Franeks Take the West Coast: Monterey, CA

Hey all,x

The next stop on our adventure was Monterey, California. We stopped here just for one night to do some whale watching and see the coastline with a relaxed vibe. The way we got there was getting off of the train in Salinas and taking an Amtrak connection shuttle over to our hotel area. It was about a forty minute shuttle ride. We noticed right away the quiet of being away from a big city! Monterey was so peaceful! We stayed at the Portola Hotel and Spa, a great Hotwire deal! It was a beautiful hotel with a lot of charm. However, there was no air conditioning! At first, we were worried about this as Madi likes rooms cool, but Monterey was not a super warm or muggy place at all so it was not a problem. It stayed in the 60s throughout our time there, and dipped to the high forties overnight. There was a bike rental shop right next to our hotel, and we ventured out towards the bay and Point Pinos to explore! We got to see some adorable harbor seals and saw the beautiful coast our whole ride. The weather was perfect! 

We biked up to Point Pinos Lighthouse, which is still in use today. It was a great find, as it is only open a few days per week usually and runs off of donations. We watched a little video about this history of the lighthouse and walked around some before heading back towards our hotel. Once we dropped our bikes, we walked over to the marina and wharf to get on our sunset sail. We went out on a catamaran boat with two other couples and our captains. They had a nice plate of snacks and wine for us. We got pretty far out and got to see some cool dolphins, but quickly realized we were not going to see any whales. I totally read the advertisement wrong and the intent of the tour was not to see whales, just to do a sunset sail. Oops. Oh well! Our sail was still beautiful. We will have to see whales another time! We did get to see some ADORABLE sea otters! 

Monterey was the quickest stop that we had besides Napa, and we easily could have spent more time here. The aquarium I have heard is great as well! Things to add to our next list! The next stop is the Los Angeles area. Lots of things we will be seeing and doing there!

Must Do's in Monterey:
- Visit Point Pinos Lighthouse
- Bike the Boardwalk and Trail Area
- Make a Stop at the Aquarium

Movie this reminded me of: Finding Dory!

Thanks for keeping up with us,
- Olivia :)