We spent a couple of days enjoying the middle coast of California. We were driving between Los Angeles and San Francisco. This part of the trip was super enjoyable. We did a calm pace and saw some amazing things. It seemed that most of the fun we had, had something to do with water.

On the water - We went on a whale watching trip by the Channel Islands. I knew it wasn't whale watching season, but thought it would still be fun. We didn't get to see whales, or even dolphins. But we did see l ots of birds and some California sea lions. The boat ride was also very nice. The captain of the boat was entertaining, but wasn't talking the whole time. I got sprayed by the water a few times and was wiping salt off my face most of the day.

By the water - We then drove up the coast by highway 1. This highway takes you right next to the ocean. Breathtaking views! But as we got farther up the coast, the road became more and more twisty. I was driving to give Paul a break. During the middle of this drive Paul said, "This isn't traffic, but it is still stressful". As crazy as the road was, it was so worth it for the view.

From the water - We got to our hotel where we got a king suite with hot tub! We asked the front desk for a fun place to get seafood. He told us to go to Old Fisherman's Grotto and gave us a coupon for a free appetizer. That was such a great suggestion. It was a fancy restaurant that served great food. Our free appetizer was popcorn shrimp. We shared the grilled swordfish with spicy tomato and cucumber relish. When they found out we were on our honeymoon, they gave us a beautiful cheesecake slice on the house. And to top it off, I received a rose when we checked out. This was a great place!

In the water - Monterey has a great aquarium. We got to go there as a part of the City Pass that was bought for San Francisco. The place was super busy, especially with kids. But it was still fun. We saw a fish feeding, some great displays of jellyfish, and some sharks. We were going to try to touch some rays, but there were so many people around that the rays didn't come near the edge of the touch pool. The teacher part of me wanted to stop the kids from pushing all over the place. But I had to tell myself that these were not my students. We also got celebration pins for being on our honeymoon.