MONTEREY, CA

so, will and i spent the day in monterey yesterday...our main goal was to go and look at hotels, restaurants, and potential wedding spots...this is what we accomplished...

we got to fisherman's wharf sometime around 11am...we had brought along our bikes so we could cover area faster and avoid the hassle of parking...first, we took our bikes down to the wharf and hung out there for a bit looking at restaurants, but not inquiring about anything, and had some lunch...among the best calm chowder in the world can be found down here...this is am convinced of...after lunch we went on our bikes to cannery row...for those who don't know what cannery row is, it is an old sardine cannery that has been turned into shops, restaurants and hotels...Steinbeck apparently has a book called Cannery Row that is all about this place...it is really neat...

so, while there we took off on foot into restaurant after restaurant, inquiring and getting info on having a reception at their restaurant...we got lots of menu's to take home and look at...we then, after a couple hours, headed back to fisherman's wharf...we drove around pacific grove looking at and getting brochures for restaurants in the area and wedding sites...

we went down by asilomar, a large conference area, and talked to a hotel office there about renting rooms for family and stuff and she was a wealth of information...she was so helpful...

we then headed out to Carmel-by-the-sea...just a few miles south and went to carmel city beach...absolutely beautiful..we walked along the beach and just stood there as waves came crashing to shore and watching...the ocean is so beautiful and i love asking will questions about it...how waves are built and why they crash when they do and why some are bigger than others...he knows something about everything...

i then wanted to go look at spots to take pictures at, but by then it was starting to get dark and we did not know where any of the places were, so we are going to do that in a couple weeks...

we then went back to fisherman's wharf to have dinner...we chose a place called Gilbert's...we had looked at it the first time we were there in the morning, but had figured all restaurants here would be too busy to even consider receptions...as we got in there, though, we figured, "what the heck, let's ask." so, we did...long story short...they do reception there...so, after dinner, which is the best food i have EVER had...we had a look at the banquet room as well as the semi-private room...and we booked our reception there...we are going to go back in a couple weeks to talk over all stuff and decide on menu's and stuff, but it was by far, the favorite place by both of us...

so, we got a wedding location decided upon and a place for the reception.

this is so exciting :)