One last hike

Monday, August 28th, 2017

Monterey, CA and Los Angeles, CA

It’s 7am and we are quickly packing up the house. Sarah’s flight leaves at 10am and I have vowed to take her to the airport despite her insistence on taking Lyft. By 7:30am I am all packed up with about 30 minutes to spare. I decide to make a quick run to Bookworks for a cup of coffee. They do not disappoint.

Around 8:45am we are dropping Sarah off at the airport. We say our goodbyes and then head back to Pacific Grove for breakfast. Laura and I both loved Red House, so we return there for our final meal. We spend most of our time searching for things to do our smart phones; we have about 6 hours to kill before Laura’s flight. I was thinking about renting bikes, but the terrain is pretty hilly and neither of us want to sweat. We eventually decide to drive down the Pacific Coast highway until we hit the freeway closure in Big Sur. After all, Big Sur is why we came.

The drive down the coast is beautiful. The fog is thick and the ocean-side cliffs are dramatic. We pull over a few times to look at the view. Eventually we hit the freeway closure and Andrew Molera state park. We pull over to take a quick look around. Our only options are hiking. We’ve had 4 whole days to recover from Half Dome and are ready to hit the trail! We opt for a short, flat hike to the beach. The trail is beautiful. When we arrive at the beach we are surprised to find about 20 or so huts made from driftwood. Some are large and complex and others are teeny tiny. This is so bizarre.

We take a few pictures and then start our way back to Monterey. Laura drives most of the way so that I can have a chance to take in the view. We also make a quick stop at the Bixby Creek Bridge, which is incredibly photogenic. Eventually we arrive at the airport about 30 minutes early. We say our goodbyes and I am off to enjoy the gorgeous drive back to LA. Given the distance that we need to travel, I estimate that all 3 of us will arrive home around the same time.

As I drive down the 101 I already feel nostalgic. California is amazingly picturesque and am overwhelmed with gratitude.

The Soledad wineries

Sunday, August 27th, 2017

Monterey, CA

It’s 9am and we are all slowly getting out of bed for our last full day of vacation. We are adapting to the slow pace of Monterey and it’s wonderful. Laura and Sarah are taking a little bit longer than me so I take a quick walk down to Bookworks, which is an adorable bookstore-coffee shop. I browse the books for a few minutes and ultimately decide on a copy of Travels with Charley. This will complete my Steinbeck collection and feels appropriate. I also grab a cup of coffee; it turns out to be the 2nd best of the entire trip (Yosemite still holds first place). 

Once I return to our little house, Laura and Sarah are in the process of picking a new location for brunch. We take a quick walk down Lighthouse Road to a place called "Red House". We check in and are quickly shown our table. They immediately offer us a choice between regular coffee and a dark roast. I already love this place. It takes a while to get our food which gives us time to analyze the décor. There are anthropomorphic animals painted all over the walls; clearly this used to be a preschool. We find the decor simultaneously upsetting and funny.

After brunch, we head over to the Monterey Aquarium. We have 2 free passes from our Airbnb and have decided to split the cost of the 3^rd pass, which ends up being $50. Damn. We spend about an hour and a half at the Aquarium. It’s pretty cool, but I’m still hung up on the ticket price. At one point we see 2 penguins mating and I immediately feel like I have intruded.

After the Aquarium we decide to split up for the day. I want to chase down a rumor about $50 cases of wine and Laura wants to nap on the beach. I make a strong case for wineries and Sarah opts to join me. We drop Laura off at the house, grab some snacks and are off to the wineries. Again!

This time we head South on the 101. We go directly to Ventana, which is where we can supposedly buy $50 cases of amazing wine (as explained by our barista at Badonkadonk… where the wine really sucked). I am skeptical about this statement on many levels, however, the bridge to Big Sur is closed and I can’t really handle any more quaint shops. The drive to Ventana takes about an hour. When we arrive the parking lot is dirt and the tasting room is tiny. We wander inside and it's immediately clear that everyone knows each other. I feel like I am intruding on someone else’s dinner party, but sit down at the bar anyways (we have already some so far!). After 10 full minutes of waiting patiently the barista approaches us and asks what we came for. Sarah and I are not deterred by his blunt demeanor; we tell him that we would like to do a wine tasting.

We are friendly with the barista and his friends who are sitting near us. They are visibly drunk, but we don’t want to be rude. At one point the barista hands us some grapes that he just pulled off of the vine. I have always wanted to try a wine grape! They are kind of sour, which is just what I expected. Our new drunk friends tell to be careful because the grapes will make us poop.

Eventually our server goes over their case specials, which include 3 different varietals, which sell for $47 per case. I am literally chomping at the bit to taste and buy this wine. I play it cool and ask if we would be able to try the red blend that it on special. He gives us a long explanation about how Ventana sold their blend to another winery and must dump their existing stock. He says that the new winery will be selling the same blend for $40 dollars per bottle. I am enjoying the back story and wait patiently as he pours my sample.

Holy crap, this wine is amazing. I take a few sips to make sure that it’s real. Next I turn to Sarah, who’s pallet is more discerning, to validate my opinion. She agrees. We have officially stumbled into the holy grail of wine tasting! It took many years, but we have arrived. This wine is so good and so cheap that I am bordering on emotional. I buy two cases to take home and Sarah buys one bottle for later tonight.   

Naturally we ask our barista for recommendations and he suggests that we check Hahn. The road heading to the tasting room is dirt and littered with cows and birds. When we arrive, the parking lot is paved and the tasting room is beautiful. A nice server from LA helps us and we chat about life in southern California. Around our second pour a lady carrying a falcon enters the tasting room. The falcon is perched on a thick glove on her right hand and its head is covered by a leather hood. She explains to us that he is skittish and it’s first time in the tasting room. This day can not get any better.

Our barista explains that Hahn is one of a few vineyards that has turned to falcons to help control the rodents amongst the grapevines. The women has a group of 5 falcons and provides her services during harvest season. We think this is the greatest job of all time.  

Our tasting moves slowly and we are wrapping up just around closing time. We had planned on having our picnic-snacks on their deck, but end up eating them in the car instead.

On the way back we make a quick stop at the Wrath vineyard, but are turned away because they are about to close. We take some pictures and head back into town. The car ride feels fast and we talk about the falcon the whole way home.

Once we are settled in Monterey we decide that it’s time for dinner. We all vote on a little restaurant in an old Victorian house. It’s adorable and we all order wine and quickly turn the conversation to Game of Thrones. The finale is tonight and we plan on watching on it on my laptop. Our neighbors overhear us and join in on the conversation. The food is great and eventually we wrap up and head back to the house.

We immediately plug in my laptop and gather around the kitchen table. We also open Sarah’s wine, (which still tastes amazing!). GoT commence!

GoT definitely delivers and I silently vow to re-watch the episode on my TV when I return home. Since it’s still early, we get out the Jackbox Games and play trivia and Pictionary until late in the night. Tomorrow is our last day of vacation and I am already sad. 

Wrath.

Sunday, August 26th, 2017

Monterey, CA

It’s 9am and we are waking up for our first full day in Monterey. We quickly get dressed for breakfast and find an adorable café that serves us a delicious brunch. The food is wonderful, but I secretly wish that the coffee was a little bit stronger.

Eventually we pile back into the car and head over to 17-mile drive. I make an executive decision to stop at Starbucks on the way (being the driver has its perks!). When we arrive at the entrance of 17-mile drive it becomes clear that we need cash to pay an entrance fee. Ugh. Who carries cash? 

I make a u-turn and head back to the Starbucks. Sarah’s bank is close by so she hops out to go to the ATM. Once we are settled, I drive back to the park entrance. A new, longer line has formed in our absence. 

17-mile drive is a famous drive along the coast of Monterey and through Pebble Beach. The weather is super spooky and we pull over a few times to marvel at the ocean and feel the freezing cold fog on our faces. When all is said is done the drive ends up being pretty short. It’s still mid-morning, so we decide to go check out Carmel-by-the-Sea.

When we arrive the streets are filled with pedestrians. We make a quick drive through downtown and luck into an amazing parking space. The town is filled with local stores selling gifts and clothing. None of us are interested in these things, however, so we end up in a quaint cheese shop. They are giving away free samples, so we take one of each. There is also a wine tasting bar at the end. I wander over to look at the tasting menu and am immediately cornered by the owner of the store. He launches into a very long explanation about their wines and tasting procedures. I know that the longer he talks the more obligated we will be to purchase a tasting, but once he finishes, we stand our ground and refuse. We are up for wine tasting, but can only survive so many in one day.

From here, we pick a few tasting rooms to visit. We start out at Silvestri. The wine is good and the service is great. They even sell wine in a can, which they let us try. Next, we go to the Wrath tasting room, which also proves to be very good. Despite my current obsession with Steinbeck it will still take me nearly all day to realize this is a reference to Grapes of Wrath. Just as we are starting to decide to head out of town to some of the vineyards we are convinced to go check out Caraccioli Cellars, which makes high end sparkling wines. The tasting here is fun, but I have to admit that I don’t really know much about sparkling wine.

Eventually we head back to the car. I grab some snacks from the back and start the drive out to a highly recommended vineyard called Boekenoogen. We think this is a strange name, but are not deterred. When we arrive, we are all simultaneously underwhelmed by the tasting room; Sarah renames it Badonkadonk. I pick 5 wines from the tasting list and am only impressed by 1; Laura and Sarah have similar experiences. We make a unanimous decision to brave one more winery.

When we arrive at Folktale vineyards we are immediately charmed. First of all, there is a hostess who provides us each with a small glass of Rosé while she shows us to our seats. They bring us a tasting menu but we are tired of tastings and each take a chance on purchasing a single glass. I choose the Grenache, Laura chooses a sparkling wine and Sarah opts for a Pinot Nior. We are all very happy with our choices. I ask the server if we can eat our own snacks and he explains they do not allow picnicking since they sell their own food. In an effort to be a good sport I take a look at their menu but it’s all pizza. Since I’m pretty sure this is not the kind of place that would kick us out for sneaking bites of cheese out of my bag, we decide to eat our own food anyways. We all make a small scene of sharing snacks out of my canvas “picnic” bag. We are not sneaky at all, but as predicted, no one tries to stop us. At one point there is some live music and, as the sunsets, we can not stop talking about how happy we are.

Around 5pm we start the drive back to our house in Monterey. The fog is rolling in and the climate changes from summer to winter within the blink of an eye. We still have a few snacks left and a small bottle of Rose; we make a snap decision to toast the sunset. We walk down to the beach and it's incredibly picturesque. I am definitely wine buzzed and can not stop taking pictures of all the pretty seagulls.

Only a few minutes after the sun sets the temperature drops almost 20 degrees. Our beautiful beach is now uninhabitable. Luckily, Sarah is ready with a few options for dinner. We unanimously choose Passionfish, which looks both tasty and close. I order the smoked pork shoulder, which is absolutely amazing; Sarah and Laura are equally amazed by their meals. Eventually we wander back home and set up our dining room table for a rematch of Clue. 

We are all asleep before midnight.