Lizzybear
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 23, 2006
- Messages
- 2,955
Pre-trip
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
22nd September 2008
Up early yet again, got ready and went to Dennys for breakfast. I hadn't eaten there since a mediocre experience on my first Orlando trip in 2002 but I thought i'd give it another chance in a different location (also Steve had never eaten there) It was OK, not bad by any means but still pales in comparison to IHOP in our opinion! We headed back to the hotel, picked up our luggage and got the bus (Steve's idea, in hindsight I would have just forked out for a taxi!) to the Dollar garage. There was no queue so I didn't bother using my Express card but we still ended up waiting 20 minutes for no real reason: When I questioned the guy at the desk he said he was 'getting us a better car for our luggage' I'd booked an intermediate (Sebring or equivalent) and we got... A Sebring! Strange.. Anyway, the boot swallowed our 2 cases no problem (and later in the holiday we fitted 3 with room to spare) and after some initial 'teething problems' with the car (ie me using my LEFT foot to brake, not sure what I was thinking but i'm just glad no-one was that close behind us..!) I soon got back into the swing of driving in the US and we were well on our way to Monterey.
Noble steed! It was quite 'clumsy' to drive but overall OK. I think we spent $100 total on fuel and we drove about 1500 miles, not bad! This photo was actually taken in the car park at Monterey but it seems more appropriate here.
The traffic was very light most of the way except for a few bottlenecks due to roadworks and one particularly slow moving section which turned out to be the result of rubberneckers! A big rig had caught fire and was completely burnt out on the other side of the road, quite scary! We later found out on the news that the driver had, thankfully, escaped unharmed. The traffic the other way was backed up literally for miles as there aren't many exits on that stretch of road.
Sand dunes just outside Monterey.. I wish we'd been able to get more pictures in this area, it was truly breathtaking.
We arrived in Monterey at around 1:30pm and headed straight to the Cannery Row car park, which is the nearest one to the aquarium. The aquarium was a little busy but not unbearable and we had a great time there.. It's definitely the best aquarium both of us have ever been to.
UV jellies!
So cute
This fish was totally still near us for ages while we were watching the 'kelp forest feeding/talk. Maybe he was listening to the talk aswell?!
Wish we'd had the DSLR in Monterey!
Dory!
Hard to get any good otter feeding photos as there were tons of people around and they move so fast!
I got a T-shirt, some penguin earrings and a fridge magnet for me and a baby's first otter for my cousin's baby (due very soon) from the gift shop and we left the aquarium at around 5, heading on foot to Hula's Island Grill for dinner. This is a really cool Hawaiian themed place which is rated number one in Monterey on Tripadvisor so we had high hopes.
Cool shop we saw on the walk to Hula's
I'm happy to say we weren't disappointed! We shared a basket of sweet potato fries for a starter. They were so yummy (and became something of a 'thing' for us for the rest of the holiday!) and the dipping sauce they came with was awesome.
One of my few food pics!
For mains I had the ahi tuna burger with mixed greens and Steve had the spicy tofu tacos. This place is really great for vegetarians and vegans, nearly all the dishes on the menu can be made with tofu or similar. The cocktails looked good but as I was driving I had to pass (I don't risk even one as some places make them stronger than others) Bill was $42 inc. tip and we got some snacks for tomorrow's drive from Longs Drugs next door to the restaurant before driving to our hotel for the night, the Super 8. Checked in quickly and the room was fine, basic as expected but all we needed for one night, no complaints at all. We chilled in the room and Steve watched the Heroes premiere, I think I drifted off somewhere in the middle of it! Monterey is a really lovely place and we wished we had longer than one night here, it's definitely somewhere we will be returning to.
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
22nd September 2008
Up early yet again, got ready and went to Dennys for breakfast. I hadn't eaten there since a mediocre experience on my first Orlando trip in 2002 but I thought i'd give it another chance in a different location (also Steve had never eaten there) It was OK, not bad by any means but still pales in comparison to IHOP in our opinion! We headed back to the hotel, picked up our luggage and got the bus (Steve's idea, in hindsight I would have just forked out for a taxi!) to the Dollar garage. There was no queue so I didn't bother using my Express card but we still ended up waiting 20 minutes for no real reason: When I questioned the guy at the desk he said he was 'getting us a better car for our luggage' I'd booked an intermediate (Sebring or equivalent) and we got... A Sebring! Strange.. Anyway, the boot swallowed our 2 cases no problem (and later in the holiday we fitted 3 with room to spare) and after some initial 'teething problems' with the car (ie me using my LEFT foot to brake, not sure what I was thinking but i'm just glad no-one was that close behind us..!) I soon got back into the swing of driving in the US and we were well on our way to Monterey.
Noble steed! It was quite 'clumsy' to drive but overall OK. I think we spent $100 total on fuel and we drove about 1500 miles, not bad! This photo was actually taken in the car park at Monterey but it seems more appropriate here.
The traffic was very light most of the way except for a few bottlenecks due to roadworks and one particularly slow moving section which turned out to be the result of rubberneckers! A big rig had caught fire and was completely burnt out on the other side of the road, quite scary! We later found out on the news that the driver had, thankfully, escaped unharmed. The traffic the other way was backed up literally for miles as there aren't many exits on that stretch of road.
Sand dunes just outside Monterey.. I wish we'd been able to get more pictures in this area, it was truly breathtaking.
We arrived in Monterey at around 1:30pm and headed straight to the Cannery Row car park, which is the nearest one to the aquarium. The aquarium was a little busy but not unbearable and we had a great time there.. It's definitely the best aquarium both of us have ever been to.
UV jellies!
So cute
This fish was totally still near us for ages while we were watching the 'kelp forest feeding/talk. Maybe he was listening to the talk aswell?!
Wish we'd had the DSLR in Monterey!
Dory!
Hard to get any good otter feeding photos as there were tons of people around and they move so fast!
I got a T-shirt, some penguin earrings and a fridge magnet for me and a baby's first otter for my cousin's baby (due very soon) from the gift shop and we left the aquarium at around 5, heading on foot to Hula's Island Grill for dinner. This is a really cool Hawaiian themed place which is rated number one in Monterey on Tripadvisor so we had high hopes.
Cool shop we saw on the walk to Hula's
I'm happy to say we weren't disappointed! We shared a basket of sweet potato fries for a starter. They were so yummy (and became something of a 'thing' for us for the rest of the holiday!) and the dipping sauce they came with was awesome.
One of my few food pics!
For mains I had the ahi tuna burger with mixed greens and Steve had the spicy tofu tacos. This place is really great for vegetarians and vegans, nearly all the dishes on the menu can be made with tofu or similar. The cocktails looked good but as I was driving I had to pass (I don't risk even one as some places make them stronger than others) Bill was $42 inc. tip and we got some snacks for tomorrow's drive from Longs Drugs next door to the restaurant before driving to our hotel for the night, the Super 8. Checked in quickly and the room was fine, basic as expected but all we needed for one night, no complaints at all. We chilled in the room and Steve watched the Heroes premiere, I think I drifted off somewhere in the middle of it! Monterey is a really lovely place and we wished we had longer than one night here, it's definitely somewhere we will be returning to.
