Central Coast Vacation Day 1: Coastal Trail, Aquarium, and 17 Mile Drive

For our 5 night stay in the Monterey Bay area, we rented a 2 bedroom cottage in Pacific Grove, just 2 blocks from the bay. 

The entire bay has a paved trail running beside it so every morning we would take Forest for a stroll after breakfast and try to spot seals lounging on the rocky coast. 

On our first day, we walked by several signs alerting us to popular spots for seal spotting, and we walked by and rolled our eyes. There were no seals to be found. On our walk back to the cottage we noticed a group of tourists gathered by a fence with a ‘Harbor Seals’ sign hanging, and we rushed over to see if we could spot any. We were shocked to discover that what we had thought were rocks on the beach were actually seals- hundreds of them! 

We couldn’t believe we had missed them before. I guess their camouflage really worked on us. I hope it tricks some great white sharks in the same way. 

Once we knew what we were looking for, it got much easier to pick them out along the shores and suddenly it seemed like they were everywhere. 

It’s probably one of those things that becomes so commonplace that the locals hardly even register it, but I remained fascinated with each seal sighting of the day and took a picture each and every time. Sometimes the seals were so well disguised among the rocks that when I looked through my pictures of the day I couldn’t find them in the shot. 

Can you spot the seal?

About a mile down the trail from our cottage was the world famous Monterey Bay Aquarium, and the guy who rented out his house to us loaned us his season passes so we got out of the 50 dollar entrance fee and got to skip ahead of the long line. We sort of rushed through the exhibits because it was quite crowded and most of the interactive displays were geared toward the elementary school set. 

Forest really enjoyed the Kelp Forest exhibit though and was amazed by the fish swimming by. It was awesome to see his little eyes tracking the sharks as they floated on by. 

The second floor had a space for babies/toddlers to crawl around and have some water play. He was about as young as he could be and still get anything out of it. But it was good for him to get out of his stroller and stretch his legs. 

For me it was a reality check as I saw babies whizzing by on two legs! I struck up a conversation with the mom of a walking tot and when I asked how old her daughter was she said 10 months. Oy vey! I have a feeling Forest will hit this milestone early since he was an early crawler and I am just cherishing these last few weeks/months of babyhood! 

After checking out the octopi, sea otters, and the gift shop, we headed home to put Forest down for his afternoon nap. 

The morning had been quite foggy and cool, but while we were in the aquarium the sun came out in full force. 

We decided to spend the clear afternoon driving the scenic 17-mile drive to Pebble Beach. The cost to enter this stretch of winding residential roads is $10, but that price is refunded to you if you spend $30 eating at any of the Pebble Beach eateries. Even if you don’t, $10 is plenty worth it to see the amazing views along this coastal path. 

We stopped at a few of the pull outs to take pictures and got Forest out for photo ops at one of the beaches and also in front of the iconic lone cypress, which is the symbol of this area of California. 

Forest was truly captivated by the beach. He just loved watching the waves crashing down. 

Usually, he is very cooperative with posing for the camera, but there were many times when he just couldn’t take his eyes off of the ocean. 

This thrilled his scuba-diving dad. 

The Lone Cypress was also a great stop. It looks so solemn and majestic hanging out over the precipitous ocean. I can see why is it such a beloved symbol of Pebble Beach. 

Speaking of Pebble Beach…Wowza! For someone who doesn’t play a stitch of golf, I sure have visited some world class courses. Gleneagles, Trump International, and St. Andrews in Scotland and Kapalua in Maui. Now I can add world renowned Pebble Beach to that list. We stopped at The Bench for a drink and a snack while over-looking the 18^th hole (aka one of the most beautiful backdrops I have ever seen). 

Jonathan has looked into playing a round of golf there while we are living here and I think it costs around $500 per person! But for a golfer, it’s a priceless experience I’m sure. After finishing our cocktails we loaded Forest back up and headed home in time to put him down at 7. 

Jonathan and I made enchiladas and enjoyed some Monterey region wine on the front porch while baby boy snoozed away.

Check back later for details and pictures of day 2 which we spent exploring Carmel-by-the-Sea and Point Lobos State Reserve.  

 Stay tuned!