Our PCH Road Trip: Monterey and Carmel-by-the-Sea

Ever since I was a little girl my dad would talk about how beautiful Monterey and Carmel are, and ever since then I have wanted to go there. We stayed in the cutest little cottage right by the sea. I was so amazed by how clear the water was! The beaches were rocky and studded with patches of wildflowers. It was absolutely stunning.

A HUGE bucket list item of mine was to go to the Monterey Bay Aquarium which I had heard was one of the best in the world (also I had heard it was the aquarium the one in Finding Dory is based off of so naturally I had to go there)! The $50 per person entrance fee was a little steep but it was worth it.

I think my favoritest part were all the jellyfish tanks which conveniently I didn't take a single picture of, ha. I am one of those people who are totally fascinated with sea creatures and fish but am also kind of terrified of them at the same time. I have absolutely NO desire to go near them or touch them or be in a place where they could touch me/eat me. This is why I am an ideal aquarium goer, and not an ideal scuba diver.

After our morning at the aquarium we decided to take a jaunt down Cannery Row. Before Monterey was a tourist destination it was a huge cannery town. Cannery Row is where all these historic canneries used to be, but of course now they have been turned into restaurants, shops and hotels. It was pretty cool though to walk down the street and see all the big, historical buildings. I wish I could transport myself back in time and see it for what it once was though.

Our next stop was Carmel Beach. One thing that really impressed me was how dog friendly Carmel and Monterey are. I mean EVERYONE has a dog. At the beach, in the stores, at the hotel!! They are everywhere and all the businesses seem to be dog friendly, which is pretty cool. 

Carmel was so charming! All the houses there seriously looked like fairy tale cottages and I wanted to live in all of them! It is crazy how drastically the landscape changes from Monterey to Carmel. Monterey is filled with these rocky beaches and then Carmel has a very forest like feel and vibe. I like it.

I mentioned in an earlier post that the Big Sur portion of Highway 1 was closed (agh!!) but we decided to drive south of Carmel as far as we could until the road closed to get a glimpse of as much as possible.

  

In the distance you'll see Rocky Creek Bridge, which is where the road was closed off so sadly we did not get to cross it or drive any further south than that. But the highway we were able to cover between Carmel and here were the stuff dreams are made out of!

So many rocky cliffs and green, green pastures with probably the happiest cows in the world grazing! We stopped at this little turn off and sat on the edge of a cliff and watched the sunset. I have that memory stamped in my brain forever, the way the ice cold sea breeze whipped my hair about my face, and the way the orange glow of the sun faded on the cliff edge studded with purple and yellow wildflowers.

If I was a rich woman I would immediately buy a ranch along the Big Sur coast.

But alas, I am short a few million dollars.

Soon to come, the last installment of our trip - San Francisco!