Weekend Trip to Monterey

This weekend I had the joy of meeting my grandparents for a nice break from school and a little vacation getaway.  On Saturday I drove south to meet my grandparents in Salinas and tour the Steinbeck museum.  Although it is sort of a sketchy area, I had read the book, Travels with Charlie and was very interested in visiting his hometown.  It was a wonderful museum filled with quotes, little snippets of movies, and original books from their first publication.  We even got to see the original truck that John Steinbeck took on his trip across country with his French poodle.

Nancy finding our route along the historical sites in Monterey Bay

From there, we shuttled down to Monterey for the rest of the weekend.  After a little relaxation, we got cleaned up and headed out to Carmel for dinner. Isn't it neat that we could just bop from town to town and explore our options?  Bob and Nance have been through Monterey a number of times and had visited this one restaurant in particular, so we thought we would give it a shot.

It was called the Ocean Grill, a recommended offering of meat, fish, and other tasty dishes and that is exactly what it was.  Bob called ahead to make a reservation and we were able to get a lovely booth.  The restaurant is along one of the main streets and isn't overwhelming in size.  In fact, it is rather on the smaller side and has a bar right along the rows of tables and booths.  Service was super friendly, even a little chatty.  One of my favorite parts of the meal was the bread.  It was a mix between a sourdough and a cornmeal and it was delivered warm to the table.  Bob even commented that the restaurant must have been making improvements because it was much better than the previous time they had dined there. 

Nancy started out with an appetizer of shrimp cocktail. Simply delightful as she put it. 

K & Bob's fresh Bibb salad with candied pecans, & blue cheese.  One of the best salads I have had in a long time and practically impossible to find these days. 

My DELICIOUS salmon dish fit for a king.  It was accompanied by fresh veggies and a polenta-like side.  The salmon itself was covered in a roasted red pepper sauce and had to be one of the best pieces of fish I think I may have ever tasted.  I HIGHLY recommend.

Nancy's Sand-dabs - perfectly seasoned and enormous portion!

Cheesecake w/ whipped cream and a citrus sauce - We split this three ways and it was just perfect.  A moist and sweet slice was a bit more crumbly than the Cheesecake Factory slices, but had a better homemade taste.

A wonderful day in the bay and more to come tomorrow! I absolutely adore spending time with my family, especially my grandparents.  We always seem to come out with some funny stories, events, and just a ton of fun.  I hope to be like them someday and I guess that's the ultimate compliment :)