When deciding where to vacation this year, the choice was somewhat obvious. We have beautiful coastline within hours of us and decided to make the most of our time in California by taking in the sights. The best part of our trip was getting to spend 5 days together as a family.  The worst, believe or not, was foggy chilly weather. Then, there were many fun experiences in between.

Monday-

The trip began on Monday night. Before we even left Livermore, Elijah asked, “How long is it going to be until we get there?” We thought we were in for a long ride, but the two hour drive to Monterey went by quickly. We did have to laugh when we stopped by Jack in the Box for dinner and the cashier thought I was making some sort of racial remark by asking for “white milk” for Elijah’s dinner. I kindly explained that I was just referring to white milk as opposed to chocolate milk. Oh, the society in which we live! We arrived to cool weather in Monterey, but that didn’t stop us from taking a swim before putting the kids (and ourselves) down to bed.

Tuesday- Monterey Bay Aquarium

We had heard a lot of good things about the Monterey Bay Aquarium and were not disappointed. Throughout the day we were surrounded by sea horses, sharks, octopi, schools of tuna, sting rays, otters, kelp and other coral reefs habitants.  We were intrigued by the life and grace of the seahorses, stunned by the color and movement of the jellyfish and marveled at the sharks and stingrays. Elijah wouldn’t get near the sea otters because, “They were stinky.” Isaac seemed to enjoy the movement of the fish (he slept through the stinky sea otters though). Before leaving Elijah chose a stuffed penguin as a souvenir. After that, he always asked if the place we were going to visit had a gift shop!

Wednesday- Monterey and Carmel by the Sea

We spent some time on Wednesday touring Monterey and then spent the afternoon as Carmel by the Sea beach. The sun did peek out for a few minutes, but it was still a little chilly. Russ and Elijah (well really just Russ) built a sandcastle in the shadows of Pebble Beach Golf Course, while Isaac took a snooze in the pack and play. Russ and I both brought our books, but I am not sure why.  Each was opened for about 2 pages. Oh well! We decided that we will have time to beach read on our 25^th wedding anniversary trip. I think this was also the day that Russ commented that we should go on a vacation with grandparents! That was when we were sitting in a dark hotel room at 9:30 with nothing to do since the kids were asleep. Needless to say, it was nice going to bed early and getting a little extra rest.

Thursday- Drive Down Coastal Highway through Big Sur

Honestly, we were a bit disappointed in the foggy weather this day, but saw some beautiful coastline nonetheless. Our favorite stops included Pfeiffer Beach for lunch and McWay Falls. This is the only fresh waterfall the pours into the ocean in America. We also spotted Sea Lions and Harbor Seals “sunning” on a rock. We ended the day at our Lodge which included many majestic flower gardens and, you guessed it, a fireplace in our room. That seems to be common on the coast.

Friday- Hearst Castle

On Friday, we toured the magnificent Hearst Castle, built in the 1920’s era for William Randolph Hearst of Newspaper fame. Our tour did not allow strollers or large hikers so taking pictures while corralling two boys was a challenge, but we did manage to get a few.  Hearst was an avid art collector so not only was the Castle itself impressive, but we also felt like we were at an art Museum. Russ especially liked the marble statues in the outdoor Neptune Pool. We toured the guest house and a few of the 115 rooms of the main house. Isaac fell asleep halfway through the tour in mom’s arms, while Elijah gawked at the Billiard room. He really wanted to be able to play! We ended the tour buy literally standing on gold in the indoor Roman pool.  Flash photography was not allowed , but we did have a few pictures that turned out despite low lighting conditions.

Saturday- Santa Barbara

After a breakfast at a downtown Starbucks, we toured the Santa Barbara Mission, one of 21 missions in the state of California. This particular building was not original because the original building was destroyed by and Earthquake in the early 1800’s. The modest sanctuary housed some beautiful artwork and statues. Russ felt bad about accidentally touching the holy water until he saw bottles of it being sold in the gift shop for $3.

Then, we headed to the wharf area for some Mexican food (we already indulged in seafood at the Monterey Wharf). Not surprisingly, it was the best Mexican food we had in a long time. We headed to the Pier where Isaac turned on his charm to get attention, especially for the ladies. Russ commented early in the week about something that I already knew- Isaac is a flirt. I guess we won’t worry too much unless this pattern continues into adolescence! The gloomy day, then turned sunny for our final hours beachside before our 5 hour journey home.