Monterey

Now that I've recovered from shellfish poisoning from our Monterey trip, I will talk about the trip.  We had so much fun!  Well, I know I did anyway.  We all headed down in the Pilot even though it was supposed to be rainy.  My dad said that he didn't mind since the aquarium is mostly indoors anyway.  Our plan was to drop off my family at the aquarium and then Nick and I would take Emmy to play on the beach, have lunch, and then walk around.  Since the aquarium cafetaria is always packed and the food is expensive, we found a local Chipotle and had burritos there first with those BOGO coupons.  Nick and I were holding out for oysters, but they sure smelled good.  After my family's lunch we dropped of my family and then headed to Carmel to have our own lunch.  It was so good and I don't know which oyster was bad because they all tasted great.  I read that it's the algae that they eat that makes people sick so maybe you can't even tell if you're having a bad one or not.  Whatever the case, I enjoyed it while I was having it and would still go back to this place for their delicious cooked food.  I've sworn off oysters for now... well at least until I forget how painful shellfish poisoning is.  This could have happened to me anywhere, especially with the amount of oysters Nick and I generally consume on one oyster outing.  But I seriously just wanted my mom to take a blunt object and whack me in the head with it because I was in so much pain. Dramatic, I know, but even Emmy kept checking on me and decided to lay next to me while I was huddled on the floor in my pjs.

Once we were done with lunch, Nick and I went down to our "private" beach.  There is a scenic drive off the coast of Carmel.  A lot of people gather near the beginning of the route, but never travel down the road.  If you drive further down the coast you can see some spectacular views and some really awesome looking homes.  Our favorite is one that has a very asymmetrical shape and the roof is covered with shingles.  I call it the Snow White house.  I will have to take a picture next time.

At the end of the road there is a little state-owned section that you can park and go onto the beach.  There are even bathrooms there, but there fewer people who drive down that far to see the beach so they don't know about it.  This is where Nick and I like to come to look out.  We took Emmy for a hefty play time in the sand and the headed back to the car for a nap.  Nick had a cold so I came prepared with pillows and blankets so that we could take a nap.  We brought books to read, but I think I read about two sentences before I fell asleep.  This is what we did for a while until my parents called to be picked up.

We then went to dinner as a family a the Monterey Fish House.  Nick and I love this place.  It's a good thing I made reservations because the place was packed.  The food was so good and since we were early for our seating we were able to get out of there early and got home at a reasonable time.  It was a great day and I had a lot of fun.  I think Emmy enjoyed it too.

Fish tacos at A.W. Shucks for lunch

When we travel we like to bring Emmy's bed with us so that she can be comfortable while waiting for us in the car.  We put down the seats and attached her seatbelt to one of the locks on the back of the seat.  She was having a good time roaming around the back and then got into her bed while we were driving. 

While we were driving down the scenic route Emmy had her head all the way out the window and her fur was blowing all over the place.  She looked so happy!