Monterey, CA

We're staying in town today, so we start just outside the hotel at Crepes of Brittany.  I feel like it's been forever since I've had a crepe.  So these were exceptional.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium runs a free trolley from the hotel, so we take advantage of that and cram on with half of California on the first trolley of the day.  An easy entry in as we have purchased tickets in advance and the place is packed from the beginning.  We start at the sea otters, who are putting on a show for everyone packed against the glass.  From there we walk over to the Into The Deep tank, which is massive, and keeps us entertained for a while.  Of course the sharks we amazing, and the quantity of jellyfish.  But just outside from the Touch Pool we could see more seals and otters in the ocean just beyond the aquarium.  Another thing we watch (from a distance) is the kids who were learning to scuba dive in the tide pool fenced off in the facility.  Not for me, but I'm sure that is an amazing experience.  Weirdly I know this is a world class facility, but it seems kind of small.  Yet we are in there for 3 hours.

 

Jellyfish, Monterey Bay Aquarium, CA

First things first when we leave the aquarium, it's time for lunch.  L and I opt for sandwiches from Conglio Brothers, a deli inside a wine and olive oil shop, while M&B grab something from Jack's Bao, across the street.  We meet up and eat in the glorious sunshine by the waters edge.

We are in Cannery Row, known to me from the John Steinbeck novel, so we wonder around and look in shops and see all the restaurants we aren't going to eat at before we head up to San Francisco tomorrow.  Poor M, I know she shops better than her 3 boys, but we stopped her spending too much time here.  The walk back to hotel is just over a mile, and it's too nice a day to be inside, so we walk back.  We do have to make a stop at Fisherman's Wharf for our daily ice cream.

For dinner tonight M has found the Beach House Restaurant & Bar at Lovers Point, Pacific Grove.  It is only a 15 minute drive north west of the hotel, and a beautiful old house overlooking the Pacific Ocean.  We delighted in our seafood dinner as, again, seals and otters popped their heads up out of the water on the beach below us.  This was a fitting ending to our stay in Monterey, and I am looking forward to part 2 of our trip tomorrow as we move into San Francisco.

Monterey, CA

Before this morning becomes a driving day, we have breakfast at Bagel Bakery, just up the road from the hotel.  We sit and enjoys a coffee/tea and dive into these great egg bagels.

Today we are headed down the scenic 17 Mile Drive.  This starts just south of Monterey and goes through Pebble Beach, along the coast, and down to Carmel.  The drive starts foggy, but its clear enough at each of the many stops we make.  One of the early (and favorite) ones is at Bird Rock.  While seals aplenty swim in the water, their need to get up on this rock island is overpowered by the shear amount of black birds on sunning themselves already.  Also at this stop is some volunteers, offering information and binoculars.  While L & I stayed up high, M & B climbed down to Fanshell Beach for a quick look around.  At Cypress Point we saw a lone white seal.  I'd never seen one that color before.  The next stop was The Lone Cypress.  A top a rocky point sits this single tree.  We got there and got photos,  but 15 minutes later, as we left, there was so much fog you could not see the tree, or the ocean.  We left and headed to Carmel before realizing that we'd been so fixated with the ocean that we had not seen any of world famous Pebble Beach Golf Course.  Maybe on the way back.

Bird Rock, 17 Mile Drive, Pebble Beach, CA

Lone Pine, 17 Mile Drive, Pebble Beach, CA

DML&B, Lone Pine, 17 Mile Drive, Pebble Beach, CA

We drove in hoping to stop at Carmel Beach to look around.  There was too much traffic and literally nowhere to park, so we headed into town to look around.  We spent an hour looking around town and through all the local stores.  WE opted for Brophy Tavern for lunch.  It was a little bit out of the main area of  the town, and the only place without a long wait.  A nice pub lunch before we are back in the car again.

Our trip sees us continue south on the CA1.  We are hoping to get to Big Sur, but the road is not an easy one to navigate.  Between fog rolling in, road works, and the naturally tight one lane each way, it is actually slow going.  A has volunteered to drive, and I know it is taking it out of her, becasue I fell exhausted from the drive in the passenger seat.  

There are a number of places to stop on the way, and we do so.  Garrapata State Park is where we stop the longest.   We walk along a trail out to the cliff's edge.  The coast here is rocky and has many cliffs, not the sandy beaches I've come to know all my life.  And the fog!  So much of it.  Blinding one minute, then clear blue sky the next.  With stops due to roadworks (because of last years landslides) it takes over another hour to finally make it to Big Sur.  We don't arrive until 5pm, so we didn't go into the park.  Both because we had seen all the Redwoods in Santa Cruz and we were a little worried about driving back in the pending darkness.

D&M, Garrapata State Park, CA

B&L, Garrapata State Park, CA

No stops going back north.  That is until we get into the 17 Mile Drive again.  We stop at the clubhouse of the Pebble Beach Golf Course.  While none of us are golfers, you don't have to be to enjoy the beauty and history of this course.  I wish I had taken up the sport when we lived in Vegas.  So many times a knocked back a round.  It would have been amazing to try and play a round here.  Mind you we were heading into dusk as we got here.

Arriving back at the hotel we were too beat to leave it again, so we had dinner at Jack's in the lobby.  Although they were both super tired, the boys ploughed through a huge meal, and it wasn't long after we got back to the room that we surrendered completely for the day.  An absolute beaut!

Monterey, CA

Up pretty early this morning only to find my luggage had yet to arrive from American.  After a lengthy wait on the phone, we find out that this has been pushed back to late tonight.  Grrrr!

We had breakfast inside the hotel at Jack's.  Holy hell, there was enough food to do me for a month.  But gooood!

In the car and up the CA1 towards Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park.  Just 9 miles north of Santa Cruz are these most beautiful trees.  A popular park, it took a while for us to get in.  The problem wasn't helped by the guy that didn't want to wait in line and during his u-turn he bottomed out on the edge of the road.  Once in, we had a quick pit stop at the general store before planning out the day  We got a map of the hikes, but went over and got a ticket for the Roaring Camp Railroad.  This is adjacent to the park, and we can get on a train in just over an hour.  Back in the park we decide to take the Redwood Grove Loop Trail.  It's just under a mile along, but our map has points of interest to stop at.  We saw banana slugs, a 277 foot Redwood and generally just took in these majestic trees, like none of had seen before.  The weather was perfect, and being in the shade of these giants just made the whole experience complete.

MBL& D, Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park, Felton, CA

We made it back to the railway for the 12.15pm train up the mountain.  It is a laborious trip for the narrow gauge steam train, but one that has been done for over a century, for both logging and more recently, recreation.  The view out of the open top carriage is overwhelming.  You can't not see a magnificent tree any which way you look.  The commentary points out the larger trees, points out trees that have survived fires and all the interesting facts - did you know the redwoods drink 500 gallons of water a day and get 40% of their intake from fog.  There's a 10 minute stop at the top, as you wait for the train ahead to complete a switchback.  From there it's downhill cruising.  We all enjoyed this 1.5 hour train ride, and this ticks off our want to see the Redwoods while here.

BM&L, Roaring Camp Railroad, Felton, CA

Once we get back we leave the park in search of lunch.  In hindsight we should have stayed longer.  We drove 20 minutes down to Santa Cruz Beach.  Beaches here in the US still amaze me, with their piers and boardwalks.  Santa Cruz's having a massive amusement park.  We stop at the north end of the beach and sit outside, beside the ocean, and have lunch at Ideal Bar & Grill.  Another good meal.  All enjoyed under the non-intense sun without excess heat (I could get used to this).

After lunch we just cruise the boardwalk and walk though the amusement park.  This place was great.  Every type of person and family in this oversized Luna Park-esque fun park just having the best time.  I know I normally don't go for things like this, but there was such a positive vibe about the place, it was nice to be a part of.  We didn't do any of the rides because of the wait times, but we just liked being at the boardwalk.

Santa Cruz Boardwalk, Santa Cruz, California

We went into downtown Santa Cruz momentarily.  I stopped at the Gap to pick up a couple of essentials, as we still had not heard anything about my bags.  Oh, and there was ice cream and cookies involved.

We took our time getting back to Monterey in the afternoon.  We drove through Capitola, just to see what it looked like.  The beach was packed, but it was a chill little seaside town.  We made it back to the hotel and the boys opted for a rest in the room while A & I wandered through Monterey.  We weren't looking at or for anything but wit was just nice to be somewhere new and see something different.

The late lunch meant A, B & I didn't want to eat anything, but I went back out to find L some Mexican.  I like when I get to spend 1 on 1 time with the boys (not easy to do with twins).  Another great day.  Let's see if we can top it tomorrow.

Monterey, CA

Not doing the huge summer trip like we have for the past 3 years, but still want to get away for a few days so we've decided on 8 days on the west coast. Out to Monterey, where none of us have been before, and San Francisco, for the boys first trip.

Uneventful flight until we land at San Francisco.  American have lost my bag somehow.  It amazes me that we dropped off 4 bags at the same time, going on 1 flight, and 1 bag doesn't make it.  Of course it's mine.  Anyway they said they'd drop it off at the hotel in Monterey tonight.  With that sorted (?) a quick trip over to Sixt and pick up the rental.  We've been upgraded from a Toyota Camry to a Buick Encore - the luck is changing already.

We leave the airport and head out to Half Moon Bay.  The 45 minute drive is picturesque but when we arrive in town, we can't find access to the beach, and most importantly a place to eat on the water.  We end up driving up to Miramar Beach and having lunch at Miramar Beach Restaurant.  This 107 year old institution was a great first meal of the trip, as we sat by the oceanside window.  One of the reasons we picked northern California was to escape the heat, so the walk along the beach after lunch was a cool, windy 65 degrees, not the 90+, high humidity we get in Charlotte.  We could see Mavericks on the walk, but it's not the season for the world famous big waves.

DMB&L @ Miramar Beach Restaurant, Miramar, California

Back in the car for the should be 2 hour drive to Monterey, we hit some traffic through Santa Cruz and and the CA1 put us closer to 3 hours before we go to the Portola Hotel just before dinner.  First impressions of the hotel are great.  A real light lobby and a well kept property.  Pretty sure we are going to enjoy our stay here.  We wander up and down Alvarado Street to find dinner for B&L.  A&I still can't eat after lunch, but 2 teenage boys have no end to their stomachs.

We did walk down to Fisherman's Wharf in the "freezing cold" to have our tradition summer vacation daily ice cream.  This area is full of restaurants with people desperately trying to get you to come in and touristy shops.  I think we've done our time here and not sure we need to be back.

Back at the hotel and we all sleep well.  Let's hope we wake up to my luggage.

311, Badflower & Sitting On Saturn @ Skyla CU Amphitheater

It is another work night, so my concentration is not fully on all the bands all the time.  And it's hot.  Distractingly hot!  Getting people in their seats meant I paid minimal attention to the openers, and there was nothing they played that stood out as something I'd go out of my way and listen to again.  That being said, I don't really chase a lot of new music.

Sitting on Saturn Setlist

Badflower Setlist

What you get at a 311 show is very dedicated fans.  Nobody's there to casually see 311.  Everybody has seen them at least 20 times.  59 was the record for people I spoke to.  I saw them 22 years ago, back in the early Vegas days, but they've never really been my thing.  So tonight the music, again, became background noise.  There were a couple of times I saw singer, Nick Hexum, in action.  And he has "it".  A magnetic presence, like he was born for the stage.  I can see the attraction for fans.  Hexum has charisma that fills the stage.  About half way through the set they covered The Cure's Lovesong, which I really dug.  Amber at the end of the set was another song I recognized, and a hit the whole crowd went crazy for.  A 2 song encore included Down, which put everyone on a high to finish the night.

I would not have come to this show had I not been working, but I still had a good time soaking in the atmosphere of the dedicated 311 fans, and hearing the 3 songs I knew.

311 Setlist

The Crap Facts
This is my 524th concert.
This is my 17th concert at Skyla Credit Union Amphitheater.
This is my 121st concert in Charlotte.
This is my 145th concert in North Carolina.
This is my 324th concert in the USA.
Sitting on Saturn are the 612th band I've seen.
Badflower are the 613th band I've seen.
This is my 2nd 311 concert.

Peach Pit, Briston Maroney & Bnny @ Skyla Credit Union Amphitheater

I'll take the fall for this one.  I didn't write this entry until 3 months after the show happened.  There were so many work shows in a row, I was not keeping up.  Not a lot stands out in this show for me.  The music is not what I'd go for and was not enough to keep my attention.  I do remember Bnny did a cover of Weezer's Sweater Song.  It was slowed down, and sounded silky, but that was the highlight early on for me.  Between the extreme heat and getting people where they needed to go, the music didn't capture me.  But this was another show where good fans of these bands were great people and had a ton of fun.

Briston Maroney Setlist

Peach Pit Setlist

The Crap Facts
This is my 523rd concert.
This is my 16th concert at Skyla Credit Union Amphitheater.
This is my 120th concert in Charlotte.
This is my 144th concert in North Carolina.
This is my 323rd concert in the USA.
Bnny are the 609th band I've seen.
Briston Maroney are the 610th band I've seen.
Briston Maroney is the 400th different band I've seen in the US.

Peach Pit are the 611th band I've seen.

Babymetal, Black Veil Brides & Bloodywood @ Skyla Credit Union Amphitheater

What have I just seen? This is my 2nd night working at the Amp and things couldn't be any different from Sturgill Simpson's show last month.

First up was Bloodywood.  An Indian metal band.  I liked this sound.  The metal with the south-east Asian twang is really unique.  Throw in the fact they are a bunch of boy-band-good-looking blokes dressed in different colored dhotis (? - I could be wrong about the name, but it looked like traditional Indian clothing).  It still makes me turned around when I hear metal during daylight.  And in this heat....  Interesting sound that I would like to see in a smaller club (in the dark).

Bloodywood Setlist

Babymetal did the right thing picking Black Veil Brides as an opener.  These heavy goth rockers (Does that sound Gen X enough) have a good following in, and are keen to get the energy levels up.  I admit, I only heard the show, I didn't see much as I was ushering people into seats.  When the sound went 2 or 3 songs in, I thought there might be a riot, but all was fixed by song's end, and Black Veil Brides powered through the rest of the set, with fans a blazing.

Black Veil Brides Setlist

And then there was Babymetal.  They've played the Underground (800 people) and the Fillmore (1800) and now selling out Skyla (5000 people) in the 3 years I've worked this venue.  And these fans are die hard.  They band come out, in the background, dressed as Japanese warriors and started a heavy riff.  Then appeared the 3 Babymetal singers, dressed in a kimono-styled dress, who proceeded to deliver a Japanese language metal scream while performing choreographed pop dance moves.  I've never seen anything like it.  Old man here had no idea what was going on, but there was no one in the crowd that wasn't top of their lungs singing.  It was wild!  I didn't understand a word sung, but I was oddly drawn into this spectacle.  The Japanese-metal-pop-imagery-choreography scene is definitely not my thing, but good on Babymetal for finding an audience and growing it rapidly.  Maybe next time they'll be at the PNC Pavilion.

Babymetal Setlist

The Crap Facts

This is my 522nd concert.
This is my 15th concert at Skyla Credit Union Amphitheater.
This is my 119th concert in Charlotte.
This is my 143rd concert in North Carolina.
This is my 322nd concert in the USA.
Bloodywood are the 606th band I've seen.
Black Veil Brides are the 607th band I've seen.

Black Veil Brides are the 250th time I've seen a band in North Carolina.

Babymetal are the 608th band I've seen.

Babymetal are the 200th different band I've seen in North Carolina.

Aquabats & Koffin Kats @ The Orange Peel

The boys and I took a drive up to Asheville for the night.  The sole purpose......The Aquabats.  Years ago they played at the Underground and the boys were the perfect age to see this band, but to young to be out late on a school night.  Now, it's summer break and they're older and taller.  A perfect scenario to see a band.

We were gong to wander around town before the show, but as were were checking in to the hotel, the skies opened up.  And not just rain, torrential rain!  So we hung in the room until it finally passed and we wandered down to Farmburger for dinner.  What a great place.  The food and milkshakes were excellent.  It has inspired us see if we can find the best burger in the Carolinas over the summer.

I predicted an early start to the  show but was surprised when we arrived and the Koffin Kats were already on stage.  (We had already missed Mike V & the Rats).  And they were rocking, as you'd expect from a rockabilly band.  I wasn't familiar with any of their songs, but their energy and showmanship was top class.  The standing on the double bass, the swapping of instruments in the middle of songs, and the playing to the crowd made for a great show.  Near the end of the set, a ripping version of Hall & Oates' Maneater had the crowd, well the parents in the crowd at least, in a frenzy.  A great, unexpected cover.  I know they've been through Charlotte a few times (Mostly at the too late starting Milestone) but I hope I get to see them again soon.

Koffin Kats Setlist

Not a 100% certain but I'm pretty sure The Aquabats did their own loading onto the stage.  The matching logo hoodies were a give away, even though that's different to their onstage personas.  A short video preceded the band arriving onstage to rapturous applause.  Straight into Shark Fighter! and the blow up sharks were in the crown, and instantly the crowds' enthusiasm is rewarded and a pit started in the center of the venue, that was to continue all night long.  Cat With 2 Heads was a favorite and when Bat Commander pulled a young girl on stage you knew it was Pizza Day!  He through her onto the blow up pizza and she crowd surfed her way around the whole venue.  A ton o parents in the crowd, as she was handled with the utmost care and returned to her dad ecstatic.  My boys were into it as well, which was great - I love that I am now taking them to shows and hope they get out of it the same enjoyment I do.  My Skateboard! and Chemical Bomb! was a great finish to the main set, but the encore of Fashion Zombies! was amazing.  And what would an Aquabats show be without a kid-filled stage for pool party.  Even though the 3 year old the Bat Commander was holding wasn't really sure what was happening, all the other kids on stage were having a blast.

Family fun at a rockin' ska/punk show.  Who'd've thought this would be where I am, but I wouldn't be anywhere else.  ANother great show done.

Aquabats Setlist

The Crap Facts
This is my 521st concert.
This is my 5th concert at The Orange Peel.
This is my 16th concert in Asheville.
This is my 142nd concert in North Carolina.
This is my 321st concert in the USA.
Koffin Kats are the 605th band I've seen.
This is my 2nd Aquabats concert.