Monterey & Carmel 2010

In October 2010, my friend Fran, her friend Nic, and I took a long weekend trip to Monterey. Allegiant has some really great airfare deals for weekend trips. We got a cheap room on the main road on Priceline too, so the tickets and hotel room were kind of a steal. We also took advantage of the public transportation and probably only used three cabs the whole weekend since everything was either on the bus route or within walking distance.

This sounds obvious but if you’re planning on using public transportation in an unfamiliar city, research the routes ahead of time. A lot of the mass transit companies have apps now too. Come prepared so you’re not waiting in weird bus shelters at night! Keep track of where buses drop you off since that will probably be where they pick you up.

Anyway, we got there on a Thursday afternoon and checked in right away. From there we walked to Fisherman’s Wharf and had lunch and wandered the shops. We made our way back to the hotel to change and had dinner at a cute little tapas place we passed on our way back.

The next day we walked to the aquarium. We stopped to visit with the seals and sea lions along the way. I’d been told this was one of the best aquariums in the country and while it was pretty nice, I’ve definitely been to better ones (Atlanta and Dallas are my top two). From here we walked around for some shopping and lunch. After this we headed back to the hotel and then over to Carmel to visit the Mission and have dinner.

On our second full day, we made the trek to the Lone Cypress. By trek, I mean we took a bus to Carmel, a taxi to one of the resorts close to the cypress, and then we walked. Kind of a long walk. It was overcast but still a beautiful view. We headed to Pacific Grove for dinner and wandering after a quick stop back at the hotel. From here we went back to Cannery Row for some shopping.

Our last day we rented a surrey bike and drove to Cannery Row again. We caught the sea lions and seals along the way and then headed back to Fisherman’s Wharf for the glass bottom boat. So much wildlife all around. From there we went to the airport and headed home.