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Old 11 Nov 18, 01:31 AM  
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bambikate
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The 1200 Mile West Coast Adventure - August/September 2018: Day 8: A whale of a tale

Day 8: A whale of a tale
Monday 27 August 2018

Drive to Monterey, Whale watching tour, 13 Mile Drive, Hotel Pacific and dinner at Montrio Bistro

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Morning snuggles!



Imogen, Izzy and I slept like tops but Andy had a bit more of an uncomfortable night… still, it was an overall success.

Breakfast was coco pops in the airstream



We packed the car and waved goodbye to the lovely little airstream. We all said we wished we were staying for two nights and we would definitely go again.



We drove to the convenience store and checked out then started our short drive to Monterey.





Some very varied car choices here



Today, we had a whale watching tour booked at 10am. Our hotel tonight was Hotel Pacific and although we couldn’t check in until 4pm, we could drop our bags off with bell services and park our car in the underground car park which was $20 a night with in and out privileges (what a bargain compared to SF!).

We arrived in Monterey, dropped our luggage off at Hotel Pacific and parked our car. It was about a five minute walk to Monterey’s Fisherman’s Wharf.



We were quite early so we popped to pick up a coffee from a cute cafe nearby.







We had our whale watching tour booked with Princess Monterey. We checked in for the tour and were given instructions and asked to sign in. They offered us to upgrade our ticket to be able to go on the top deck but we declined.



We boarded and decided to sit at the front. There were around 40-50 people on board. We set off on our 2.5 hour cruise. It started off moderately bumpy at the front and it was already freezing cold.



We had dressed as warm as we could with lots of layers.







We saw Sea Otters, Seals and Humpback Whales.













[

It was very cool to see all of these creatures in real life. It started to get really bumpy. The captain advised us that Monterey Bay was up to 2 miles deep in parts which contributed to this. That fact was so crazy, it was hard to comprehend.

We were advised at the beginning of the cruise that the front of the boat was the bumpiest and the back was the smoothest and if we felt sick we would be better off outside looking at a fixed point rather than inside looking down.

There were about three or four people who didn't look so great and were holding sick bags.

Imogen said she wanted to go inside. Andy stayed to take pictures and Izzy and I went inside.



Imogen sat inside and stopped talking. I knew she felt sick.

I persuaded her to come outside to the back then we got outside and she burst out crying saying she didn’t want to be sick.

I reassured her but she kept saying "I want Daddy!" through her sobs. I got Izzy to ask for a sick bag, she quickly went inside and asked one of the crew, brought it back to us then collected Andy who was at the front taking photos.

He came straight away and comforted her. Andy and Imogen leaned over the back of the boat and he tried to keep her distracted while she sipped some water.



Izzy and I huddled together to keep warm.



The back was much less bumpy and within a few minutes she was feeling less sick. After a while, Imogen said she was feeling 9/10 OK and by the end of the trip she was laughing and joking and said she was back to 10/10 and was feeling hungry! Yay!



Luckily she managed to not be sick at all. We were really impressed as lots of adults had been being sick around her.

After over 3 hours we were finally back on dry land. To be honest the cruise was a bit too long for us. Once we’d seen a few whales it was enough. We were glad to have done it but wouldn’t hurry back to do another.

We had all taken sickness patches beforehand but unfortunately it was just too bumpy!

All that sea air had given us a huge appetite. Our plan was to grab something from Compagnos Deli - this was Monterey's TripAdvisor No. 1 restaurant; an unassuming little corner deli but that served the most fantastic warm Italian sandwiches.

We walked back to the hotel to collect the car and drove to Compagnos which was about 8 min drive.





We pulled up and perused the menu. The owner, Bennett Compagno started chatting to us. We chose an Italian Meatball Sub (big enough for us both to share) chicken nuggets with ranch for Izzy and a lunchable for Imogen. We were also swayed to add in a slice of the chocolate peanut butter cake. It was the last slice so it was called “oversized” it was already huge but we basically got about a slice and a half of gigantic cake.







Bennett kindly only charged us for a regular slice and we got chatting, he was so friendly and the girls loved chatting to him as he was being really silly. He was asking all about the Royal Family

He asked what we had planned and if we were visiting the aquarium. When I said we weren’t he was shocked and offered for us to borrow his family pass for free.

I was a bit taken a back and thought it was some kind of trick but I think he genuinely wanted to lend it to us. I said thank you so much but we were leaving really early in the morning so just wouldn’t have time. I felt really bad to turn down such a good offer.

We said goodbye and he said the offer was still open if we change our minds.

A five minute drive again and we were now at Lover’s Point.





We parked for free and sat by the seaside eating our delicious lunch. We shared the cake between us but still struggled to eat it all.





After lunch we walked to Lover’s Point beach and the girls took their shoes off and went for a paddle, It was absolutely idyllic here. You could definitely just spend the day relaxing here.







After the beach we walked up to the top of Lover’s Point and saw the friendly squirrels







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Old 11 Nov 18, 01:32 AM  
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[



And this chunky boy



We walked back to the car. We had a little while to check in but we had the perfect thing planned in to take us to 4pm - 17 mile drive! This was a $10.26 toll entrance but IMO was SO worth it.



It allowed us to drive along one of the most beautiful stretches of road. There were also some incredible looking houses, one of which had sold for $46m and apparently this road was also home to Clint Eastwood!









[

We also drove passed a golf club that was hosting a Ferrari away day - it was another world, seriously!

After our round trip we drove back to Hotel Pacific, Monterey and back to the underground car park and checked in.

I had requested an upper floor and our request was granted. We were checked in and in our room by 4:20pm.

We LOVED our room, it was a Premier Junior Suite Two Doubles and was only $229 including tax because we stayed on a Sunday / Monday night. The same room at the weekend was over $600!

It said it came with a safe but we couldn't find it!

The room overlooked the internal courtyard, which was so pretty.





It had double doors to the bathroom and had a separate lounge / dining room and mini bar with soft drinks (which turned out to be not free even though there were no prices…)





















The suite felt enormous after staying in the airstream the night before!

Andy was pretty tired and went to “rest his eyes” on one of the beds while the girls and I snuggled on the sofa and watched Monsters Inc on the Disney channel, it was so lush to just be relaxing together.

After a suitable amount of relaxation we all started getting ready for dinner tonight. After lots of research at home, we had narrowed it down to Montrio Bistro or Schooner’s for dinner but Montrio Bistro was the eventual winner. The menu, kids menu and atmosphere did it for us, even though it didn’t have the view that Schooners has.

We got dolled up then made the short 6 minute walk to the restaurant.







When I booked I had mentioned our 12 year anniversary and when we checked in we found our table was decorated with heart confetti! So sweet.

It was a gorgeous restaurant, a great atmosphere and absolutely packed! The tables had paper table covers with a pot of crayons, even on the grown up tables and you were encouraged to draw all over them if you so wished.

We played tic tac toe and the girls wrote some sweet messages for us.





Our servers were so nice too. They started us off with bread, olive oil and balsamic vinegar.



Kids menu





Andy and Immy



Me and Izzy



Andy and I ordered wine and the girls ordered fizzy drinks.

We decided to get the small bites menu which were small appetisers and ordered three between he four of us, followed by a main course each.

The starters were Risotto Fritters with artichoke and tomato pesto, Shrimp Mac N' Cheese with 3 cheese mornay and peas and Smoked Bacon Wrapped Shrimp







They were all incredible and we managed the lot!

For mains we had Lamb on Lamb - Lamb Sirloin, Crispy Lamb Belly, Butter Beans, Creamed Leeks, Ham Jus



Braised Boneless Angus Beef Short Rib - Whipped Potatoes, Pearl Onions, House Dried Tomatoes



Both mains were out of this world and we both tried each others and agreed there was just no faulting it.

The girls had cheeseburger and hamburger, which were enormous and they didn’t even make a dent, sharing probably would have been a better idea in hindsight!



We couldn’t quite manage dessert but our server said we could choose something from “bites” menu complimentary for our anniversary! We had seen the bites desserts and they were really small just enough for a little sweet ending to dinner so we agreed we could definitely manage half each. It was so sweet of them.



They brought out the dessert and they had decorated it with a “Happy Anniversary” sign. We chose profiterole - bacon caramel ice cream and whipped white chocolate ganache.



The girls chose ice cream for dessert - passionfruit ice cream, chocolate ice cream, tuille and raspberries and they loved it. They also shared with us too (bonus!) There's always room for ice cream, right?





Imogen asked Izzy to ask the server if she could keep the confetti and the server said “of course!” she scooped up the hearts and told me she wanted to make anniversary slime for us back at home

She sure did, bless her!

After dinner we walked back to our hotel. Honestly it had been an incredible meal. We would highly recommend going here. It was our favourite non-Disney restaurant of the whole holiday hands down.

Back in our room, we got ready for the hot tub and walked down to the courtyard.

Hi room!



The hot tub was in a private gated area to the side with hooks for towels and clothes and a bench. It was fantastic. Another lady turned up after about ten minutes but she seemed surprised to see us (I guess the other nights had been totally empty) and said she would come back later. It was quite a small tub but perfect for four.





After a nice dip we dried off and headed back to our room, we walked passed the lady again, this time with her hubby and two kids, which explained why she didn’t try and squeeze in earlier

We got back to our room and lit the fire and played a few games of cards together before calling it a night. It was such a cosy room.



We loved Monterey and really want to go back one day.
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Old 11 Nov 18, 08:32 AM  
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Poor Immy feeling sick on the boat. Thats miserable
Rest of the day looked great and your dinner sounded lovely.
Love that you had a log fire in your room! 😊
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Old 11 Nov 18, 07:07 PM  
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Your room looks lovely as does your evening meal.
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Old 12 Nov 18, 11:04 PM  
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Lovely day
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Old 13 Nov 18, 10:37 AM  
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The room looks lovely, and it sounds like a great day overall, glad to hear sickness was averted in the end on the boat!
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Old 13 Nov 18, 08:43 PM  
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What a lovely day except for the sea sickness ☹️☹️. Happy belated 12th Anniversary. The room looks nice and cosy.
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Old 17 Nov 18, 03:25 PM  
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Poor Immy! She's such a trooper though.

What a fantastic room!

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Old 26 Nov 18, 09:23 PM  
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Another brilliant day. Thanks for sharing!
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Old 27 Nov 18, 08:23 AM  
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I think you’ve put me off whale watching with the sickness story- I get motion sickness so imagine it would be similar.

Apart from that sounds like a lovely day with some yummy eats. Your anniversary meal sounds so cute as well - happy 12 years!

Ending the day in the hot tub too - perfect xx
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