September 14th 2005
Today was the start of our two planned trips, but before we set out we spent the morning shopping with Raewyn and Brendan at what was becoming our favourite mall, the San Antonio Centre. After our shopping (shoes, GPS accessories, hand tools that Brendan was eyeing) we had some lunch and set off on the 101 freeway heading south to Monterey. The drive was uneventful, but stress levels rose a bit when we had a bit of difficulty in locating the same Super 8 Motel we were in when we were there in 2002. Eventually it was located and we booked in, but Sally was not very impressed with the glum and unfriendly face of the woman who was presumably in charge of the complex, however we managed two adjacent units for two nights. With breakfast included the tariff was $69 US plus tax per night and we also were able to purchase Aquarium tickets there as well, so it turned out to be quite convenient.
In the late afternoon we had a look around the Old Town and walked down Old Fishermans Wharf looking for a suitable place to have our dinner. There were lots of smelly fish and many restaurants wanting us to sample their clam chowder which we took advantage of. And heaps of souvenir shops. We settled on a restaurant right at the end of the wharf and got a table overlooking the Bay and were able to dine while looking at a few otters paddling along on their backs. Apparently they use their tummies as plates while they devour their food. Very entertaining. Tipping was a problem at the beginning of our travels as we were unsure of how much, when and where to leave a tip. However by the end of our trip we had it all sussed out thanks to some helpful hints from Russell. Russells formulae: double the tax and round it off and this becomes the tip. Anyway we considered that as we would never ever be in that restaurant again it didn’t really matter. But we did make a point of tipping for good food and service.
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| Plaque | Fishermans Wharf |