great takes on family travel in the U.S.

The few times I visited the Monterey Peninsula in California in the past, I went for work or with adult relatives. I thought Monterey was a little dull and Carmel a symbol of tourism gone awry. This time, I went with my kids and found a wonderland.

At my nine year old daughter’s request, “Mom, everyone has gone to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, but me.” (I never knew kids really said that all the time…) I finally made last minute plans for our family to go to Monterey for President’s Weekend. Monterey is idyllic, I think God created it for seven and nine year olds.

Where To Stay
My husband and I had once tried booking a room in Monterey at the last minute years ago and ended up staying in a dive on some six lane highway where even the bathmat was nailed down to prevent thievery. Lovely.

This time with a little help from Kango and Expedia, we found the Country Garden Inn, a cute hotel, just 11 miles outside of Monterey in Carmel Valley. That seems a bit far, but I wanted to stay in Carmel Valley to escape the seaside fog and bask in some afternoon sun. The coast can be damp and cold, average temperature year round is a brisk 57 degrees. Good news, the fog ends about 5 miles out from the coast. Stay inland. Our room featured two twin beds and a queen in a separate room. It included breakfast with made-to-order waffles, soft boiled eggs, blueberry coffeecake, toast, etc. Best of all, it allowed a one night stay—really hard to find on a three day weekend. The setting was beautiful, the staff was old-world accommodating and the room was clean. The only negative was there was no thermostat in the room. We slept with four blankets each on our bed. It was either that or sweating next to a noisy heater. My son didn’t mind, he thought it was the best hotel ever because it had a soda vending machine with root beer. Who needs heat?

Dining
We succumbed to a Jose’s Mexican restaurant just one block off Cannery Row for lunch, good food and a friendly, service oriented staff. For dinner, we ate at the very funky, westernish-themed Running Rails restaurant in Carmel Valley. The ceiling was decorated with hundreds of worn cowboy boots, the walls were covered with all sorts of stuff including a couple of deer heads and a bear head, a few pelts, stained glass lamps, overalls, old signs and more, much more. It is the perfect place to play I Spy. It has so much wall décor, no one noticed the bear head until it was in the game and it still took the other players a long time to find it, despite really obvious hints like “it is a bear.” Food was fine, the wall décor and happy kid factor is a ten.

Visit the Aquarium
We started our first day with the Monterey Bay Aquarium. I thought we would spend two hours at the Aquarium and then wander around Cannery Row. We were there for four hours and left only because it was closing time. My daughter was engrossed by the environmental exhibits, my son ran joyfully from the Kelp Forest to the Rocky Shore to the Sea Otters exhibits and back again, my husband was mesmerized by the Outer Bay exhibit, and I had to be pulled away from the dancing jellyfish. It was a wonderland about the sea. I would skip the crowded special talks, but my husband and son liked them. TIP—book your tickets online to avoid a very long ticket line. If you book on the phone bring the confirmation number, it is quite difficult for them to find a name in their system.

See the Wildlife at Pt. Lobos State Reserve
Maybe it was the aquarium’s educational influence , but we loved Pt. Lobos State Reserve, it was our second wonderland. We took the trail to Sea Lion Point and lucked into a docent guided tour through the Cypress Grove lead by Jack. These walks were kid friendly, fairly flat trails, smashing , crashing waves and lots of wildlife. Did you know otters have a million hairs per square inch, the average human has 200,000 if we are lucky. The Sea Lion Point trail started with waves crashing up 40 feet into the air by the parking lot. From there we ambled along the coastal trail and spotted otters and seals playing in the surf as we walked. The sun lit the sea and we could clearly see the seals swimming underwater. It was the aquarium brought to life. We then followed the Cypress Trail loop back to our car. It got cold after the sun disappeared , bring wind-proof warm clothes and hot chocolate.

Drive through Carmel
We then drove through Carmel. Still touristy, but the Hansel and Gretel architecture interested my kids, well o.k. only a little. I love beaches, but I think Carmel’s crescent shaped, white sand beach is exceptionally pretty. We spent about five minutes there before we went back to our car. More coats were needed, but then I already said that.

Dennis the Menace Park
We then drove back to Monterey, parked near Dennis the Menace park, another Kango find, which my son described as a wonderland and my daughter described as awesome. This park has it all–play structures of all sizes, a real train engine, a climbing wall, swings, slides, a maze, and swinging bridge. It really is a great park. We had lunch at McDonald’s and then took a bike ride on the coastal trail.

Monterey Bay Coastal Bike Trail
This trail is designed for kids. It is nearly flat and it felt like every few feet was worthy of a stop. We started at the park, crossed the street and immediately had to explore Del Monte beach. Back on our bikes and another stop to watch the seals basking on rocks in the marina, another stop to look at old boats, another stop to look at more seals, then a stop to watch otters, a stop at a park to watch volley ball players, a stop to climb on a huge pile of rocks jutting out over the bay, a stop for tide pooling for anemones and starfish and then back along Cannery Row for hot chocolate and to the car. We could have spent a leisurely day just doing the bike ride. This short ride took about 2.5 hours. We were cold and ready to go home.

Next time I visit, I want to go whale watching, sea kayaking and ride the bike path again. If it gets too cold, I want check out Garland Regional Park, it is inland and warm. Without kids, I want to go wine tasting, and take the more rugged north trail in Pt. Lobos. What do you recommend in Monterey, besides bringing a coat or three?