Weekend in Monterey

Hi friends! I’m sitting in a super cute coffee shop drinking a chai latte (my favorite) and snacking on a muffin and am happy to finally have some time to recap my recent siblings weekend in Monterey. I drove up to Monterey on a Friday morning (it’s about a 6 hour drive from Long Beach) and arrived just in time and hungry enough to grab some Ike’s Sandwiches. Ike’s is my favorite sandwich shop ever because they have a plethora of vegan options and they’re all super tasty! After filling up on carbs, we stopped by my brothers house to drop off our stuff and say hi to my puppy nephews (you all know I’m a ride or die cat lady but if I ever have a dog I want one just like Boriska).

It started to get a little overcast but we decided to stop by Carmel River Beach, which is one of my favorite beaches in the area because it’s not usually too crowded, theres a river that sometimes flows into the ocean (hence the name), and you drive through a really quaint/fancy neighborhood to get to it. It’s house porn galore! After climbing on the rocks and discovering that the river was not flowing into the ocean at the moment, we were all craving hot chai lattes (I did say they were my favorite) so we headed to downtown Carmel in search of a coffee shop.

After a quick Yelp search we decided on the Carmel Coffee House and Roasting Company. This place was so cute and the chai was delicious so I would highly recommend it if you’re in the area. It’s nestled in a little alleyway which is pretty charming, but it’s literally hidden so you would never know it’s there unless you’re looking for it. We sat on the outdoor patio and worked on a crossword puzzle because we’re a bunch of old souls.

After chai lattes we headed home to make some delicious soup that my brother had been raving about. I was so exhausted from my long drive that morning that I ate about half of my soup and then my brother took it away from me because I was about to fall asleep in it.

On Saturday we headed to the Santa Cruz Mountains for a hike in the Forest of Nisine Marks State Park. We had originally planned on getting up earlier and going kayaking in the morning before the hike, but we got a bit of a late start and decided to save the kayaking for next time. That ended up being a great decision because the hike was longer than anticipated (I think we walked about 9 miles in total) and we were all pretty exhausted by the end of it.

We stopped to have dinner at The Whole Enchilada in Moss Landing on the way home. We ate here with my uncle when we were younger so it was cool to revisit it now. The food was good and the decor is fun and eclectic, making it the perfect dinner option after a long hike. We somehow still had energy after all this, so we headed to Fisherman’s Wharf to wander around a little and then got ice cream at this new place downtown called Revival Ice Cream. They have unique flavors that rotate and they usually have a couple of vegan options so it was perfect for me!

My Sister and I had to head home on Sunday (Alexis back to SF and I back to the LBC) so we got up, had some chocolate pancakes, and then headed downtown to take my sister to catch her bus. I decided to stay a little longer before driving home so my brother and I went to the beach for awhile and then went to the Del Monte Center and picked up a few things from H&M. Then it was back in the car for me for my long trek home. It’s always so nice to spend time with my siblings and Monterey is one of my favorite places so it was a great weekend!