Little did I know that his evil little plan was to check out an underwater camera store on Cannery Row that he never knew was there. Apparently it's the best and only one around these parts. After I got my meager BLT from Erik's Deli ($6.99 for a sad little sandwich. what?!) we headed to Monterey.Bubs: What do you want to do today?
Me: I dunno.
Bubs: How about Monterey?
Me: Sure let's go. I need lunch first before we go.
Bubs: You're driving there.
Me: MANNNNNN!
We stopped at Breakwater so Bubs could take some shots of area. It's a major staging area for divers and dive groups who are getting certified. The weather that day was perfect so Bubs was bummed he wasn't out there diving. While he went to the other end of the pier I hung out by the car to make sure we wouldn't get a parking ticket. We weren't planning on being there very long. In the distance I spotted 4 sea lions jumping and swimming across the water in single file. It was pretty cool. It was one of those time where I wished I had a video camera. It was quick and fortunately Bubs was quicker and got some shots of that (pic below). Those 2 little objects in front are ducks floating by.
I was a little worried about traffic and tourist situation but the parking gods were watching out for us and we found a 2 hour spot right in front of the camera shop. After I had my fill of Bubs geeking out and getting more info from the owner I went outside to enjoy the sun. It just so happens that where the shop was located there were great views of the bay across the street right next to Monterey Bay Inn. I snapped a few pics of random things near by. I was a stone throw away from a busy bike trail and I was jealous of the people riding by. You bet I'll be bringing my bike on the next trip down there. We walked around, found a very POSH bathroom to use at the Monterey Plaza Hotel (who knew there was a back walk way to sneak in?) and then made our way to Carmel since our parking time limit was up. We checked out a gallery that the camera shop owner suggested to see his photography. We were starving and found a sushi place 2 blocks off the main drag. The place was little and ALL the freakin' tables that were open were reserved. We wakled back to Ocean Ave. and settled on a place called The Grill. It was early enough that there were open tables so we were seated right away. Despite the server forgetting to bring my iced tea twice, the rest of the service and the food was very good. The most amazing thing we ordered was the Duck and Spinach salad with chunks of beets in a vinegrette dressing. OMG. So good that I want to go back again just for that. (Mental note for next trip....) At the beginning of the meal we had a giant family with 2 little girls singing (a lot!) on the right and a couple having one of their first dates on the left. Our tables were on the close side, but far enough to not eat on each other's plates. The girls were drawing on the paper covered table with the crayons the restaurant provided (many restaurants in the Monterey/Carmel area do this). I noticed that we had a little glass of new crayons on our table and we immediately got our art on between courses. 
(Yes, Bubs drew a double rainbow.) By the time we ordered dessert to share we got new table neighbors. An old crabby couple celebrating their 14th Anniversary on the left and a less older couple on the right...both of the snobbish variety. The woman on the right was obviously bothered by us drawing on our table because she kept looking over at our table with this sour puss look on her face. I was ready to write on the table "It's not polite to stare" with arrows pointing in her direction. Bubs suggested I should've been less nice and said, "Bitch, mind your own business." The Seattle couple...was gross. The lady should not have taken off her sweater that revealed her low cut crocheted camisol. It was not pretty. She was kind of a bitch to her husband the moment she sat down. He asked her to hold something for her and with a disappointed look she said, "I thought you were going to hand me something worthwhile like jewelry." The husband sounded taken aback and told her that he already took care of her earlier. What that REALLY meant, we didn't want to know! I felt really bad for our server. We could tell they were going to be difficult just by the stuff they were ordering. As soon as our apple strudel made it to our table we ate it quickly and booked it out of there. We started to stroll down (and I mean that literally...Ocean Ave. is a hill!) to Carmel Beach and stopped when I realized how far down it was. There was no way I was going to make it back up the hill. We got in the car and drove down to the little lot and hung out a little bit till it got really dark. As many times as I've been to this area we never made it to the beach till now. It was really nice. You can see Pebble Beach Golf Course off in the distance. I prefer staying there overnight, but overall a nice day trip. (FYI, Bubs drove home.)
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