I’ve been intending to write this review for a long time now as it really deserves it’s own page on this blog. It’s a review of the Jabberwock Inn in Monterey.

When we first started planning our holidays to San Francisco we’d originally thought we’d do the cheap and cheerful motels and B&B’s along our road trip route. We’d decided on our route and knew we were going to stop off in Monterey if only to visit the aquarium! Off we trotted to Google and started searching B&B’s in Monterey.

One of the first B&B’s we found was the Jabberwock Inn set a 5 minute walk from Cannery Row. It wasn’t the cheapest and certainly didn’t fall into out cheap and cheerful thinking but the images on the website blew us away.

Before we even arrived we were impressed. The owners had sent a thank you for booking letter and leaflet about the guesthouse which we thought was a nice touch especially as nowadays you’re lucky to get a confirmation email!

It’s a quaint wee hotel with loads of nooks and crannies and decor relating to “Through the Looking Glass.” From the website:

Our Monterey Bed and Breakfast Inn was named after the Lewis Carroll poem from his famous book, “Through the Looking Glass.” The ambiance of our seven room inn is light-hearted, warmly comfortable, and decidedly upscale. We enjoy meeting and caring for our local to international guests. Many come for romance, others are in town for conferences or business meetings, some come as a group for a family reunion … many return often to re-experience the beautiful blend of elegance and innocence that is woven into every aspect of Jabberwock Inn!

Arrivals and Upgrades

When we arrived, tired and ratty after a full day’s drive, the owner took his time to show us round the house an grounds and showed us lots of hiding spaces where jelly beans and sweets were hidden. There were guests playing boules on the front law and it really was quite idyllic!

As the owners knew we were on holiday for my 30th they had upgraded us to the Mome Rath room with our own bath jacuzzi, ocean views and a Californian king bed. We’d also pre-booked their chocolate dipped strawberries and champagne option. Bliss.

TLC with food!

Before dinner (chosen from one of the manu menus available) we met up in the parlour(!) with the other guests and got to know each other over a limoncello, a glass of wine and some hand made canapes. This was a fantastic touch and really didn’t make us want to leave!

After dinner we settled back into the room as we wanted time to enjoy it and try out the jacuzzi bath oh, and drink our champagne of course!

In the morning, after one of the most fitful sleeps I’d had in a  long time (well, since Wawoma) we went downstairs for breakfast. There is one dining table for all guests so everyone has the chance to chat. Breakfasts are amazing, massive and vary each day. They also follow the course of Alice with names such as “Snarkleberry Flumptious, Phantasmagoria, or another wondrous fulsome treats”

Would I go back?

No doubt about it. I really do recommend this hotel if you’re ever in Monterey. It might not be the cheapest but sometimes it’s worth the extra and the love and attention to detail that the owners put into your stay more than makes up for this.

For more information or to book see:

www.jabberwockinn.com
598 Laine Street, Monterey, CA 93940

If you’ve look through the USA category in this blog you’ll know I’m a big fan of San Francisco and California. Before I went over last year I spent months and months going through every tourist attraction/deal and route I could find to try and plan our holiday so not a minute was wasted. The result was a carefully tailored fortnight that had us seeing a huge portion of what North California has to offer.

I felt that my research/tips/thing I would change were worth sharing with you should you find yourself going on your holidays to America and in particular, California.

1) Book ahead but don’t book too much.

Before I went I booked up all our accommodation so we knew exactly where we would be each day and for how long. I was concerned about finding accommodation on the day as it can be a bit hit and miss in the UK. Next time I’ll probably book the start and the end and that’s about it. We found there were motels all over and not only were they all looking clean they were all pretty cheap as well. There were a few I would have liked the chance to stay in because of their views but I couldn’t because I’d already pre-booked. Take the chance and see what takes your fancy when you’re over there.

The view I could have had

2) Pay a little more for Yosemite

If your budget allows then take it from me…there is nothing that can compare to waking up in Yosemite and eating your breakfast looking up at the sheer size of the rock face in front of you. It was amazing and yes, we could have saved a fair wad of cash by not being in Yosemite Valley or Wawoma but this was potentially the only time I would be there so splashing out was worth it.

Breakfast

3) Don’t be afraid to act the tourist

Like anything in the world there can be a huge amount of snobbery attached to travelling. From those who wouldn’t stay anywhere other than a 5 star hotel to the inverted-snob who wouldn’t dream of doing anything that a ‘tourist’ would do. Well why the Hell not I say!? One of my greatest memories of San Francisco was breakfast in a 50’s style restaurant (Lori’s Diner I believe). Yes, it was FULL to the brim with tourists but so what, all that mattered to me was that I get the best pancakes I’d ever tasted (sorry Mum!) It would have been easy to walk past as it was packed out with fat, bum-bag wearing tourists but I’m glad my stomach took control and insisted I go in and besides, when I was sitting at my table across from the Fiance I didn’t take much notice of the fat bum-bags…bleugh – I made myself ill being so nice about him there.

Touristy milkshake

4) Check your driving distances

Two for one in this tip. Firstly, make sure you check and check your distances. Driving speeds are slower than the UK so it takes a little longer to drive the same distance plus all the stops you’re likely to do along the way. We learnt this the long way in Canada where we drove literally an inch on the map in one day and arrived at our destination 10 hours later – that was one long day. In California we stuck to a max of 250 miles a day to give us time to relax and enjoy the trip.

4) Check your road conditions

Secondly, check road conditions if you’re in any doubt. You can go from blazing sunshine to snow topped mountains in a matter of a few hours in California so if you know you’re going to an extreme then check. Likewise, if you’re travelling into Yosemite then check the conditions – we didn’t and ended up doing a 5 hour detour so we could avoid a mile of road in the centre of Yosemite to avoid a fire. You can check conditions for Yosemite at http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/conditions.htm

There’s been a lot of holiday talk in the office lately what with it being summer n’ all and it’s got me thinking (as if I ever stopped) about my holiday to San Francisco last year.

Before I went there I put up a Facebook message saying we’d booked our flights and I was absolutely inundated with friends who wrote me essay after essay telling me just how wonderful it was and giving me tips on ‘must sees’. Really? I though. It’s THAT good? Well, I’ll tell you something, it really IS that good.

So what is it about holidays to San Francisco that make a person drift off into a day dream everytime it’s mentioned?

The chill out factor

I went to SF after a long time with no holiday. A few hours after we arrived we were in a Speakeasy cocktail bar and it set the pace for our holiday. Relaxation was the key and in my opinion there is no better place than this. We wandered round parks, up round North Beach (and stopped in just one or two cafes), out to Japan town and Golden Gate Park to have tea in a Japanese garden.

The wow factor

There are just so many things to do in SF; from Alcatraz to Coit Tower to Pier 39 and the Presidio – you can see anything and everything and pretty much walk all over without feeling a thing! I could easily go back and stay solely in SF and still not see everything there is to see.

The surrounding area

Another thing I love is how much there is to see and do in just a short drive from SF. Two hours east you have Lake Tahoe (for canoeing, walking, skiing and gambling). A short drive north is the Napa Valley and Sonoma for wine tasting. If you fancy a longer but completely breathtaking route there is Highway 1 along the Big Sur a few hours south.

We were in SF for 5 days in total and it wasn’t enough. I’d go back in an instant and do the exact same trip all over again (Yosemite being a whole other story – I’d move there if I could!) So to anyone thinking about San Francisco for a holiday I only have this to say:

Go. And if you don’t leave your heart there I’ll eat my hat.

We woke up on the last day of our holiday a little unhappy to be leaving and dreading the task of our final pack. We got it over and done with as fast as possible and decided to take a last drive up to Sanoma (wine country).

We just drove North for an hour over the Golden Gate Bridge and got as far as Sanoma in time for lunch. I wise we’d had a little more time for a trip a bit further to Napa Valley but time was short and we had a plane to catch. Anyway, it gives us somewhere left to visit for next time. We got a pizza in Sanoma before heading back down to San Francisco and the airport.

And that was it…the end of our Californian road trip

*sob sob*

We made our way back up to San Francisco via Mountain View (so I could see Google HQ!) and our hotel for this stay was on Lombard St just a few minutes walk from the squiggly bit.

We spent the morning in Golden Gate Park and the Japenese Tea Garden where we sat in the garden drinking green tea – all very civilised! We then spent an hour or so wandering round Golden Gate park.

After the park we headed back to the hotel, got changed and headed along the water via the Maritime National Park into North Beach. We’d booked the Stinking Rose garlic restaurant for dinner and took an elongated route through North Beach to get to it stopping in at the San Francisco Brewing Company for one of their brewed beers before dinner.

The Stinking Rose is a fantastic restaurant inside and we were lucky enough to get one of the secluded tables at the back so it was a nice romantic place for one of our final meals in San Fran. I love garlic and so when we were recommended the starter it was an instant yes – it’s called ‘GARLIC SOAKING IN A HOT TUB’ and to quote their website:

Garlic cloves, oven-roasted in extra virgin olive oil & butter with a hint of anchovy. a wonderful treat for spreading on our house-baked focaccia bread. served at your table in an iron skillet.

It sounds disgusting but believe me it’s wonderful however, probably wasn’t too wise having it the day before we got on a plane back to Glasgow…

After the meal we decided we were smelling too much of garlic so we took a long walk back to the hotel again along Lombard St which let me get a few photo’s of the city at night.

We’d been swaying between going whale watching and just getting on the road and up to San Francisco. In the end we decided that whale watching was worth doing whether we saw one or not.

We headed off down to the pier to buy tickets and hire binoculars.The boat was a decent size and surprisingly I never ended up sea sick (although I have heard it can get quite rough at times). We’d been heading out for about 30 mins when we were told that there was a report of an killer whale nearby so off the captain took us in that direction. When we got closer we got our first glimpse of a killer whale!

Now, that would have been what I called a successful trip in itself but the whales started coming up closer to the boat so we were getting better and better views. After watching for a while there was another report of other killer whales and some humpbacks so off we went again to see if we could spot them.  Before long we saw more killer whales and no less than THREE humpbacks! It was amazing. The humpbacks must have thought our boat was a play thing as once or twice our boat was hit from below by one of them.

There was a point where I noticed everyone jumping back, to my mind this gave me a clear space for a picture so I moved towards the edge and promptly started snapping away. The humpback surface…I got good photo’s and only then did I discover why everyone had stood back…he breathed out and spurted loads of foul smelling stuff all over me and my camera!

The B&B we stayed in gave a massive, home cooked breakfast each morning so we had a leisurely but big breakfast before heading out into the Monterey sunshine.

Our main activity for the day was Monterey Aquarium right on Monterey Bay. The aquarium is absolutely massive and is the most extensive, well stocked aquarium I have been in. Below is one of the viewing tanks with sea kelp reaching 28 feet tall! The picture below only shows a portion of it but the people give in an idea of scale.

When we were at the Aquarium there was also a Great White Shark in one of the tanks so we spent quite some time watching it. Apparently they keep it for a few weeks then let it back into the ocean.

There’s also a fantastic jellyfish display and a great penguin pen. I love penguins so I probably made the Fiance stay there for ever so slightly longer than was necessary but they’re just so cute! Ditto for the sea otters…there are binoculars along the viewing platform so you get really good views of the sea otters playing.

I’m not a huge fan of birds but the bird section was really good and the people working in there are really knowledgeable. We ended up talking to one guy who had emigrated from the UK 20-odd years previously and he was really eager to show us around and tell us about the local area. He also told me what the birds were we’d been seeing all through our trip: turkey vultures.

After the extended stay with the penguins the Fiance got his own back when we visited the touching pools. He loves anything to do with sea life so I spent quite a while watching him playing and holding all the animals! Aww bless!

We spent a good four hours at the aquarium and could easily have spent a lot more but we wanted to see round Monterey too. It’s a shame we couldn’t stay longer though as there was just so much to see.

After the Aquarium we headed along Cannery Row and took a walk round the area, viewed the sea lions again and had a bite to eat at the other end of Cannery Row from the Aquarium. The rest of the day was a lazy amble around Monterey and a cheeky wee afternoon beer.

For dinner we took the advice of the B&B owners and headed down to another fish restaurant called the Sea Harvest. It was brilliant. You walk in and there is a big fish counter with every type of fish imaginable and further round if the restaurant area. It’s a no frills restaurant with plastic table clothed tables but don’t let that put you off. I had (for just six tiny pounds) a HUGE dish of scallops with rice. Normally (well, in Scotland) when you order scallops you’re lucky to get over four but not at the Sea Harvest, I had about 15 massive ones on the plate – I was in heaven!

The Fiance and I aren’t ones for big nights out as we like our daytimes to be hangover free but we decided that while we were in Monteray we’d make use of some of the bars. The first (and only) one we went to was Sly Mcfly’s on Cannery Row. Turns out we’d got there in time for the live jazz night. We got talking to a guy who started telling us about living in Monterey which was really good to hear and added ot the atmosphere. Eventually his friends turned up and when the music started they all started doing ‘West Coast Swing’ which was fascinating to watch. Very energetic dancing style and one I’m quite keen to learn at home – looked a lot more fun than any other dancing I’ve seen!

We woke up early in Morro Bay and before continuing on our road trip up the Pacific Coast Highway we decided to take one last walk down to Morro Rock and watch the sea otters.

We stopped about an hour up Route 1 at Hearst Castle. Hearst Castle is the most extravgant building I have seen. It has two pools (both in the pics below) the second of which has gold plated tiles and walkway! You approach the Castle (via a shuttle bus) along a long winding road which used to have zoo animals on it and has it’s own airport! At one point they had a Polar Bear in the Zoo and I dread to think of how the poor wee thing coped in the hot Californian hills.

The Castle itself was incredibly impressive to walk around and the guide was knowledgable and funny. I would have liked to have done it at my own pace but it was only guided tours when we did it (I think it may be different now). Apparantly Hearst Castle was used almost like a holiday home for all of William Randolph Hearst’s guests (many of whom were movie stars). I found it amusing that he didn’t like unmarried couples sharing rooms when he had his mistress in an adjoining room to his!

Hearst Castle is worth stopping for. I wasn’t keen to begin with as I wanted to get on with the driving and stop at some beaches but I am so glad we stopped. It took a fair few hours to walk round but it’s time well spent as you learn so much about the Castle and the surrounding area.

After leaving Hearst Castle we carried on a few miles up the road before pulling over to Piedras Blancas’ beach where we could view Elephant Seals. They looked like massive planks of driftwood on the beach and it was actually quite hard to identify them until they moved. In fact, there was one that I was convinced was dead until we eventually saw him flipping sand over his body.

Once I’d had my fill of watching the Elephant Seals we got back on the road and soon began to see the scenery we’d associated with the Pacific Coast Highway.

We stopepd for lunch in possibly the best picnic stop in the World; overlooking the cliffs of Route 1, in the boiling heat with views for miles. Who would ever eat indoors on Rout one with views liek the one below?

We also decided to stop at McWay Falls on the way up to Monterey. McWay Falls is an 80ft waterfall in Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, close enough to the Ocean to be called a TideFal. Once parked you take a short walk under Route 1 to reach a viewing point for the Falls.It;s a beautiful little spot and if you drive past here you’re missing out!

We stopped once more along the Big Sur at Pfeiffer Beachwhich was a little difficult to find (the turn off snaked away behind us) and it was a miel or two down a winding small road to the beach. It was quite busy when we arrived, probably because everyone was there for the sunset but looked like it would be the perfect place to spent a few hours in the sun.

Unfortunately for us our time was limited and we had to get up to Monterey quickly so we drove the last hour up to our Bed and Breakfast (the Jabberwock Inn) where we met up with my cousin again and we all went out for dinner in Monterey.

We started today slowly still in the relaxing stupor that we started yesterday when we arrived in Visalia!  We had breakfast in bed, I finally finished my book and we headed down to the jacuzzi (we did also exert ourselves with four lengths in the pool!)

Eventually we set off for Morro Bay stopping half way to have a wander and arrived in Morro Bay in the afternoon. We were staying at the El Morrow Masterpiece Motel which I will also review on here at some point but suffice to say, it was a perfect location for two days in Morro Bay.

As soon as we were settled in we took a wander down to Morro Rock in the daylight where you can walk round to the rock an a nice big walkway (off the road). We spent ages watching the Brown Pelicans, a Heron, Ground Squirrels and also….SEA OTTERS! It was really brilliant seeing the sea otters (having never seen them before) and we spent ages watching them ducking and diving – I loved that! We took a wander along the front and spent a while watching the sealins that had made it their home.

We headed back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. As we love seafood we’d booked a restaurant we’d found when Googling at home called The Galley. On the way there we stopped for half an hour to watch the sunset and take some photo’s of Morro Rock in the sunset (below).

The food in The Galley was lovely. I decided to try Taco’s for the first time and so Red Snapper Taco’s it was! Yum! After the meal we took a long (rather wine-fuelled, giggly) walk back to the Motel.

The drive to Visalia was a complete contrast to the height of Yosemite. We passed over dry plains that seemed to stretch forever and the heat was immense with heat hazes on the road almost the whole way.

We didn’t stop on the drive over to Visalia other than to take a few photo’s and swap drivers, we fancied getting to the hotel and carrying on with the chilling out we had done yesterday.

As I said before the heat was like nothing else so once at the hotel I immediately got into my costume and headed down to the pool and outdoor jacuzzi. Sitting out there was a fantastic break from all the driving we’d been doing. Really out intentions of exploring Visalia went out of the window at this point…we ate at the hotel and treated ourselves to a room service breakfast so we could get the optimum amount of relaxing in!

Visalia was a good palce to stop between Yosemite and Morro Bay if you have a night to spend relaxing. The Marriott we were in was fantastic and offered the perfect place to do nothing for a few hours and I recommend it if you’re doing the same journey.