into Monterey. Walker also slept on this flight, which was a huge blessing. It turned out to be impeccable timing for scenic views; we flew in during golden hour, as the sun illuminated the Central Valley, the Carmel Highlands, and the coastline.

Flying into Monterey, CA

The view from the plane was spectacular, and phone camera pictures simply can’t do it justice.

Flying into Monterey, CA

We both thought we were either going to hit the mountains or the ocean as we descended, but we dropped into the local airport without a problem. It’s a tiny airport, with just ~4 gates. We deplaned directly onto the tarmac via a ramp, and then quickly passed through the airport and out to the arrivals pickup area. The Pinkertons picked us up shortly thereafter, and then had a short drive back to their house.

MRY Airport

Welcome

The cousins were all very excited to see Walker (and us, I guess). We visited for a while, fed Walker some spaghetti, and put him down for bed. After all the kids were in bed, we visited with William and Anna and ate some ice cream (black raspberry chip and mint chocolate chip) before heading off to bed ourselves.

Monterey, CA

The Best Things we Saw Today

Isaac

The best thing I saw today was… “the view flying into Monterey”.

The best thing I ate today was… “the sandwich at the Phoenix airport and black raspberry chip ice cream”.

Faith

The best thing I saw today was… “the landing in Monterey”.

The best thing I ate today was… “spaghetti at the Pinkertons”.

Conclusion

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Tomorrow, we’ll mostly stay around Monterey.

– Isaac, Faith, and Walker

The post Intro, Day 1 // Monterey 2024 appeared first on Isaac Church // isaactchurch.com.