Steinbeck Country

We've settled in Monterey for tonight. It's been a long day of driving, particularly for E. She's just about had it with being strapped into her carseat so she was fussing through most of today's ride.

We drove the Big Sur coastline today. It was very foggy, we could actually see the fog rolling in over the land - it looked very romantic and conjured up images of the scenery described in Wuthering Heights. Or more accurately, I see where John Steinbeck's East of Eden and Cannery Row are set.

The fog lowered visibility to around 200-300 metres at some points. It was also a very curvy road, which wasn't so good for my stomach! The great thing about driving was that we could stop whenever and wherever we wanted so we chanced upon some treasures...

Elephant seals lounging on the beach. J was very excited to see them. Having never heard of elephant seals before, he asked why they were called that. After all, he noted, they did not have any trunks.


Lucia Lodge restaurant for lunch - the food was so good, which was such a pleasant surprise. We hadn't planned to stop there, but we just happened to be there around lunch time. Here's the view from the patio where we ate. The fog's hiding the view of the sea.


Our last stop before Monterey was at a beach just before Carmel-by-the-Sea. J was shrieking with delight because K would carry him up to the waves and run back just before they got wet. "Again, again, Dad!" E, on the other hand, was not amused. She was curious about the sand, but didn't want to get down.


Then to Monterey at last. We chanced upon their Farmers' Market, where we tasted the sweetest cherry tomatoes ever! So so good. We saw all sorts of fresh produce (looked so good we wished we were home so that we could buy all those beautiful salad veggies), cooked food (sushi, barbeque, Indian food!), cashmere scarves, pearls and all kinds of semi-precious stones.


And after a simple dinner of sushi and unagi rice (E's favourite!), we walked to Fisherman's Wharf.

The kids were looking out so intently over the water because they were trying to spot the harbour seals in the water. There were so many of them, they were making such a racket with their calls. J, mimicking them, "Eh, eh, eh. Come here, seals!".

Final stop for the day: Dennis the Menace Park, which was right downtown. It had a pretty cool playground too, which the kids tested out.


How do I know it was a full day? J said at 8.45pm tonight: "I want to sleep now." When he usually does all he can to avoid bedtime!