What I read on holidays.....

"Smart Women" by Judy Blume

I bought this book in Pacific Grove in the Friends of the Library book sale for $2.  I had read a few of Judy Blume's adult reads before and enjoyed them.  This one is very "1980's" but enjoyable all the same.

"Surf Mama" was the perfect beach read.  All about English artist, Wilma Johnson, and her quest to learn to surf at the age of 40, after moving from Ireland to France, it made me want to get a wetsuit and board and learn too!!

"The short and tragic life of Robert Peace" by Jeff Hobbs
 Oh wow! This book was amazing. I bought it in the airport in San Francisco and had it read when I arrived in Philadelphia 5 hours later. What a tale of a life that promised so much - it makes you think that sometimes our life is mapped out for us no matter what extra chances we are given.

I generally switch over to Radio 1 to avoid Ivan Yates on Newstalk. However, I did enjoy his biography - he sure has lived a life and a half.

B.J. Novak's "One more thing" is pretty much fictional musings on modern life.  Amusing in parts, I bought this book in Pacific Grove but left it behind in Santa Cruz as I had finished it and didn't want to carry it home.......what does this say about the book?!

This was Ciaran's "light reading" for our holiday.  I flicked through it and read a few of the more interesting chapters.  I studied Sociology in University so I found some of it to be fascinating from a sociological perspective.

Where we stayed in California - Pacific Grove, Santa Cruz & San Francisco

We are home from our big Californian Trip so this blog post is all about where we stayed over the two weeks.

The first hotel we stayed in was close to San Francisco Airport.  It was the La Quinta Inn on the El Camino Real and we chose it because we just needed to get a room close to the airport for one night after the long flight to SF.  We were pleasantly surprised by this hotel (which was a good thing because I had booked it for our last night too!) as we didn't expect too much because it was an airport hotel.  

The room was good and there was a nice pool and gym in this hotel. For breakfast there was was  hot food which included eggs, bacon and waffles along with yoghurts, cereals and breads (which I stayed away from but Ciaran enjoyed the carbs!)

The second place we stayed in was a Bed & Breakfast called the Martine Inn which was in Pacific Grove.

This was the amazing view from the dining room every morning - we even saw a whale in the bay over breakfast!!

 Every evening there was a cocktail hour with wine and hot hor d'oevres served every evening which was a nice touch.

The Inn owner has a collection of MG's in the garage out back.  My twin sister owned a 1967 MG (read about it here) so I was really interested in checking all of these babies out!

 We stayed in the Pineapple Room.  All of the rooms are full of antique furniture.  Our room was on the smaller side (perhaps the smallest in the Inn) and the only issue I had was that it was filled with really massive furniture and space was at a premium - perhaps one or two items could be removed or replaced with smaller furniture.

Check out the old school phone in our room.  I rang a local restaurant and I can tell you it really felt I was making a phone call as I pressed those clunky buttons!!

And then it was on to the Casablanca Inn in Santa Cruz. 

I loved this place......anywhere you can walk on to the beach in a few steps is fine by me!!

We had a lovely room with a king size bed and a little kitchenette. 

This was the incredible view from our little balcony - it was so special to wake up to a beach view. 

 Honestly I didn't get up to a whole lot in either beach location apart from chilling on the beach and walking the area.

Check out my bargain beach blanket. We went to buy beach towels in Pacific Grove and they were all sold out because of Labor Weekend.  We didn't want to go to another shop so I suggested we buy blankets.  We paid $3.99 for the blankets and $2.99 for the mat when I got back to the counter the lady who was helping us look for towels remarked how smart we were that we found an alternative.  She also said that we had saved money as the towels were $11.99!  :-) 

After Santa Cruz we moved on to San Francisco where we were booked in to the Adagio Hotel on Geary St.  This was a nice little boutique hotel.  The lobby was especially nice and the rooms had been tastefully refurbed.  The only issue I had with this place was that they didn't offer free WiFi in the bedrooms only in the lobby. I'm so over hotels charging for WiFi - what do you think?  On the other hand, there was free coffee available in the lobby which I very much enjoyed!

We had hoped to stay in the Adagio for our last night in San Francisco but the huge Dreamforce Conference was on in SF and the price of a room jumped to about 700 dollars!!  Whoah!  

We booked in to the La Quinta and got a shuttle from the Adagio on Tuesday evening to San Francisco Airport and then got a free shuttle to the La Quinta from the airport.  The next morning we returned to the airport by shuttle too and were on our way back to Ireland!

We were very happy with all of the places we stayed (they were all very different) and we would happily recommend them to anyone.

The Lighthouse Movie Theater in Pacific Grove, California

While in Pacific Grove we went to see the new Robert Redford film "A walk in the woods" which is based on Bill Bryson's tale of walking the Appalachian Trail.  We saw the movie in the Lighthouse Cinema.  It was a great cinema!!  Very old school.  A cool experience to see this very American film in a very American movie theater (or theatre, as the Irish would say!)

Here is the cinema from across the road.

Pacific Grove is full of Victorian properties and has a huge wide main stream - it's very picturesque.

This little shop reminded me of Key West.

 Here is the cinema at night time when we came out as the movie finished.

Main street Pacific Grove looked quite Christmassy in September with the lighted trees!

Having a whale of a time in Monterey!

It seems so far ago now but on our last day in the Monterey area we went on a Whale Watching Trip for a half day before heading up to Santa Cruz.  After having our original trip cancelled due to the rough weather we felt lucky to have got a new trip booked for 9am on Sunday morning.

We travelled out on the water for about an hour.  While getting to an area where there was whales we saw otters and dolphins (lots of them swimming around the boat). We then got to the area where there was whales and that's where the experience started.  It was incredible!!

We could not believe the amount of whales we saw. Our guide said that there was about 50 in the area although you only see about 1 or 2 at a time as once you see them dive with their back fin you know they are going under water for about 5 mins.  

Aswell as seeing so many we so them doing so many things.  We we even saw one come completely out of the water and throw their self back in that iconic whale pose!  I also saw one come up out of the water with it's mouth open which was very cool looking.

We were awed by nature and I will have amazing memories of this trip forever.

Whale Watching in Pacific Grove in the Martine Inn

We are staying in the Martine Inn in Pacific Grove near Monterey. This is the stunning view out the front dining room where breakfast is served along with hot hors d'oevres and wine in the evening. The view is fabulous (it's a million dollar view) but what is even more amazing is the wildlife that we have spotted in the water as we are enjoying our breakfast.  We have seen dophins, otters but best of all whales!!!  
It's been hard to keep up a conversation with whoever you are with because when you see a whale you have to immediately say Wow and point it out to others near you!

Here's the table laid out for the Wine & Cheese which is on at 5.30pm every evening.

The inn is full of antiques and we have played pool on the 1890's table every night which has been fun.

The inn is quaint and charming with a few nice touchs like fresh fruit available throughout the day along with freshly baked goods and coffee from 3pm.  First day there was delicious chocolate cookies (I brought a few to Starbucks yesterday) and then there was an oatmeal raisin bite type bar.  I wonder what will be made today?!

Speaking of Starbucks, that is where we are currently, we were up at 6.30am this morning so the jet lag is easing.
Look at these cookies - how cute are they!!  They are in the shape of  Starbucks Frapuccinos!

Beach food!

Yesterday we were due to go on a Whale Watching trip from Fisherman's Wharf in Monterey at about 1pm.  When we arrived at 12.30pm we discovered that all the trips out had been cancelled due to windy conditions.  We rescheduled for Sunday morning so hopefully that works out.

Having spent an enjoyable morning at Lovers Point Beach we decided to return for the afternoon.  I suggested we go to the beach cafe to get some calamari as I had seen it on the menu that morning and I had a craving for some.

Ciaran got the burger which was so good that I may get it today!  I got the calamari which was so tasty and the sauces with it were delicious too.  All in all, really great casual beach food!

Is there anything as nice as eating fresh fish on the beach front?!

On my holidays!

I'm in California!

And it is amazing!! The beaches are stunning and the weather is perfect.  We will spend a few days in Monterey and then make our way to Santa Cruz.

We spent our first night in an airport hotel (after travelling for a long time from Ireland we were in no fit state to drive any distance).  We had a small plate of sushi and slept from 8pm.......but then of course were awake early with the jet lag.  I was awake from 4am and Ciaran finally got up at 6am.  Luckily breakfast was served from 6am in this particular hotel.  We then hit the gym for a stretch and a small core session.  After all of that we chilled out by the pool for a little - after the bad Summer in Ireland you can't believe how good it felt to have some sun on the skin!! 

And then we got on the way to Monterey in our rented Toyota Yaris (the sales agent in the car rental tried to get us to upgrade by calling us out on the size of car we reserved "You guys need to enjoy your vacation with a bigger car" - we laughed and we were like "Yeah, we're cool, we drive a Smart Car at home!!".  In fairness, with all of our luggage (Ciaran has loads of rackets and sports gear for his squash tournament) the car is pretty full.  We needed to put the seats down in the back to get everything in.  It is definitely only a car for two!

Currently it is 6am and we are in the local Starbucks in Pacific Grove (largest one in Monterey).  Breakfast is served at 8am in our Bed and Breakfast.  After brekkie we plan to go to the beach and then go on a Whale Watching Trip at lunch time.  Although warm we have been advised to wear warm clothes on the boat as it can be cold on the water.  Once the sun is shining it is warm but currently I am in jeans and a heavy jumper.  All of the locals are in full clothes but we are in shorts and tshirts to try and get as much exposure as possible!!  I need my vitamin D fix ;-)

How similar does this Starbucks on Lighthouse & David look to the Starbucks at home in Dublin on Waterloo Road?!

It looks very new to me and seemingly it was a former KFC - it has a drive thru to get your coffee on the go.  

For snacks and drinks we shopped in Nob Hill.  It is pretty cool from the outside (kind of reminded me of Faustos in Key West) but insides is a regular supermarket.  I'll take a picture later during the week and will post it.

I will probably post intermittently but do look out for a few more pics of our trip over the next short while.