This Trip Report Is Under Refurbishment For Your Future Enjoyment (UPDATED 9/13 with final bonus chapter)

It happens...

And more often lately. Scary.

But I thought it was lame every time they hit the ball with them.

Hard for the ump to make a call when the ball gets vaporized.

He's had so many low points.

This I cannot deny.

I'm weird that way. I read the directions. Not sure why.

Probably because you like doing things correctly.

Dad. Ergo... full of poop...



jokes.

Correct. On both counts.

Apparently.
And... I find that kind of sad. Stadiums/arenas should be named after their teams.

I think so, too. Or perhaps named after a historic figure/event/something to do with the city.

Ah! So no mercy, then.

No way!

But...
Would you pay for that privilege? Or would you be too scared to stand in front of a 100mph pitch?

I might. It would depend on how much I trusted the pitcher to be accurate. I had a friend who was real good at baseball throwing me pitches once, and he started ramping up the speed and I started backing off. I wasn't used to seeing that, and every pitch out of his hand looked like it was starting towards me.

I could probably arrange that, you know.

Or I suspect you know someone who could!
 
I had thought I might get a comment on the t-shirt I was wearing in the photos (rather than my pose). I'm curious: without the help of Google, does anyone know who the Washington Generals are?
 
Hard for the ump to make a call when the ball gets vaporized.
Technically, it's always foul.
Probably because you like doing things correctly.
Weird, right?
I think so, too. Or perhaps named after a historic figure/event/something to do with the city.
::yes::
I might. It would depend on how much I trusted the pitcher to be accurate. I had a friend who was real good at baseball throwing me pitches once, and he started ramping up the speed and I started backing off. I wasn't used to seeing that, and every pitch out of his hand looked like it was starting towards me.
HUH!! I've never done anything like that. I'd be backing off... right off the field.
Or I suspect you know someone who could!
;)
I had thought I might get a comment on the t-shirt I was wearing in the photos (rather than my pose). I'm curious: without the help of Google, does anyone know who the Washington Generals are?
Doc beat me to it. I didn't remember, but when he posted... Right!
 


HUH!! I've never done anything like that. I'd be backing off... right off the field.

I'm sure my buddy wasn't throwing 100 mph, either. Maybe 60-70, which is slow for a major leaguer. And I was still intimidated.

The worst basketball team ever...

Doc beat me to it. I didn't remember, but when he posted... Right!

Well, that was Andy, but yes. I took the family to a Globetrotters game back in February and spotted the t-shirt at the souvenir stand. The idea just cracked me up.

I mean, I know they haven't won a game since 1971, but I think they're due.
 
Just read your whole report (its a slow day at work...) and loved it! I'm especially pleased with the bonus trip report as we are planning to go to San Fran next year!
 
I would have been with Julie and Sarah rolling my eyes on the baseball tour, but then again you know that already. The only time that I have been in a baseball stadium was Candlestick Park for the Rolling Stones "final" tour. In 1982. :laughing: You think Field of Dreams being 30 years old make you old. :sad2:

That whole 💩 thing is disgusting, but I do have to say that I have witnessed a similar phenomenon in my own neighborhood. My house backs up against a major road (3 lanes in each direction), while the neighborhood that the house faces is quite serene, and cars rarely pass by the house. Next to my house is a walkway that connects my peaceful neighborhood to the busy street. There is a professional building just north of my house on the street where my Chiropractor has an office. I walk there as it would take five times as long to drive. Well last week on my walk I noticed a ton of flies in the little pathway and sure enough there was a huge pile of 💩. Way too much for a dog. :crazy2: Technically that path is on my neighbor's property, I hope someone cleans it up.

I'm glad you didnt encounter traffic on the way to Monterey! If I'm ever in the neighborhood I'll have to remember that place. Then again, who am I fooling? I'm gonna want the best affordable seafood I can find!
 


Just read your whole report (its a slow day at work...) and loved it! I'm especially pleased with the bonus trip report as we are planning to go to San Fran next year!

:welcome: and thanks for reading! But why would you torture yourself like that?

I would have been with Julie and Sarah rolling my eyes on the baseball tour, but then again you know that already. The only time that I have been in a baseball stadium was Candlestick Park for the Rolling Stones "final" tour. In 1982. :laughing: You think Field of Dreams being 30 years old make you old. :sad2:

And I typically avoid rock concerts like the plague (because I'm a grumpy old man). I just love finding out how much you and I have in common! :rotfl2::rotfl:

That whole 💩 thing is disgusting, but I do have to say that I have witnessed a similar phenomenon in my own neighborhood. My house backs up against a major road (3 lanes in each direction), while the neighborhood that the house faces is quite serene, and cars rarely pass by the house. Next to my house is a walkway that connects my peaceful neighborhood to the busy street. There is a professional building just north of my house on the street where my Chiropractor has an office. I walk there as it would take five times as long to drive. Well last week on my walk I noticed a ton of flies in the little pathway and sure enough there was a huge pile of 💩. Way too much for a dog. :crazy2: Technically that path is on my neighbor's property, I hope someone cleans it up.

Blech. What is with people?

I'm glad you didnt encounter traffic on the way to Monterey! If I'm ever in the neighborhood I'll have to remember that place. Then again, who am I fooling? I'm gonna want the best affordable seafood I can find!

Yet another piece of common ground. We're practically brother and sister at this point.
 
I'm sure my buddy wasn't throwing 100 mph, either. Maybe 60-70, which is slow for a major leaguer. And I was still intimidated.
I would've been too.
Well, that was Andy, but yes.
Whoops! So it was. Sorry, Andy!
I took the family to a Globetrotters game back in February
I remember that.
I mean, I know they haven't won a game since 1971, but I think they're due.
I'm putting money on them.
 
Bonus Chapter 4: Use an Open-Faced Club! The Sand Wedge!

Mmmm...open-faced club sandwich...


I’m afraid I must be the bearer of bad news.

For years, one of our preferred hotels has been the Holiday Inn Express. Usually it’s either that or the Hampton Inn, as we generally find them to be the better of the chains offering clean rooms and free breakfasts for large families like my own.

(Embassy Suites is our favorite, but they’re usually too expensive.)

Frankly, the Holiday Inn Express is fine, but it’s generally like every other hotel chain. The one thing that put them above the others in our minds was the fact that they served cinnamon rolls as part of their standard breakfast. Nice, big, warm, gooey cinnamon rolls. They were great. We were always tempted to steal a tray and take it with us on the road, but of course we are fine, upstanding American citizens who would never stoop to that level. Also, other people are watching us, so it’s easier to go up and grab extras one at a time.

The rolls looked like this:

o.jpg


(Photo borrowed from the interwebs. I’ll give it back later.)

And now I’m sorry to say that the cinnamon rolls are no more. Or rather, they have been replaced with a “new and improved” version in a partnership with Cinnabon that is definitely new but in no way improved and probably saves the hotel chain a few nickels. You might hear “Cinnabon” and think this isn’t such a bad thing, but they don’t bear any resemblance to the Cinnabons you overpay for in malls and airports. These appear to have been made from the leftover scraps of those other, better rolls. It’s a lump of dough with a tiny sprinkle of cinnamon and a glop of white goo on the top. I’m having a hard time finding a photo of the new ones to show you. It’s almost like they’re embarrassed about this new travesty.

This shot makes them look more appealing than they actually are:

remote.jpg.ashx


(Photo also borrowed from the interwebs.)

Anyway, it was a sad day when we discovered this. We may or may not have wondered aloud why we can’t have nice things. And now we’re a little less likely to stay there. If I get a good rate, sure, but I won’t be as quick to seek it out.

Of course, I still ate these, because they’re free and I hate myself.

We drove down Rt. 1 a bit and then got off at the exit for the 17-Mile Drive.

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The 17-Mile Drive is a scenic road that takes you around the entire Monterey Peninsula. The appeal lies in the stretch that hugs the coastline along Monterey Bay and the Pacific Ocean, weaving through both high-end resorts and the homes of the ultra-rich. And, in a total “rich dirtbag” move, it costs $10.50 to drive it. Gotta keep the riffraff out, you know. You can get that fee back if you patronize the lodge, or the restaurants, etc. Gosh, now I sound like one of them. Excuse me while I go take a shower.

Anyway, we held our noses and paid the fee because we (ok, the boys and I) wanted to see the golf courses. The Monterey Peninsula is considered to be one of the finest stretches of golf real estate in the world—the linksland of Scotland and the sand belt of Australia would be the other locales that could make the same claim. The jewel in the Monterey crown is the Pebble Beach Golf Links, which even most non-golfers have heard of and happens to be hosting a very important tournament this weekend.

We got past the gate and started our drive with a climb into the hills. And for the first few miles of our precious 17, we got to see…trees. And a few houses. Some fences. Totally worth $10.50.

Everyone was getting bored, so I drove though the curves and switchbacks as quickly as I could. We saw a couple of houses on the hillside that looked impressive, and then we made our way down the hill and over to the coastline. This is where the drive really begins, in my opinion. There’s even a gateway (the Pacific Grove Gate) to 17-Mile Drive near this spot where you can enter and skip the boring part of the drive.

We drove past the Links at Spanish Bay golf course and finally caught our first glimpse of Monterey Bay. There was a parking area and a public beach where a few people were out for a morning stroll, walking their dogs. The coast is inherently more interesting than trees.

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In the part of the water where the currents of the bay met the currents of the ocean, we could see two sets of waves breaking toward each other. Kind a neat phenomenon. Hard to capture in a photo, though.

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Looking back into the sun gave us some interesting light through the mist and cypress trees. It was a beautiful spot.

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Now, I know that most of you are not avid golfers. I’ve probably already caused some of you to start nodding off just by mentioning the word “golf”. And those of you who even mildly enjoy the game probably do not share my interest in the intricacies of golf course architecture. So I will work to try and make this interesting without getting too much into the weeds. In fact, I’ll try and highlight the more golf-heavy paragraphs in GOLF NERD GREEN so you can easily skip them if you so choose. And in the meantime, there will be pretty pictures!

Right next to our little viewpoint was a par 3, part of the Dunes Course at the Monterey Peninsula Country Club. It’s a dream of every golfer to play a course that requires a shot over rocky cliffs or the ocean, and this made me wish I had my clubs in the car.

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Of course, that club is intensely private and not for schlubs on a government salary like me, so this is as close as I’d get. You could almost hear the club members standing nearby, guarding their property from the likes of us and shouting “Mine! Mine! Mine!”

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There’s a second course at the Monterey Peninsula C.C., the Shore Course. It used to be a boring course and kind of a waste of the prime ocean real estate. In 2003, it was redesigned and re-built from the ground up by architect Mike Strantz, who sadly passed away from cancer shortly after it was opened. Strantz is one of my favorites, an artist who wasn’t afraid to do things a little differently. Many of his courses look nothing like anyone else’s. MPCC might actually be one of his most conventional designs. It opened to rave reviews and has been part of a PGA tournament for the last few years. Sadly, Strantz only built 9 courses before he was taken too soon at the age of 50.

For my father’s 70th birthday last year, I took him to play a Strantz course in North Carolina that had been on our bucket list because it was so wild and different—I might save that one for a bonus chapter within the bonus chapters here, like Inception.

From a side road which I’m not sure I was allowed to be on, I was able to see a couple of different holes on the Shore Course. It really looked gorgeous.

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I snapped those photos quickly and jogged back to the van after being passed by a guy in a BMW giving me the stinkeye.

See that large rock in the background of that last photo, out in the water? An overlook near there was our next stop. That large rock is known as Bird Rock, probably because of the incredibly large number of seals that were hanging out on it.

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Actually, it got its name because birds like to rest there, too. The map said they once scraped off a layer of bird crap to be recycled as fertilizer that was several inches thick. Someone should get in touch with San Francisco.

There’s also a rock called Seal Rock nearby, but no seals were resting there. Instead, they were muscling in on the birds’ territory. They’re probably jerks.

They were also LOUD. Constant barking could be heard across the water. We got a big kick out of it, to be honest. I think this was the first time my kids had ever seen seals in the wild.

For her part, Julie remarked to me that she had just expected to be bored in the car and indulging me while I gawked at golf courses, but between the coast, the views, and the seals, she was actually really enjoying the drive.

I wanted to know how some of those seals had managed to climb all the way to the top of the rock.

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We made a pit stop at a bathroom building nearby, which was obviously the domain of lower-class hooligans like ourselves.

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Onward we drove, toward Cypress Point. We passed the Spyglass Hill golf course, which is also part of the annual PGA tournament played in this area.

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The Cypress Point Club is located right on the Northwest corner of the peninsula, and is the most private of any of the clubs in the area. You don’t ask to join that club, they ask you. Oddly, I’ve never been asked. It’s also considered one of the greatest golf courses in the world—some rate it even better than Pebble Beach. It was designed by Alister Mackenzie, who also built a little course called Augusta National.

You can see several holes from the road, but the best and most famous holes (the 15th and 16th) are hidden by a rocky slope and trees. So I could only catch a quick glimpse of the 15th tee through the trees. Check out the photos here if you want to see what only a few golfers get to try in real life—hitting shots across the ocean.


Hugging the Pacific coast, we were now in Stupid Money territory. I didn’t get any good photos due to the fact that we were moving on a narrow road and would have had to shoot through trees, but the houses along this stretch looked like castles. I mean literal castles. Walt Disney would have been proud of some of those structures. We reached another overlook for the Lone Cypress, which Pebble Beach has adopted as their symbol/logo. With the ocean as a backdrop, it does make for a pretty great view. I bet it looks amazing at sunset.

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We made one more turn and then found the parking lot next to the Lodge at Pebble Beach. They actually had a visitor center nearby with a few displays anticipating the upcoming U.S. Open tournament.

Pebble Beach is considered one of the finest golf courses in the world. It’s hosted numerous major championships, including the U.S. Open several times, which is often considered the most difficult tournament to win in the world. It’s always played on the toughest courses in the toughest conditions—thick rough, narrow fairways, lightning-fast greens. Winning is often a matter of survival more than triumph.

The course is most famous for several holes that run along the coast, daring the golfer to pull off heroic shots over beaches and rocky cliffs. If there’s a criticism of the course, it’s that the inland holes don’t compare to the Oceanside ones…but then again, how could they? Most golfers dream of playing a round at Pebble Beach, where they can try the same shots that tested the all-time greats like Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, or Tiger Woods. And the good news is, they can! It’s a public course.


The bad news: it costs $550 to play a round of 18 holes. Oh, and if you want a guaranteed tee time, you have to stay at one of their hotels, where rooms start around $650 a night.

So, I will probably never play golf here. But I could at least take a look.

In the visitor center, we got to take turns posing with the U.S. Open trophy. Dave decided to try out the ChunkyDump pose.

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Scotty preferred trying out the local transportation.

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And then we wandered around the lodge itself. I was able to walk into the pro shop and successfully kept from bursting out laughing when someone asked me if I was playing later, while I was standing there in my ACME hat and hiking pants. But I did pick up a ball cap to make it look like I’d played there.

I could watch golfers tee off at the 1st hole:

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And we could walk out the back of the lodge and see the famous, iconic 18th hole. This is a par 5 that runs along the rocky coastline for its entire length. A lot of history has been made on this hole. It was a neat experience to see it for myself.

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Finally, after a morning spent in the company of the rich and famous, in the shadows of their castles, looking out over their playgrounds, we settled down into our minivan and ate our peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches.

Coming Up Next: Julie and Sarah get more excited about this trip as we start adding national parks to the itinerary.
 
Bonus Chapter 4: Use an Open-Faced Club! The Sand Wedge!

Mmmm...open-faced club sandwich...
:eek:
I can't believe you just did that.
I’m afraid I must be the bearer of bad news.
You're going to keep writing?
We were always tempted to steal a tray and take it with us on the road, but of course we are fine, upstanding American citizens who would never stoop to that level. Also, other people are watching us, so it’s easier to go up and grab extras one at a time.
:laughing:
Stealthy
(Photo borrowed from the interwebs. I’ll give it back later.)
Make sure you spit-shine it first.
It’s a lump of dough with a tiny sprinkle of cinnamon and a glop of white goo on the top.
Sounds marvelous.


:sad2:
And now we’re a little less likely to stay there. If I get a good rate, sure, but I won’t be as quick to seek it out.
Good.
I always like how when places (restaurants, hotels, stores, whatever) decide that they're doing you a favour by removing something good for something... less so... they should suffer the consequences.
I like that to save a few pennies, it will cost them a few dollars in business.
Of course, I still ate these, because they’re free and I hate myself.
:lmao:
, it costs $10.50 to drive it.
Wow. Expensive stretch.
You can get that fee back if you patronize the lodge, or the restaurants, etc. Gosh, now I sound like one of them. Excuse me while I go take a shower.
It rubs off.
the linksland of Scotland and the sand belt of Australia would be the other locales that could make the same claim.
Knew Scotland. Not Aussie.
Pebble Beach Golf Links, which even most non-golfers have heard of
::yes::
we got to see…trees. And a few houses. Some fences. Totally worth $10.50.
You're really selling it!
Lots of those.
Were there? Or just this area?
In the part of the water where the currents of the bay met the currents of the ocean, we could see two sets of waves breaking toward each other. Kind a neat phenomenon. Hard to capture in a photo, though.
Sounds interesting. Probably need a video, to capture, I guess.
Ugh. Don't you hate when people stand in front of the waves you're trying to photograph?
Beautiful!
Now, I know that most of you are not avid golfers. I’ve probably already caused some of you to start nodding off just by mentioning the word “golf”.
:cat:

What?
And in the meantime, there will be pretty pictures!
Yay!


I mean... oh that's not necessary (thank God).
this made me wish I had my clubs in the car.
As Mark is chased by a sand rake wielding driver in a golf cart...
You could almost hear the club members standing nearby, guarding their property from the likes of us and shouting “Mine! Mine! Mine!”
:laughing:
It opened to rave reviews and has been part of a PGA tournament for the last few years.
Huh.
Sadly, Strantz only built 9 courses before he was taken too soon at the age of 50.
Wow. Shame. Too young.
For my father’s 70th birthday last year, I took him to play a Strantz course in North Carolina that had been on our bucket list because it was so wild and different—I might save that one for a bonus chapter within the bonus chapters here, like Inception.
I'd actually like to see that.
Wow! Really nice!
Reminds me of the Japanese gardens I love so much.
That large rock is known as Bird Rock, probably because of the incredibly large number of seals that were hanging out on it.
:laughing:

And yet... some of those "seals" are flying...
The map said they once scraped off a layer of bird crap to be recycled as fertilizer that was several inches thick. Someone should get in touch with San Francisco.
So they can dump it there?
There’s also a rock called Seal Rock nearby,
probably because of the incredibly large number of birds that were hanging out on it.
but no seals were resting there. Instead, they were muscling in on the birds’ territory. They’re probably jerks.
:laughing:
For her part, Julie remarked to me that she had just expected to be bored in the car and indulging me while I gawked at golf courses, but between the coast, the views, and the seals, she was actually really enjoying the drive.
Well, I'm enjoying the photos, so I get that.
Image result for crocodile dundee washing your backside
You don’t ask to join that club, they ask you. Oddly, I’ve never been asked.
Ingrates.
It’s also considered one of the greatest golf courses in the world—some rate it even better than Pebble Beach.
Really!
Check out the photos here if you want to see what only a few golfers get to try in real life—hitting shots across the ocean.
I did.
Rather... stunning.
the houses along this stretch looked like castles. I mean literal castles. Walt Disney would have been proud of some of those structures.
Wow!
Didn't think you'd see that.
Yep. Very pretty.
the U.S. Open several times, which is often considered the most difficult tournament to win in the world.
Really! I had not idea. Huh.
And the good news is, they can! It’s a public course.
Yay! grab your clubs!
The bad news: it costs $550 to play a round of 18 holes. Oh, and if you want a guaranteed tee time, you have to stay at one of their hotels, where rooms start around $650 a night.
If I golfed... I might consider it... but not with the hotel added on.
Dave decided to try out the ChunkyDump pose.
:lmao:
Scotty preferred trying out the local transportation.
Scotty happened.
I was able to walk into the pro shop and successfully kept from bursting out laughing when someone asked me if I was playing later, while I was standing there in my ACME hat and hiking pants
:rolleyes1
But I did pick up a ball cap to make it look like I’d played there.
Good! Betcha like that!
Finally, after a morning spent in the company of the rich and famous, in the shadows of their castles, looking out over their playgrounds, we settled down into our minivan and ate our peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches.
There it is! yay!
 
Great update! Such beautiful pictures. I'm not really a fan of golf but we did the 17 Mile Dr. several years ago. Loved the scenery and it was fun to see the famous courses. We had lunch there and checked out the gift shop. Interested to hear what your next stop is!
 
We were always tempted to steal a tray and take it with us on the road, but of course we are fine, upstanding American citizens who would never stoop to that level.

That's because you couldn't. Your family ate them all at breakfast in one sitting.

And, in a total “rich dirtbag” move, it costs $10.50 to drive it.

This really galls me. Certain things should be free in life: water, parking and a Sunday drive (other than gas).


Zenlike.

Oh nice one!

I'd sit there a spell golf course or not. Just perfect.

Someone should get in touch with San Francisco.

:lmao:


Good Lord! How incredibly beautiful!


In the visitor center, we got to take turns posing with the U.S. Open trophy. Dave decided to try out the ChunkyDump pose.

:woohoo:

:welcome:, Drew!! You're the youngest and most recent inductee to the ChunkyDump Club. Take a squat and make yourself comfy, Kiddo!
 
I know absolutely nothing about golf and have very little interest in it so I admit that I skipped the green paragraphs. But I have to say that the pictures of the courses are gorgeous. No wonder they charge so much mone for guests to play.
 
Last edited:
I had thought I might get a comment on the t-shirt I was wearing in the photos (rather than my pose). I'm curious: without the help of Google, does anyone know who the Washington Generals are?
I did know, even before seeing Andy and pkondz replies.
As a kid, I saw them play the Globetrotters many moons ago when they visited my hometown. It was a big deal at the time because well known entertainment (be it music or sports) rarely came this far north to smaller venues.

And now I’m sorry to say that the cinnamon rolls are no more. Or rather, they have been replaced with a “new and improved” version in a partnership with Cinnabon that is definitely new but in no way improved and probably saves the hotel chain a few nickels. You might hear “Cinnabon” and think this isn’t such a bad thing, but they don’t bear any resemblance to the Cinnabons you overpay for in malls and airports.
I do enjoy occasionally overpaying for Cinnabon, but those turds wrapped in Cinnabon paper do not bear resemblance.

Of course, I still ate these, because they’re free and I hate myself.
I do believe I have been there before.

The jewel in the Monterey crown is the Pebble Beach Golf Links, which even most non-golfers have heard of and happens to be hosting a very important tournament this weekend.
I actually watched a little of that over the weekend.
I'm a very casual golf fan, but I do enjoy watching on occasion.
I tried playing years ago. It did not go well.

Looking back into the sun gave us some interesting light through the mist and cypress trees. It was a beautiful spot.
Beautiful.

That large rock is known as Bird Rock, probably because of the incredibly large number of seals that were hanging out on it.
Sounds about right.

For her part, Julie remarked to me that she had just expected to be bored in the car and indulging me while I gawked at golf courses, but between the coast, the views, and the seals, she was actually really enjoying the drive.
She might be a keeper.

I wanted to know how some of those seals had managed to climb all the way to the top of the rock.
Climbing up is one thing. Getting down is another. I wonder how many take the risk and just roll themselves off.

Dave decided to try out the ChunkyDump pose.
:rotfl:
 
:eek:
I can't believe you just did that.

I can't take credit for that one. It's a Homer Simpson quote.

You're going to keep writing?

Ooh. Sharpening the knives early, I see.


I usually try and distract the breakfast attendants.

Make sure you spit-shine it first.

I'll fill it back up with gas, too.

Sounds marvelous.


:sad2:

I hate it when places make a change that didn't need to be made. The former rolls were terrific.

Good.
I always like how when places (restaurants, hotels, stores, whatever) decide that they're doing you a favour by removing something good for something... less so... they should suffer the consequences.
I like that to save a few pennies, it will cost them a few dollars in business.

You gotta call it as you see it. They used to add value to a stay, now that has been taken away.

Wow. Expensive stretch.

Yeah, that was irritating.

It rubs off.

Thank goodness. Not a fan of snobs.

Knew Scotland. Not Aussie.

Aussie gets far less press. They don't host as many major tournaments down there. They probably like it that way.

Lots of those.
Were there? Or just this area?

Just in that area. That was the only place we saw with the small stones around the water.

Sounds interesting. Probably need a video, to capture, I guess.

I got some video on my phone, but was too lazy to upload it.

Ugh. Don't you hate when people stand in front of the waves you're trying to photograph?

Yes! Down in front! Get those dumb kids out of the way!


I knew it.

Yay!


I mean... oh that's not necessary (thank God).

Ok, ok, I get the point.

As Mark is chased by a sand rake wielding driver in a golf cart...

😆 Totally worth it.

Wow. Shame. Too young.

Yes. He seemed like a really interesting character. Did great work, for sure.

I'd actually like to see that.

Be careful what you wish for!

Wow! Really nice!
Reminds me of the Japanese gardens I love so much.

I can see that! The cypress trees are like big bonsai trees, the way the ocean winds have twisted them.

:laughing:

And yet... some of those "seals" are flying...

Fighting for their territory!

So they can dump it there?

Well done, sir. :worship:

probably because of the incredibly large number of birds that were hanging out on it.

It's as good a reason as any.

Well, I'm enjoying the photos, so I get that.

I'm glad! This excursion might be redeemed just yet.


Precisely. :thumbsup2

Ingrates.

Don't they know who I am???

Probably not.

I did.
Rather... stunning.

That would be a thrill for any golfer, trying their hand on those tee shots.

Wow!
Didn't think you'd see that.

It was definitely a peek into the world of the 1-percenters.

Really! I had not idea. Huh.

Yep. They narrow the fairways. The rough is incredibly thick and high--if you hit it in there, chances are you can't reach the green--you just have to chip it back into the fairway. Then the greens are hard and fast, so it's tough to stop the ball near the hole. There have been many years where not a single golfer finished under par, including the winner.

If I golfed... I might consider it... but not with the hotel added on.

I felt the same way. Maybe I could justify the greens fee...just once...but doubling the price with a hotel stay feels like gouging. I dunno. Maybe if I win the lottery or something.

Scotty happened.

As he does!

Good! Betcha like that!

It was certainly a lot cheaper than actually playing there!

There it is! yay!

Yes. Yay. Woohoo.
 
Anyway, it was a sad day when we discovered this. We may or may not have wondered aloud why we can’t have nice things. And now we’re a little less likely to stay there. If I get a good rate, sure, but I won’t be as quick to seek it out.
Oh no!!!!! They got rid of the cinnamon rolls???? HI Express used to be one we'd go to frequently for that reason alone... now Hampton definitely moves up a notch in our "decent hotels that are pretty consistent and have good breakfast but don't necessarily break the bank" category.
We got past the gate and started our drive with a climb into the hills. And for the first few miles of our precious 17, we got to see…trees. And a few houses. Some fences. Totally worth $10.50.
Well, if you got to see more, they'd probably charge you more! I mean considering these people probably wipe with a 10...
The coast is inherently more interesting than trees.
Yes. Yes it is.
Right next to our little viewpoint was a par 3, part of the Dunes Course at the Monterey Peninsula Country Club. It’s a dream of every golfer to play a course that requires a shot over rocky cliffs or the ocean, and this made me wish I had my clubs in the car.
And a whole box of balls... because they're all going to end up in the rocky cliffs or ocean. :rolleyes1
Most people only see scenes like this on TV...
For her part, Julie remarked to me that she had just expected to be bored in the car and indulging me while I gawked at golf courses, but between the coast, the views, and the seals, she was actually really enjoying the drive.
Well, how about that? Maybe there won't be a divorce.
You should have brought a green jacket to wear there... then you could pose like you're halfway to a career grand slam.
Finally, after a morning spent in the company of the rich and famous, in the shadows of their castles, looking out over their playgrounds, we settled down into our minivan and ate our peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches.
Commoners...
 

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