Unexpected Christmas Meal and a Windy Pebble Beach

Christmas Day dawned in Monterey, California with blue skies. The wind and rain had stopped, and the skies were fairly clear. There was some debris on the ground in places, but over all it was looking to be a beautiful day. Aaron had made reservations for brunch at a restaurant downtown overlooking the water. Silvette had awakened before me and was out walking with Andrea so I was on my own to walk the nearly two miles to the restaurant.

I walked down through the main street of Monterey and then out towards the old part of town where the restaurant was located. It was a nice morning for a walk, and this time I had my camera with me so I could capture some of the places we had seen yesterday afternoon.

We all arrived about the same time and waited for the restaurant to open. There were a few other people waiting, but our early arrival meant we had window seats looking over the water. Then the shock came.

We thought we would have brunch, but there was no brunch menu. The only menu was a three course dinner menu with a price our budget minded hearts could barely handle. We finally settled into the idea that we were having Christmas dinner at 11:00 in the morning. Our waitress was very personable, and the food was quite good so we did our best to enjoy it. The funny thing was the group next to us was also looking forward to brunch. The restaurant needed to do a better job of communicating their Christmas menu.

After our early dinner we walked back through Monterey to our hotel to try to burn off some calories. Sadly the blue skies of the morning had turned to clouds, and it rained on us. The clear weather that morning tricked me so I didn’t have my coat. I got wet.

After the rain showers had passed, we set off on another adventure. Pebble Beach is a famous golf course and community by Monterey. We decided to check it out. There is a popular 17 mile drive with sites to see along the way. The downside is it costs $12.25 per vehicle to enter the community. Aaron was going to drive us around. Apparently the storm over night had done something to the electrical service as they were only taking cash at the entrance. We managed to scrounge enough together to pay it. They gave us a map with the different points to see, and then we were off.

The first stop was up high and looked down on the bay. However, the trees had grown pretty tall so the view wasn’t all that great. Driving up the road we had seen one downed tree and a lot of debris in the roads. It seemed the storm hit Pebble Beach harder than Monterey. Of course it could also be because it is a much more wooded area.

From there we drove over to the Visitor Center. On the way we drove by part of the famous golf course. Despite the cold and windy weather, a few hardy souls were out playing golf. I guess they had their reserved time set up so despite the weather, they played.

The Center was pretty busy considering it was Christmas Day. Inside they had displays with information about the golf tournaments that had been held there. I’m sure golf fans would find the information of interest. There was also a gift center selling golf items and snacks.

From the Visitor Center we walked down to The Lodge and the surrounding shops. At one end they had an area of tribute to some of the legends of the golf world. I enjoyed a little statue nearby of a boy trying his hand at golf. We didn’t go inside The Lodge.

From The Lodge we walked toward the waters of Carmel Bay. At this point the wind was really whipping up. It was hard to walk against the wind. It was also causing some high waves so we again saw waves crashing into the banks. The whole scene was quite picturesque. Despite the windy conditions we did manage a family selfie.

A short distance away was the final hole of the golf course. Here the fans would crowd around for the final putts during a tournament. Today the area was pretty quiet. A tall tree seems to be a marker for that final hole.

The weather was starting to look iffy again. We were also worried about Aaron’s rental car. It was electric, and the charge was getting low. We decided to call it a day and come back tomorrow to finish the 17 mile road.

Despite our early dinner I was starting to feel a bit hungry so we went back to Monterey to a pizza joint to finish out our day. Last year we had pizza for Christmas in Vietnam so I figured why not make it two years in a row. The place we found was fairly busy as most restaurants were closed. They had some unusual pizza options so it was fun to decide what we might like. It was a good way to finish out our Christmas Day as a family.

Tomorrow the weather looks to improve after one more storm passes through tonight. We have actually seen better weather than we expected so we have been thankful for that.

Credit: The last two photos were taken by SIlvette Lee. The family selfie was taken by Andrea Lee