Saturday night Gina and I hit the road for Monterey. Our couchsurfing host Ben was doing a graduate school program at the Navy Postgraduate School. Talk about a nice gig – getting paid to go to school a few blocks from the ocean! He kindly invited us to a barbecue with some of his classmates and we happily accepted.
We stopped at Ben’s place before the barbecue, not knowing what to expect. The first thing I noticed was a flatscreen plasma TV that was longer than me and a huge overstuffed three piece couch set – the ultimate bachelor pad? In addition, there was a ton of Japanese paraphenalia – everything from art to saki – representing the three years Ben spent in Okinawa, Japan.
The barbecue was wonderful – all of the guys (of course a Navy barbecue was mostly men!) were very welcoming. I felt very comfortable, despite a few hard sells on why I should be a Navy doc!
Due to my disregulated sleep cycle after a week of night shifts at the hospital, I was not tired when the barbecue started to wind down at 9:30. When Ben suggested we go to The Crown and Anchor,I happily agreed. The bar is a navy favorite and every table was full. We were even able to play a fun game of “Navy Postgraduate or Monterey Peninsula Community College?” based on the outfits that each patron was wearing. Needless to say, it was much too late before we finally rested our weary heads on Ben’s comfy man-couch.
Despite being up until the wee hours of the morning, I dragged Ben out of bed for a morning run along the Monterey coast. I knew I was in trouble when he had me huffing and puffing within 5 minutes of starting, but we managed to having an amazing run along the coast. It was fun to run with someone who can push me to our of my lazy daily run comfort zone.
We rewarded our hard work with brunch at the Trailside Cafe and Coffee House. What better way to relax than an avocado and bacon omelette, live guitar music and a seaside view? It was amazing!
We then did some antique browsing at Cannery Row Antique Mall. It was fun to see all of the relics from days past, but the prices raised some eyebrows. Despite my best intentions to have a window-shopping only sort of trip, I ended up buying two beautiful pavé bee pins to wear on my name tag at the hospital. They are the perfect juxtaposition of my dad’s honeybee hobby and my love of sparkly things and I promise to post pics soon. In addition, sparkly things are a great way to distract the kiddos while you are trying to get a good heart and lung exam! I really just do it for the children…
We finished our lazy Sunday with a walk on Carmel Beach.
After that it was back to Menlo Park so I could catch the Caltrain back to reality.
* This post is filled with pictures of Monterey that don’t fit the context of my stay. My camera was locked in the trunk of our car for the majority of our visit! I hope you enjoy them anyway.
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