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| Hello California! |
What an amazing trip. I had so much fun I *almost* didn't want to come home. I flew out to San Jose Thursday night before the race, rented a car, and drove to my AirBnb in Seaside. This was my first experience with AirBnb and I loved it! I stayed in the Finch Room at the Historic Landmark House in Seaside with hosts Annemarie and Jesse.
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| My petite guest room |
Every morning I was there the hosts would come down and make breakfast and hang out with the guests, getting to know everyone as well as giving us tips for what sights we should see, good restaurants in the area, etc. There were some very interesting people staying at the house. I loved coming down and having some french press coffee and chatting with everyone.
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| All the pictures inside the aquarium came out bad so this is what you get. |
The first full day I was there my first stop was the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Annemarie and Jesse suggested going early and even got me a discounted pass. Truthfully, aquariums are not my thing. Everything is so beautiful and I appreciate that but I feel so bad for everything that lives in those tiny tanks, swimming in circles. I know it's educational but these creatures should be free. So I wandered around for a little bit and then just decided to get out as quickly as possible.
After the aquarium I walked around that downtown area a little bit but decided it was too touristy for my tastes and I headed to the marathon expo. For some reason I thought it was a brilliant idea to WALK to the expo. In my not-so-comfortable sandals. It was as if nature agreed with me and about half way through my 1.25 mile walk it absolutely poured. So now I was soaking wet, because I had no rain gear, and my feet were developing blisters from rubbing against my wet sandals. Brilliant idea Whitney. Brilliant.
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| Poof! That's what my hair is doing. |
Anyway, I got to the expo, got my race packet and decided to peruse the merchandise for once. I ended up walking out with a very nice visor (in the picture below) that I use on every run. It is a wonderful hat and I love it!
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| Love this visor! |
Next on my to-do list was to find a local brewery/brew pub. Luckily for me (because I was still on foot) the Alvarado Street Brewery was a pretty short walk from the expo. Most people must have still been at the expo at the time because I had no trouble getting a spot at the bar. Once I had my food it started pouring again and more runners found their way to the brewery making it quite crowded. It was fun because just about everyone sitting at the bar was there for the race, so I had a nice time chatting with everyone. I like hearing how far people come for a race. I think I traveled the farthest out of everyone I met though.
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| Nom Nom Nom |
For food I got delicious grilled artichokes followed by fish tacos. It was a VERY messy meal, I felt like I needed to take a shower after. For beers I believe I had Eddie would Gose and Citraveza, a Mexican lager. Don't hold me to that though, it was 5 months ago!
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| This Might be the hardest hole on the course? IDK |
After lunch I walked the 1.25 miles back to my car and decided to take a little drive. Everyone told me to skip the 17-mile drive through Pebble Beach but eh, I had time and truthfully I loved it. The houses were obscenely gorgeous, the road was fun and I got to see some of the famous golf courses. Not like that really mattered to me, but it did make some of my coworkers jealous.
After that I drove down into Big Sur a bit to see what the course was like. I am going to share those pictures during the actual race report because I didn't stop to take any pictures while running. I am SO glad that I did this sightseeing on Friday versus Saturday. When I drove around on Saturday all of the landmarks on the marathon course were packed with cars and people. When I went there was no one out there.
On the way back I amused (and terrified) myself by basically taking note of all the up and downhill portions of the course. I did this by repeatedly saying "Up-up-up-uuuuuuuupppppp" all the way up a hill and "Dooooown-down-down-down" on the way back down. I maybe said "Flat-flat" twice during that drive. THERE WERE NO FLATS. Thinking back, doing this to myself was a bad idea.
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| Formerly Clint Eastwood's Inn |
After driving some of the course (I didn't make it all the way) I headed back in search of dinner. I heard good things about the town of Carmel so I headed that way. First, I stopped in at the Hog's Breath Inn for a beer. At the time I was completely unaware of the rather famous history of this place. It was owned by Clint Eastwood until 1999. It is a very funky little place with an outdoor patio with fire pits and a little bar in a completely separate building out back. That is where I ended up sitting. Right next to a raging fire and a few mounted hog heads.
For dinner I actually went to Casanova, a little European restaurant down the street. I don't seem to have any pictures of this place (which is probably a good thing because this post is already quite long) but I loved it here. I ended up sitting in a covered patio type area and talking to a very nice couple who suggested I look at the wine cellar. I asked if I could go see it and was given a little tour of the dusty rows of shelves that hold nearly 16,000 wines.
And THAT wraps up my first day in California!
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| So sweet! |
Day two started out with the wonderful breakfast provided by my AirBnb hosts and I decided to get out early and walk around Point Lobos, a small state natural reserve. This was by far my favorite part of the trip. The views were spectacular. I felt like I was on a tropical island. The waters were a beautiful clear blue and every view was more breathtaking than the last.
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| This is my favorite view |
The park is home to lots of wildlife, the highlights being mother seals with their pups and otters. I spent 10 minutes just peering down at a beach watching the seals bask in the sun. There were also adorable partridges running around in the woods but I only got terrible pictures of them. One even posed for me on a log!
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| View from the highest point |
I ended up walking about 5 miles around the entire park, which is not exactly the best idea the day before a marathon, but it was so worth it.
So what was up next? More driving and walking around of course! I drove BACK down through Big Sur to McWay Falls. This spot is famous for the little waterfall you can see below. The rest of the park that heads away from the coast is not very nice. I tried to explore and I did find a little waterfall but the paths were hard to follow, some leading to dead ends or treacherous stream crossings. I decided to head out before I broke an ankle.
It was during this little excursion that I found that all of the beautiful sights along Big Sur were absolutely overrun with runners who had just gotten in for the weekend. Actually at McWay Falls you can't tell but I was squished between many, many tourists.
I headed back to Seaside and instead of going back to the Hog's Breath like I had planned I opted for a small Italian restaurant that was much closer. I had ravioli and tons of water and got to bed around 8PM.
Next up... the race report!
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