Dates: 10/09/2020 thru 10/12/2020
Location: Monterey, CA
To kick off Our 100 Series, we decided to head to Monterey, CA! I was 33 weeks pregnant at the time of this trip. With COVID going on, we almost didn’t go anywhere. BUUUUUT…since this was pretty much our last time being a Family of 4, we took the plunge and just went – and I’m so happy we did!
We actually started our trip the day before all the way in Paso Robles to view the Field of Lights. If you want to read more about that trip, you can click here. We left the next morning to head to Monterey, CA.
Here is a run down of what we did each day:
DAY 1: Friday, 10/09/2020 –
We stayed at the Embassy Suites Monterey Bay Seaside. To read our hotel review, click here. We checked into the hotel early just before 1pm. Once we checked in and unloaded our luggages, our first stop was to Cannery Row!
Unfortunately, the Monterey Bay Aquarium is still closed due to COVID so we couldn’t go there. We just decided to walk down that little strip and see what there was to do.
As we began walking, I found this person offering Tarot Readings! So, you KNOW I had to do it! The cost was $40 for a reading. I asked some questions about my career and it was pretty interesting and accurate. I always find it interesting to see the different tarot cards people use also.
Once that was over, we continued down the strip to see what other stores we could find. We were so hungry from the 2 hour trip from Paso Robles, so we decided to stop somewhere at eat. We found this place called The Fish Hopper and OH MY GOD. They had THE BEST Clam Chowder Bread Bowl!!! We found out that “Monterey Style” Clam Chowder included a GARLIC bread bowl….WHAT?! So simple yet soooo much more delicious! Then, on top of that, you could add crab to it. Let’s just say…it was so good that we ate it every single day of our trip LOL. Unfortunately, it was so good that we ate it before I could take pictures but we did order Fish & Chips, and Filet Mignon & Lobster that I was able to take pictures of.
The Fish Hopper 
Filet Mignon & Lobster 
Fish & Chips
After we ate, the kids walked down to the beach right off of the restaurant.
Of course after eating, we needed some dessert! So, we found a Nestle Tollhouse.
After dessert, we decided to head back to the hotel. It was a little odd being on a “vacation” during COVID because you didn’t really want to be out in public so much. Plus, no one really wants to wear a mask all day. We left Cannery Row and went back to the hotel for some swimming!
That completed Day 1.
DAY 2: Saturday, 10/10/2020 –
I booked us tickets to the Monterey Zoo for this day! After eating continental breakfast, we got ready to head out. Upon arriving at the zoo, we already started seeing some Llamas and Zebras on the drive in. Really cool.
The zoo was not too huge. Probably took us about 1.5 hours to explore the entire thing. Upon entering, there were these art drawings made my elephants! You know Shayla had to take a photo with it since she loves art.
Here are some photos we took while walking around the zoo:
By the time we finished, it was lunch time and can you guess what we wanted to eat? More clam chowder bread bowls!!! I did a quick search on Yelp to find another place and we decided to head to the Old Fisherman’s Grotto over at the Old Fisherman’s Wharf. This was a really cool place to see also because I’d never been to this area before. We always ended up at the Cannery Row side so this place was new for us.
When we got there, we found out that there was no outdoor dining. The place was strictly to go orders (bummer). So, we placed our order and while we waited we walked around the wharf (it wasn’t too big anyway and only had about 30 min to wait).
As we were walking, we found out that they did Whale Watching here! Problem is…pregnant women can’t go on the boat. Well, that sucked! But, the kids were really interested in going so I took one for the team! LOL. We ended up getting tickets for RJ and the 2 of them to go the next morning.
After buying our tickets, we got a call the food was ready so we went to pick it up and walked to the car to head back to the hotel. On the way to the car, we found this cool little place called “California’s First Theater”. It was shut down, but here are photos of the kids in front:
When we got back to the hotel, we ate our deeeelicious Clam Chowder Bread Bowls! Can you guess what we did to close out our day? Yup, MORE SWIMMING!
DAY 3: Sunday 10/11/2020 –
This was our last day. It was Whale Watching Day for RJ and the kids! I was super jealous but that means I got to sleep in, and I definitely needed it being so pregnant! Plus, I needed the extra time for myself to get ready because we were going to be shooting my Maternity Photos that day!
They left at 7:30am for their 9am tickets and it looked like they had so much fun! Ryder apparently got really scared of the waves, and Shayla got a bit seasick – but all in all, they said this was the BEST part of the trip so I’m happy they went. The whales got really close up to the boat! Here are some photos:
When they got back, we headed to the Asilomar State Beach.
RJ also took my maternity photos and despite the wind, he did such a great job!
Once that was over, we went back to the hotel and decided to ask them if we could have an upgrade for our last night. They ended up upgrading us to a room with a balcony free of charge! We switched rooms and, of course, took the kids swimming for one last time before we headed home the next morning.
All in all, we had such a fun time! Monterey was far enough where we could feel like we were on a vacation away from home, but it was also close enough where if something happened and I went into labor early (since I’m high risk), we could still drive back home.
Especially when you consider these COVID times, I’m really glad we took this trip because it almost didn’t happen! While we are sooo excited to welcome our new baby girl, it’s so bittersweet with it being our last time as a Family of 4. Our next trip, we will officially be a FAMILY OF 5!
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