Monterey Trip 2022
/Jeff and I flew down to Monterey for the long weekend to visit his brother and sister in law. The day started out with a great meal at the Sam Choy’s inside the airport where we had the garlic fried chicken and the morning fried rice with spam. We chose to sit at the bar in their dining area - the service was friendly and the food came out fast and fresh. The portion sizes were also great - we ate as much as we dared before hopping on a plane and left very pleased.
We were able to book a direct flight which was nice, but smaller in regards to the airplane only having two seats on each side as well as the airport being far smaller than we’re used to passing through. Jeff’s brother picked us up, took us to drop off luggage and greet kitties, and then we went to happy hour at Sticks in Pebble Beach. We sat outside at some really long fire pits to take in the great views and ordered nachos, pulled pork sliders, tater tots, and blackened fish tacos. The food was quite good. I especially liked that the tater tots came out fresh and crispy with multiple dipping sauces and the pulled pork sliders were delicious - a compliment from a barbecue snob like me. We also got a mid meal entertainment treat - a bagpiper!
We spent a lazy morning and afternoon with our kitty nieces (Sesame, Pepper, and Poppy) the next day. Pepper is about 17 years old and spent a lot of time demanding attention by wandering between laps and purring over the course of the weekend. It was delightful.
That evening, Jeff’s brother made pizza in his backyard brick oven. It was really tasty and we all had a great time sitting out by the fire pit.
We had brunch at From Scratch the next morning and may or may not have over ordered a bit. I had some pretty great cinnamon roll pancakes while Jeff split corned beef hash and huevos rancheros with his brother. We had to box up some of the food to bring home because there was just so much of it.
After brunch, we attempted to walk off our food comas at Point Lobos. It was incredibly windy, but effective at helping us digest.
Later in the afternoon we headed to A Taste of Monterey to do some wine tasting. I had a rose flight while Jeff had a beer flight since he’s not into wine. They were good, but I think we enjoyed the views more (also the crab dip).
We visited a tapas restaurant called Esteban for dinner and ordered quite a few items off the tapas menu:
On our final day in the Monterey area, we went out on a boat and got to see some whales (but unfortunately got no pictures)! We also saw some sea lions at the docks - they were cute (and loud).
The trip back home was quick thanks to the small airport and the direct flight. Monterey made a lovely long weekend trip to visit with family - we’ll be back!
