Monterey - The Fun Stuff

Well, I'm back from Monterey, greeted by piles of mail, a Murder Mystery to perform, well over a 1000 entries in Bloglines and a lot of laundry to do.

But it was totally worth it.

The conference was a smashing success (an entry on the conference itself to follow), Monterey was lovely, Carrie and I had a great time, and we made it home in one piece!

By far, highlights of the trip were renting a car and setting out to see the 17 Mile Drive, Carmel, Cannery Row, as well as walking down to Fisherman's Wharf each night from our hotel.

Also, eating much seafood and lots of shopping. ;-)

You can see all 105 photos I took in Monterey right here, but here are a few of my favorites...

Sunday morning, we hopped in our trusty rental car and drove the winding road towards 17 Mile Drive, with stops at Lover's Point Park and along the highway to take lots of photos.

It was foggy and cool, which somehow made the coast even more interesting and mysterious. We paid our fee to get into the 17 Mile Drive area, where we purred along, snapping photos and cooing at the waves.

We also took a side trip to Pebble Beach Golf Course so I could make my golfing family jealous. ;-)

After oohing and aahing our way through the coast line, the cypress trees and the enormous houses, we headed for Carmel to have a walk around.

Carmel was quaint and cute, and reminded me very much of Nashville, Indiana.

After Carmel, we drove down to the Cannery Row area, and spent a leisurely afternoon walking down the coast, popping into shops, eating lunch, getting our palms read and picking up tacky gifts for friends and family.

Our last stop before returning our car was to the butterfly refuge...every year, thousands and thousands of monarch butterflies return to the same grove of trees to wait out the winter. It was amazing to see thousands of butterflies in the branches of these tall trees, just waiting.

Before we knew it, the day was almost over, and we had to get ready for the conference beginning the next morning!






It was so nice to finish up conferencing for the day and still have a chance to walk down toFisherman's Wharf for dinner, or to take a walk out to where all the seals seem to gather.

One evening, there was even a farmer's market right outside the hotel...it was so fun to grab some dinner, drool over the fresh produce, buy some prezzies and just mill around with the crowds.

It was the first time either Carrie or I had been to California, and what a lot we saw. Monterey really is a beautiful corner of the world.

An amazing, amazing trip...