Monterey, California

Osprey leaving Half Moon Bay, CA.

The sunrise over Half Moon Bay when we were leaving on Sunday was nothing short of beautiful.  But what was even more beautiful was the fact that after a few hours the wind picked up and we were finally able to sail.  The relief of not having to motor yet again was definitely welcomed.  We ended up sailing all the way into Monterey Bay and to the marina where Rhythm had called ahead to secure slips for us.  

While we were sailing towards Monterey, I had taken the time to clean the crabs and make crab cakes.  Kathy put together a delicious corn salad and garden salad as well as whipped up a batch of guacamole.  She and Tim also brought over a bottle of wine and cannoli for dessert.  As you can tell, we sure aren't suffering much on the meal front.  

The crews getting ready to bike along the coast.

On Monday, the four of us rented bikes and we rode out to the Lone Cypress in Pebble Beach.  The route ran along the famous 17-Mile Drive which hugs the coast of the Monterey Peninsula and offers breathtaking views of a rugged coastline punctuated with sandy beaches.  We saw plenty of sea lions and various birds, not to mention a few coastal squirrels scampering around on a promontory called Joe's Point.

Me, Richard, Kathy and Tim (after the sea gull incident).

As we continued along the coast, we stopped for lunch at a beach just past Spanish Bay. The highlight of the stop was when a gull swooped down from behind us and snatched Tim's sandwich right out of his hands!  That event definitely kept us looking over our shoulders and into the sky as we all nervously tried to finish our lunch with a sky full of marauding gulls lurking about ready to seize another "free lunch" opportunity.

Pebble Beach tee time.

Unscathed by the sea gull incident, we mounted our bikes and continued on our tour of the coast.  We passed the famous Pebble Beach Golf Course (jealous, Gary?!) and I secretly hoped that they would have had a putt-putt tee for us to try our swings on (just so we could say we played a hole at Pebble Beach).  There were numerous pull outs from the road that offered breathtaking vistas of the rugged coastline and we certainly took advantage of the beautiful weather as me made our way around the peninsula.  

The specific Lone Cypress is between me and Kathy.

We finally arrived at the Lone Cypress State Park and indeed, it is a lone cypress that had somehow managed to take root on a jagged rock promontory that jutted out from the coast.  Apparently someone has "trademarked" this view and commercial use of the image of the Lone Cypress is protected.  Leave it to lawyers...only in California.




We biked back and in all cycled about 20 or so miles.  The exercise was actually an excuse to go tho the Cannery Row Brewery Company for burgers.  I had told Tim (who is a big fan of bleu cheese burgers) that the CRBC had an awesome bleu cheese burger (called the Bleu Pig) but that the real star of the menu were the Triple Truffle Fries (truffle oil, truffle salt and truffle aioli).  We all had the fries except Kathy who opted for the salad (there has to be someone being health conscious after all).  We were kind of disappointed to learn that the CRBC doesn't actually brew its own beer but rather has other breweries craft specialty beers for them.  Oh well, we know of another brewery in town and plan on hitting that on another night.

Richard at the Old Monterey Marketplace farmers market.

Yesterday, Kathy, Tim, and I went to Starbucks to do some blogging.  We were really just killing time in town before the Old Monterey Marketplace farmers market opened up. The market takes place on Alvarado Street and runs for about three or four blocks.  The fruit and vegetables looked amazing and we stocked up on some fresh produce as it looked too good to pass up.

Heaps of ice cream and chocolate sauce at Ghiradelli's.

After dinner, the four of us, at Kathy's suggestion (remember, she's the health conscious one from the night before), went to Ghiradelli's for ice cream treats.  The sundaes and shakes certainly passed the test and we were probably all thankful that in order to get to Ghiradelli's we had to walk about a mile, each way.  I know that I'm always trying to justify desserts and this did the trick.



Last night, around 10 o'clock, it rained.  This is of note because this is the first rain we have seen since leaving Seattle over a month ago.  I guess we're not quite in southern California where, as the song goes, it never rains.