For our 9th anniversary, we booked a three night stay in Carmel-by-the-Sea over Thanksgiving. We watched a bit of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and then made the quick hour and 1/2 drive! We grabbed some picnic food at Whole Foods (which was understandably nuts) and headed straight to the beach.
Indy ran around chasing his ball for a bit and we walked up and down the beach. It was really beautiful day and there were lots of families out enjoying the holiday. At the end of the beach is actually part of the Pebble Beach golf course - where Jason would return the next day!
Wanting to take advantage of the great weather, we decided to drive the "17 mile drive" around the Monterey Peninsula. You do have to pay admission to get access, but it was totally worth the $10 fee.
Some of the famous sights are the golf courses (Pebble Beach, Spyglass, Spanish Bay), the Lone Cypress, and all of the beautiful stretches of coastline. Dogs allowed on a leash!
That evening we checked into our hotel (Tradewinds Carmel) and headed back to the beach to catch sunset. We ate our Thanksgiving dinner at Casanova restaurant which was such a perfect little spot!
The next morning, Jason was able to play Pebble Beach! He described it as something he'd always remember - just a fantastic course and experience. He had some rain along the way, but I don't think he let it dampen his enthusiasm (ha, pun intended).
Once he got back, we grabbed a quick lunch and walked around the town. We checked out a few (dog-friendly) tasting rooms including Silvestri, Dawn's Dream, and Albatross. It was a nice afternoon - perfectly suited to the weather as well. A bit gloomy!
That night, we grabbed dinner from Carmel Bakery and made our way back to the room.
The next morning, we had breakfast and made the quick 10 minute drive out to Carmel Valley. We had lunch and a wine tasting at Folktale winery. We enjoyed this place, but the pours were pretty small - it would be so fun to grab a bottle to enjoy outside though!
We also went to Joyce winery (which was probably our favorite) and De Tierra winery back in Carmel. That evening we watched the ridiculously epic (ally long) A&M v LSU game before grabbing dinner at a pub in Carmel.
Our last morning, we had to leave Indy in our room for a while. Unfortunately, Point Lobos is a State Natural Reserve and these typically don't allow dogs. We spent about 3 hours walking all around the reserve - walking down to beaches, seeing bird islands, standing next to gigantic Cypress trees! We would love to return - we had a fabulous time!
Our last stop of the trip was to grab lunch on the Monterey Old Fisherman's Wharf at LouLou's Griddle in the Middle on the way home. I had some yummy clam chowder in a bread bowl and Jason had grilled cheese. Classic diner food!
We didn't check out the aquarium on this trip - mainly because of the price. I had been ages ago and loved it though, so I'm sure we'll suck it up and pay the $50/person some time!
This trip was much needed as Jason had been working some pretty long hours for a while. It was nice to reconnect and visit such a beautiful place together as a family. Hard to believe it's only an hour 1/2 away from us - we've already planned a return trip!
Next up: We're heading to Sayulita, Mexico for a few days this weekend!
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