How to Spend 20 Hours in Monterey, California
Sometimes all you need to wind down is a good girls weekend!!
Last weekend, I got to go to Monterey with 5 of my friends to celebrate my girl Payten!! I can’t write about her birthday weekend without giving her a little shoutout! Payten is one of the most genuine, hardworking and loyal friends I know. At 24, she bought her own salon and has been making magic at eightsixzerosalon.com. She’s a legend and I think you should go check out her salon and show her some love!
Okay back to Monterey!!
We left Vacaville Saturday morning, headed to Carmel for a brunch, walked aorund some of the shops, got coffee, and did some more window shopping. If you’re a broke twenty-something like all of us, window shopping is probably your best bet unless you’re ready to drop $350 on a sweater.
For brunch, our first choice would have been Stationaery. However, the wait was long and we weren’t in the mood to drop $18 on Avocado Toast although I’m sure it would have been delicious! Instead we got brunch at Carmel Belle which was more of a market style offering. I had the Belle Bowl and it certainly did not disappoint!
After our time in Carmel, we checked into our hotel in Monterey, Hotel Pacific. The room was very nice and spacious and had such a cute Spanish Villa vibe.
We moved our luggage into the room, chilled for moment and then walked to Revival Ice Cream. I tried their “Bees Knees” special ice cream and it was BOMB! It had real candied honeycomb on top which was to dieee for. Our next venture was renting bicycles from Adventures By the Sea Bike Rentals and riding from Monterey near the warf to Lovers Point in Pacific Grove, Ca. Monterey has a great bike path which takes you through Cannery Row and is very pedestrian and bicyclist friendly! Be prepared to see bikes and dogs of all shapes and sizes! Some parts of the patch even offer a gorgeous ocean view!
Once we rode our bikes back to the shop, we walked back to our hotel to freshen up for dinner! The vibes were casual cute, we made reservations at Il Fornaio, but before we headed there we grabbed a drink at Jacks Monterey at the Portola Hotel. Their bar area is cozy with a fireplace and the bar itself resembles being in a ship. I ordered a Raspberry Lemon Drop and it was Delish!
We then drove back to Carmel, to Il Fornaio for dinner. We had a cute table up front with a semi ocean view! We started off strong with bread baskets with a side of tomatoes/olives. I enjoyed the CASARECCE PESTO E POLLO and I must say, it was one of my fave pasta dishes of all time.
Once we had dinner, we made our way back to the hotel, got ready for bed and called it an early night in. We ended up not searching for Monterey’s night life, but I do know there are some cute bars and places to dance there!
Sunday Morning
We woke up one by one and headed to our complimentary breakfast. I was very impressed with the complimentary breakfast at Hotel Pacific, they had fruit, muffins, bacon, eggs, bagels, cereal, coffee and tea. The dining room had recently been remodeled and it was absolutely adorable.
We checked out of our hotel and then headed down to Cannery Row for coffee at Tidal Coffee. I had a coconut milk latte and the oatmeal! The coconut latte was probably a 6/10 in my books, but the oatmeal was a hit!! It was so creamy and delicious, I just wish they had blueberries or nuts or raisins to put in it!
After we had our coffee, we walked by the water, then to the down cannery row to San Carlos Beach. We walked on the sand and some of us explored the tide pools. I personally did a little bit, and by exploring, I mean I stuck my toe in some sea anemones to watch them close up LOL. We witnessed a wedding and then headed back up to walk on the Coast Guard Pier. From there, we had a great view of crabs, sea otters, seals and starfish!
The end of our beach exploration was also the end of our trip, we headed back up to our car only to be greeted by a parking ticket and make our way back to Vacaville!!
I hope this helps you!
