Coastal California

We slept in late this morning, then had a quick breakfast at Lori's Diner before we checked out of our hotel. The folks at the front desk tried to talk us out of driving down highway one to Monterey, saying we wouldn't see anything interesting. Oh, how I beg to differ. While there isn't much to see from Santa Cruz on, the drive from San Francisco to Santa Cruz was quite scenic for us flatlanders. Lots of fabulous beaches, hills, trees, and houses we'll never be able to afford.

After several hours, we arrived in Monterey, where we grabbed lunch at Carl's Jr. Then we got in line for the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which was worth the $22 admission fee, as it took us over three hours to go through it, and we still didn't get to see everything before they closed.

We then drove back up the 101 to the hotel I booked via Hotwire earlier in the day. We wound up in the Extended Stay America Efficiency Studios in Morgan Hill, but just barely. When we checked in, they said they were overbooked, and they were going to cancel my reservation until they realized that I was pre-paid through Hotwire, and they couldn't easily refund my money. So, we got our room, complete with rock-hard bed.

We dropped our bags off, then I hopped on the internet to find a place to eat. I found Scrambl'z, which was on the list of restaurants that gives me frequent flier mile bonuses, so we backtracked an exit on the 101, and got a bite to eat.

The decor there is enough to give you a seizure, but the food was pretty good, and the portions were enormous. Neither of us cleared our plate, and the service was prompt and friendly. Holly griped to me that her gravy was canned, not homemade, but I guess you can't have it all.

We then returned to our hotel, and are going to hit the hay.