"Labor" Day

We didn't do a whole lot of "laboring", but Rachelle and I went to Monterey/Carmel for the weekend. We had actually planned on going to Vegas to meet one of her friends for the 3-day weekend. Unfortunately, we waited too long to book the flights and ended up not being able to use my Southwest Rapid Rewards (i.e., "free") tickets. Bummer. Anyway, to make it up to Rachelle, I booked a hotel in Monterey to get away from the un-godly nasty heat of Sacramento in August. Turned out to be a beautiful weekend on the coast. Sunny and 70's the entire trip. Rachelle was able to get discounted tickets to the Monterey Bay Aquarium through work, so we decided to give that a shot. Big mistake. Unless you are 6 years old and/or have several children roughly that age, the aquarium ain't for you. We really would have enjoyed all the exhibits and animals (and fish) if it hadn't been so jam-packed crowded with families and their strollers. What is it about people with multiple kids that they find it perfectly acceptable to let one or more of them run free with the stroller, running over anybody in their way? I personally like kids, have several nieces and nephews, and think the aquarium would be a great learning experience. My problem is with the parents who don't monitor what their kids are doing. My suggestion to the aquarium folk would be to have an "adult" night at least once a month. With beer and/or wine. Or not. Whatever. As long as there were no kids.

We made the trip to Carmel and Big Sur, but the whole thing was fairly relaxing. I hadn't had a bad meal until the last night we were there. Rachelle made the mistake of saying "you haven't had a bad meal since we got here" the last night we were there. Cue the bad meal. If you've seen any of the pictures of me on this blog, you know that I'm not exactly "dainty". I haven't met many meals that I couldn't at least eat. Found one in Monterey. If you ever get to town and are looking for a decent brew-pub, stay FAR, FAR AWAY from Peter B's. The brew was only so-so, and the food was literally inedible. I have probably sent zero meals back in 12 years of business travel. This is the first time I have ever told a waitress to take my meal back. Friggin'-all hungry and I didn't eat my fish and chips because it was so nasty. And this from a man who recently had to upgrade his belt due to circumstances beyond his control. Also, you might want to steer clear of the Padre Oaks Inn. Hotel was pleasant enough, but the bed was so uncomfortable I ended up in my car the last night because it made my back hurt too bad to sleep in the room. On the flip side, I learned how freakin' comfortable a 4Runner can be.