Monterey, CA — LAUTZENHEISER.ORG

The Pacific Coast (California, Oregon, and Washington) has been one of our favorite places lately. After we had to cancel our spring break trip to California, I was ready to book another trip to the central coast. While everyone was sleeping, I booked our flights, car, and AirBnB…I didn’t even ask Scott. Fortunately, I do most of our vacation bookings anyway, so I knew he wouldn’t care.

The stop at Bixby Bridge, south of Monterey.

Our AirBnB was only one block from the Monterey Aquarium, which is one of the best in the country! Scott has fond memories of this aquarium, which is why we made it stop number one of the trip! It was very cool to see the almost seamless blend of wildlife inside and outside of the aquarium: otters, sea lions, seals on the rocks nearby while sharks, kelp forests and penguins highlighted inside. Our favorite part was probably the ‘deep sea’ section which highlighted the creatures in the darkest, most unexplored parts of our oceans.

The hardest thing is leaving Topo. Thankfully, our amazing neighbors take such good care of her.

By Las Vegas!

Scott teaching the kids how to recover change from vending machines.

Ella got the coin!

Our AirBnB had three classic video games, which we ALL enjoyed playing.

While our AirBnB was only one block from the aquarium (and decked out with classic arcade games), it didn’t have a kitchen, so we ate out….a lot. While Ella and I enjoyed the clam chowder specialties, Miles surprisingly chose dumplings on more than one occasion.

Destination number two was the central coast down to Big Sur. Although the kids were not thrilled with the drive, they were excited about tide pools and big trees. We started the day exploring the coast at low tide, before embarking on the 17-mile drive along the famous Pebble Beach golf course. We stopped for lunch at Carmel-by-the Sea, which has the cutest, most artistic houses (that aren’t huge) along the bluest water. The gusty winds kept us from spending more time at the white sand beaches. Much to everyone’s delight, the rest of the drive to Big Sur (and the giant redwood trees) was well worth it. A short walk through the scented, towering trees was a nice break from the coastal air.

Shadow selfie. Scott, Miles, Ella, and me.

We visited the aquarium twice!

Ella really enjoyed clam chowder. She ordered it twice.

We visited an arcade for the kids to have some fun.

Our last two days were spent covering other nearby attractions: Fisherman’s Wharf, Dennis the Menace Park, and the Monterey Zoo. While none of it was as impressive as our first two days, it was (dare I say it) nice to be cold.

I feel like we will continue find the closest tide pool once a year and maybe even Redwoods National Park might be worth the long drive.