Monterey Bay, Carmel, Big Sur

SQ and I have been wanting to go on a drive down the CA coast since February. But the weekend we wanted to go, it was pouring rain in CA, left, right and center. We ended up abandoning the idea and went to LV instead. But this week, we went. Knowing us, we had very loose planning - in fact, we called each day to ask for lodging vacancies as we travelled along. We didn't know where we would end up and it was a good thing that we did that because by days end, we were "off" by 1 city destination. We ended up staying mostly in Days Inn or the equivalent, and most of them were fine.

We started our journey a bit late on Sunday 7/19...didn't get out of the house until 10am. We stopped by San Mateo for lunch, stopped by Santa Cruz, which was packed. We ended up in Monterey for a short stroll along the beach and saw these sea lions up close and personal.

The next morning, we went kayaking at Two Lover's Point in Monterey Bay. It was my first time kayaking and especially not being a swimmer, I was a bit afraid. But it was fine. The kayak was very stable and best yet, the water was very calm and there was hardly any wind at all. My biggest fear though, was that there were a lot of sea lions coming in and out of the water. They just come out all of the sudden and my weak heart can not take the surprises!! They were quite close and I was a bit afraid that one would knock over our kayak... but thank goodness that never happened.

We saw a couple of sea otter families, just lounging in the waters. They were so relaxed and so very cute. Sorry this picture are very far away because they are protected and we can not get too close to them. Can you see them? All those "brown" stuff in the water is kelp.

After kayaking, we did the 17-mile drive. I must say that it was somewhat disappointing. Maybe because the weather was a bit foggy or maybe because I expected it to be much more scenic. It was and it wasn't. The coastline was nice, but why do we have to pay to see that? It was basically the same coastline as we were driving along Monterey. SQ thinks the charge was to pay for the maintenance of those fancy golf courses along the way! But I did like the Lone Cypress on Pebble Beach.

The end of 17-mile drive took us to Carmel. There is just something about Carmel that is so charming. Don't know if it's just the small-town feel or just the way the local boutiques line up?? Either way, I love Carmel. I've only been here once I think, and I've always loved it. We ate a late lunch at a restaurant called Dametra that serves Mediterranean food. We got hummus, a chicken shawarma, and chicken and pesto pizza.

The owner is super nice and hospitable. It was someones birthday so he brought out his guitar and an older guy from the kitchen sang everyone a touching, romantic song. That was a nice treat. Then the owner also comped us with a Mediterranean dessert called Baklava. Yummm...

We continued our journey down south along the coast. We drove and made numerous stops to enjoy the Big Sur scenery. One word: WOW. Indescribable beauty..

These and many more. The photos probably don't even do these scenes justice. The real scenery was much more impressive!! We ended our drive at San Simeon. There are not much there in terms of touristy attractions other than the Hearst Castle, which we would visit tomorrow. But the sunset at San Simeon was probably an attraction by itself!