Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Charlene and I went on a semi-spontaneous trip to Monterey bay and San Jose. We initially planned to go to Pismo for a day trip, but we decided to give that beach a break and go north since it had been two years since we have been there.
The drive was pretty fast and we got to do every thing in good time. We left town about seven and we got there at about ten as planned.
The weather was so nice, it wasn't cold and the sun was just beaming down. It was nice, until it got hot, which we weren't expecting at all.
We drove around Seaside, and found nothing but a mile of dealerships, and then we headed on over to fisherman's wharf.
The last time we had been over there, we walked all over the place, but we got so tired that we didn't make it to fisherman's wharf. And boy, did we miss a lot. But not by that much. Back then we would have oohed and ahhed but this time we weren't exactly that impressed.
We walked up and down the short wharf, we were offered clam chowder samples but we only liked one, and they managed to get us to eat there because they offered a free appetizer, which was calamari (an $8 value what a steal!). The place was really nice, I felt too low class for it. They had a nice view of the pier and the service was nice. The only thing that got on my nerves that it smelled like Axe all over the place. I had shrimp raviolles and Charlene had crab cakes. They tasted really good, but expensive, I don't want to say they were overpriced because you can't overprice fresh sea food.
After that we walked around a bit, and got bored. Seriously bored. We tried to do our thing by taking pictures and walking but walking around just took farther from our parking spot ( we were being charged a dollar per half hour) and we didn't want to see cannery row since we already saw it last time, and it is a serious tourist trap. So We decided to just take a drive around.
Driving around Monterey and Pacific Grove was fun. It was nice to see the houses and the residential areas, It was one of the best drives we had in a while. I think that was the highlight of the day really. AFter we drove around the whole penninsula, and found nothing to do, we went to Salinas, and there was nothing there too. Except bad drivers. Every parking lot I came into, someone had to be either in the middle of the lane, or driving on the wrong side of the lane resulting in me saying the B-word the entire time.
We Finally came to the conclusion that there is nothing to do in the central coast. So we decided to go to San Jose.
San Jose was a short trip. I wanted to see my Grandparnts' old house because before they moved here with me, I never got to see what happened to it. The drive through Sunnyvale took me back. Honestly it was a little emotional for me. I was taken back to all the times we had over there. For the ten years I lived in San Diego, every year we had been going over there twice for whatever reason. That house was also where my family and I used to live before we moved to San francisco and then here to San diego. All the stuff from my childhood came back to me. It was a nice feeling, but also a sad feeling. They had lived there for more than 20 years, 17 years of my life. It's weird going there and feeling at home and then snapping back to reality that it isn't home any more.
As we passed by the house, I saw that it had changed, the color of the house, the plants and everything. Of course, it isn't their house any more, but all those memories just rushed past me and I just expected it to look a certain way. It was kind of disappointing. It didn't look like they were taking care of the house. But I digress.
After that we went to King Eggrool, a dim sum restaurant that I have been going to since birth practically. We bought and ate a lot of shrimp balls and bought some more and then we headed for home. I was really tired so we switched drivers going back.
We got home at around 8:15pm.
Through out the day, there were so many bad drivers. I know I am not the best driver myself, but we had so many close calls that weren't my fault that half the day was spent with our colorful vocabulary.
The day was a little short, but it was a successful day. I feel refreshed and it should hold us until our next trip on my birthday in April!
The drive was pretty fast and we got to do every thing in good time. We left town about seven and we got there at about ten as planned.
The weather was so nice, it wasn't cold and the sun was just beaming down. It was nice, until it got hot, which we weren't expecting at all.
We drove around Seaside, and found nothing but a mile of dealerships, and then we headed on over to fisherman's wharf.
The last time we had been over there, we walked all over the place, but we got so tired that we didn't make it to fisherman's wharf. And boy, did we miss a lot. But not by that much. Back then we would have oohed and ahhed but this time we weren't exactly that impressed.
We walked up and down the short wharf, we were offered clam chowder samples but we only liked one, and they managed to get us to eat there because they offered a free appetizer, which was calamari (an $8 value what a steal!). The place was really nice, I felt too low class for it. They had a nice view of the pier and the service was nice. The only thing that got on my nerves that it smelled like Axe all over the place. I had shrimp raviolles and Charlene had crab cakes. They tasted really good, but expensive, I don't want to say they were overpriced because you can't overprice fresh sea food.
After that we walked around a bit, and got bored. Seriously bored. We tried to do our thing by taking pictures and walking but walking around just took farther from our parking spot ( we were being charged a dollar per half hour) and we didn't want to see cannery row since we already saw it last time, and it is a serious tourist trap. So We decided to just take a drive around.
Driving around Monterey and Pacific Grove was fun. It was nice to see the houses and the residential areas, It was one of the best drives we had in a while. I think that was the highlight of the day really. AFter we drove around the whole penninsula, and found nothing to do, we went to Salinas, and there was nothing there too. Except bad drivers. Every parking lot I came into, someone had to be either in the middle of the lane, or driving on the wrong side of the lane resulting in me saying the B-word the entire time.
We Finally came to the conclusion that there is nothing to do in the central coast. So we decided to go to San Jose.
San Jose was a short trip. I wanted to see my Grandparnts' old house because before they moved here with me, I never got to see what happened to it. The drive through Sunnyvale took me back. Honestly it was a little emotional for me. I was taken back to all the times we had over there. For the ten years I lived in San Diego, every year we had been going over there twice for whatever reason. That house was also where my family and I used to live before we moved to San francisco and then here to San diego. All the stuff from my childhood came back to me. It was a nice feeling, but also a sad feeling. They had lived there for more than 20 years, 17 years of my life. It's weird going there and feeling at home and then snapping back to reality that it isn't home any more.
As we passed by the house, I saw that it had changed, the color of the house, the plants and everything. Of course, it isn't their house any more, but all those memories just rushed past me and I just expected it to look a certain way. It was kind of disappointing. It didn't look like they were taking care of the house. But I digress.
After that we went to King Eggrool, a dim sum restaurant that I have been going to since birth practically. We bought and ate a lot of shrimp balls and bought some more and then we headed for home. I was really tired so we switched drivers going back.
We got home at around 8:15pm.
Through out the day, there were so many bad drivers. I know I am not the best driver myself, but we had so many close calls that weren't my fault that half the day was spent with our colorful vocabulary.
The day was a little short, but it was a successful day. I feel refreshed and it should hold us until our next trip on my birthday in April!
I'm so jealous! I love going to day trips to the coast and Monterrey bay has some nice sea food!