Sorry,I’ve been MIA for the last week or so. The last week of kindergarten blended into our quick vacation to Pacific Grove. And once we finally got to PG,I did not look back…Most of you already know,my favorite place in the world is Pacific Grove,CA. For me,it’s a combination of nostalgia,the ocean,and shear beauty. I grew up coming here to visit my mom’s relatives,go to the beach at Lover’s Point,and of course go to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. I would spend hours at the aquarium touch tank (literally). My mom would bring a book and sit and read while I played with and studied all the creatures. What I love about the aquarium,is that over 25 years later I am still finding and learning new things every time I go! If you have not been to the aquarium,I strongly recommend you do with your children before they are grown! No matter where you live,it is worth the trip. But I think if you were only going to go once in your life,I would wait until your children are older and can really take time strolling through the aquarium. Each year we take the kids picture in the clam shell in Splash Zone. Here is this years picture!
The weather was perfect. (It was actually a little hot for me.) The ocean was placid and perfect for taking the kids out on the kayak in the mornings. The fog would burn off completely by 9:30 am and we could see Moss Landing and all the way to Santa Cruz. There was a large pod of about 12 sea otters curled up in a large kelp bed about 250 yards off shore. We would kayak up to the edge of the kelp bed (keep a safe distance of 50 feet) and watch them play,eat and groom. I have never seen so many together before. We even saw some juveniles wrestling in the kelp. I also got to take my parents out in the kayak. I couldn’t believe they have never gone ocean kayaking before! It was truly amazing.
Lover’s point was calm and warm. We did a bit of tide pooling between kayaking. Even though the tide was high and very few pools were exposed,we has a great time finding hermit crabs,anemones, snails,barnacles,mussels,limpets,and even a large veiled chiton. Sorry,I don’t have any photos of this,I was too busy playing! But we did go for a walk along the coast every night and crossed paths with these 4 geese and their goslings. They were so cute!
To top it all off,Mark and I got to take a whole day to go exploring the coast on our own. My mom and dad offered to watch the kids,so we could celebrate my birthday and our anniversary (both of which are in May). We started out early and went straight to Nepenthe for brunch at Cafe Kavah. I really could not believe that I have grown up in Northern California and spend so much of my life on the Central Coast and still had never been to Nepenthe! So after reading My Nepenthe (highly recommended). I had to go! We had a lovely breakfast on the deck at Cafe Kavah. The food is homey and comforting. Sipping a chai tea sprinkled with nutmeg while looking out over the Big Sur coast…Does it get any better than this?
Then we went up to explore the Nepenthe restaurant and deck. It is truly spectacular and a piece of Big Sur history. By this time it was about 11:00 am. The restaurant was not open yet,but I was glad to see that the staff still eat their meal together as a family before service. Then we finished our stroll by going through the Phoenix Gift Shop. I think we spend over 2 hours exploring Nepenthe. I’m glad I checked it out first,but I definitely think we will bring the kids next time.
On the way home we strolled through Carmel and I found The Flavor Bible and The Organic Cook’s Bible on sale at Sur Le Table (60% off). I have been wanting these two books,but could not find them even at the library! I am very excited to say the least. The are not your typical cookbooks,they have very few recipes compared to pages,but they are a great reference. To use The Flavor Bible,you look up an ingredient (say an artichoke) and it gives you all the other ingredients/spices/veggies/etc. that compliment it. The Organic Cook’s Bible gives you the basic information on fruits,vegetables,meats,dairy,etc. It lists why it’s important to purchase organic,the nutritional information,the seasonal information (when to purchase and what to look for),and few few ideas of how to best prepare them. I have already been referencing them both to plan our Father’s Day BBQ (I’ll let you know how it goes). And finally Mark and I had a great dinner at our favorite restaurant,The Passionfish in Pacific Grove.
It was a perfect day and a perfect mini-vacation!
