A few months ago Kelly asked me if I would watch Noelle for the week that she and Dave were on their honeymoon. Of course I thought it would be a perfect excuse to go on vacation. I have taken Thomas on vacation several times but never have taken Noelle. Nor has Noelle ever been away from Kelly and Dave for such a long period of time. She was going to go home with Dave’s Mom after the wedding and come back to my house Monday evening. So, I wasn’t so sure how she was going to do but decided to take a chance anyway. I figured she would be upset at home or upset somewhere else and how bad could it really be?
I decided to take her to Monterey. As many of you know I lived there for several years while I was in college. It’s been a decade since I graduated (I know… I can’t believe it either) and have never gone back to spend any length of time. I’ve gone with friends for day trips but I wanted to go and do all of the “everyday” things that I enjoyed while living there not the touristy things. So, I made my list of the top 10 things I loved to do while I lived there and that is what we did.
A few months back I made reservations at the Ramada in Marina. I didn’t remember it being there before so I was a little nervous but I got really good deal and figured that we wouldn’t spend that much time so it didn’t really matter how nice it was. When we arrived I was pleasantly surprised. It was relatively new, clean and perfectly located with all of the things I wanted to do.
1. On Tuesday afternoon we checked in and went to one of my favorite beaches. Marina State Beach. It has easy access and if your timing is good there isn’t very busy. It was really windy and cool but Noelle and I had a great time playing in the sand. 
2. After spending time at the beach it was time to eat dinner so I ordered a pizza to take back to the hotel and searched for the Coast Weekly magazine. It’s a free publication that lists all of the events going on during the week as well as highlighting local businesses. It was one of my favorite things to read and always very easy to find. However this time I went to about 7 different places to get one and all of the newsstands were empty!!! I was very disappointed but we enjoyed our pizza.
3. After dinner we took a little walk down Reservation Road, which isn’t anything really special, but it was something I enjoyed while living there. We went to look at the ducks in the pond but we couldn’t find any. But the smell and the brisk air in my face was wonderful!
Then on Wednesday morning we left for Gilroy Gardens.
I had never been there so it isn’t on the list of favorite things but thought Noelle would really enjoy going there. This really was the place to go! The weather was perfect, it wasn’t crowded and not very expensive. Noelle and I were able to ride all of the rides except for 2 (I think) and some of the rides we rode all by ourselves because it wasn’t crowded. I would recommend it for anyone that has small kids. That evening we went to Denny’s for dinner.
Thursday was the day that I had been waiting for since I had planned the trip!! I had packed in almost all of my favorite things.
4. We started the morning by driving down Reservation Road to Davis Road going to Salinas. Now this also isn’t exciting to other people but the view of all of the produce fields, the hills, and the brisk air is wonderful. I drove by the old Kinko’s that I worked at on the way to Northridge Mall. We walked around the mall and Noelle got to ride a few of the little cars.
We ate lunch at McDonald’s and then she rode the carousal but I didn’t get a picture of that.
Then we drove down Blanco Road, which is another long road that takes you from Salinas to Marina. The produce fields are all around you and are as green as ever! After that I decided to take Noelle back to the room and try and have her take a nap because we had a long afternoon ahead of us but she didn’t want to participate in that activity!!! After about 45 minutes of trying to get her to go to sleep I gave up and we headed for #5.
5. Dennis the Menace Park I used to love to go to this park by myself and take a long nap under a tree. Noelle and I took a walk around but I forgot my camera in the car so I didn’t get pictures. Then we headed for #6.
6. The best Farmer’s Market ever!!! I planned my entire vacation around going to the Farmer’s Market! I was looking forward to the beautiful flowers, the best banana bread in the world, and a plethora of fruit and vegetables. So, I showed up right on time but when I got there I was disappointed to be the only one that showed up! I don’t know what happened but I was very very disappointed. I guess I didn’t get the e-mail that said there was no Farmer’s Market this week. So Noelle and I headed for #7.
7. Downtown Monterey we walked up and down the streets we didn’t go in or do any shopping but it was nice to enjoy the scenery, the fresh air, and again we got to walk along the beach. Noelle would not get close to the water because it was a “mess” . 
and then we headed to the Wharf. After the Wharf we headed back down Alvarado Street to #8. 
8. Rosines Restaurant!! You cannot go to Monterey and not go to Rosines. Since I had #9 to get to I got our dessert to go! What you ask??? The best cakes in the world. They all looked good so I decided to get three pieces. 
No we didn’t all of that cake. I brought one piece home to Kelly and Dave and the other two (what’s left of them) are in my refrigerator and Wanda and I are going to eat them tonight!!!! After leaving Rosines we headed to #9
9. Papa Chano’s Restaurant has really really good Mexican food. I love the nachos and burritos. So, I got the Carne Asada Nachos and got Noelle a bean and cheese burrito. Noelle also gave it her seal of approval by eating the entire burrito (they are HUGE)!!!
10. After picking up dinner and dessert we headed back to our room but took a little detour through CSUMB! The campus has really changed since I was there a decade ago!! It doesn’t look as much as an old Army base as it did when I was there. It brought back a lot of old memories. 
We finally made it back to our room and enjoyed our wonderful meal and dessert. Played some games, read a few books, watched the news coverage of Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett’s deaths and then went to bed. Noelle was such a great sport.
Friday it was time to go home. We went the long way home and went to Oakley to visit my friend and roommate from CSUMB, Tanya. She had a beautiful baby girl on Wednesday. Noelle loved seeing baby Kaitlin. We didn’t stay long because Tanya had just gotten home from the hospital the day before and she was tired and I was tired from a long week. We headed town Highway 4 back home. We spent 5 hours in the car yesterday and for the most part Noelle did a great job!! When we got home this is what Noelle did.
We had a fabulous vacation. Noelle was definitely ready to be home and see her Mommy, Daddy and Thomas. She must have asked me 50 times yesterday in the car where they were. I can’t wait to go back and do all 10 things over again!!!!
