10 years!

Better late than never!

Peter and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary in May by taking a long weekend vacation in Monterey. It was wonderful. The weather was great (it could have been a little sunnier, but at least the rain that threatened to fall held off until we were on our way home).

WE stayed at a surprisingly nice Best Western a few miles away from Cannery row. The location was perfect for me, with a Beverly's fabric store within walking distance where I got some Amy Butler fabric. But I digress...

We traveled to Monterey on our anniversary day. Once we arrived we had dinner at the nice restaurant adjacent to our hotel. The dinner was a sweet gift from our best friends, they gave us a gift visa card to use for our dinner. Fire grilled pizza, fish and chips, corn and shrimp chowder, and grilled oysters. YUM!


The next day we headed out to Point Lobos nature preserve where we spent hours roaming and hiking, watching the harbor seals frolicking on the rocky shore and sunning themselves on a small strip of beach. We had a small picnic at Whaler's Cove and climbed the rocky stairs to the top of the cove to take in the breathtaking view.







Lauren finds some whale bones at Whaler's Cove and watching the seals.

We continued on down the road to search for Pfeiffer Beach, a hidden jewel close to Big Sur. It definitely was hidden, we drove down a two mile narrow, bumpy, twisty road to finally get down to the beach. Unfortunately, the whipping wind made for a miserable beach...the sand stung our skin and eyes. We huddled under a rocky cave to find shelter from the cold wind. It's too bad because the views were gorgeous and there were some unusual and cool rock formations. Maybe next time.

We headed back to downtown Monterey where we played at the Dennis the Menace park and rented a paddleboat. We paddled around the park for an hour until the sun set. Perfect.

The highlight of our trip was definitely the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Sigh...I could hang out there for hours and hours. I loved the huge outer reef, giant kelp, seahorse, and ocean deep exhibits. Lauren loved the turtles and penguins. Peter's favorite was the giant kelp and the sardines! We spent the next two days at the aquarium and then headed back home just as the rain started to pour. It was a wonderful weekend, and a perfect way to celebrate our anniversary and our family. Ten years has gone by in a flash, I wonder what the next 10 years holds for us? I can't wait to find out!