South Knox and Mrs. Bubba's Western Road Trip

Greetings (again) from Monterey

We started out yesterday heading back south to Big Sur for a late breakfast/lunch at the Ventana Inn Cielo restaurant. The menu was pretentious, the food was pretentious, and the service was pretentious. It was awesome.

Surrounded by beautiful gardens and sculptures and $40 cigars and $100+ wines, the outdoor patio dining area sits high on the side of a mountain with a view of the coastline and the ocean. Unfortunately the view was mostly obscured by fog (the "June gloom" our hostess called it).

The service was quite amusing. For example, there was this exchange. Mrs. Bubba "do you have champagne by the glass?" Waiter: "No, as you can see on the wine list there," (which I happened to be holding), "we have a California sparkling wine, which is not the same as champagne from the Champagne region of France." (Duh, no kidding?) Seems like a more appropriate response would have been "Yes, ma'am, may I bring you a glass?"

It was downhill from there. He advised helpfully that we should close our menus and place them before us to signal when we were ready to order. Sheesh, we must really look like a couple of rubes. Yeah, OK, so we were drinking at noon. Big deal. (They had great Bloody Marys).

We started with the fried asparagus and summer squash with sun-dried tomato filling appetizer, followed by a main course of a NY strip with béarnaise for Mrs. Bubba (with "hand cut steak fries which aren't like regular fries -- they actually taste like potatoes" according to our waiter) and a large hardwood grilled salmon filet (Me: "is it Pacific salmon?" Waiter "No, it's organic farm grown salmon from Ireland.") with avocado, "micro greens" (weeds), and "top 100" tomatoes (tommy toes). It was all outstanding, and a most excellent and relaxing experience.

When we were finished, I asked if we could get a couple of dessert coffees to go. Our gracious waiter advised that it would be better for us to go over to the bar on our way out and our get coffee there. I don't know about that. If I pay $100 (with undeserved tip) for lunch, I sort of think they ought to bring me whatever I want, and bring Mrs. Bubba a glass of bubbly pronto, whatever the hell they want to call it. (We skipped their generous offer to stop by the bar for coffee, and opted instead for the very excellent Big Sur Bakery down the road a way which had great, but still expensive, cafe mochas and blondies.)

To top it all off, when it was over the guy lost our credit card. Much drama ensued as he made a big, theatrical performance of apology and went off for ten minutes to find it. OK, then. Whatever.

Anyway, the views, the gardens, and the food were truly awesome. I'd recommend it, but make sure you have a high limit credit card. On reflection, though, I wish we'd picked the "Rocky Point" restaurant someone mentioned in comments below. It looked like it had a better view, and I'm certain the menu and service are far less pretentious. And not nearly as expensive.

So, enough with the restaurant review. We spent the rest of the day checking out some of the state parks and beaches. A big problem for us was that dogs aren't allowed in most parks. We really, really wanted to explore Point Lobos, but dogs aren't allowed anywhere there, even if they stay in the car in their crate. The only option was to park out on the highway and walk in, but we didn't want to leave her out there unattended (not to mention all our camera and computer gear) for so long.

We drove up into the Pfeiffer State Park and wandered around the campgrounds and picnic areas (where dogs were allowed), stopping to take our photos with the huge redwood tree. Then we stopped off at the Andrew Molera State Park for an approx. three-mile round trip walk down along the Big Sur River to a small beach where it empties into the ocean. It goes through a meadow in a small valley where I was hoping to see some birds and other wildlife, but it was during the heat of the day so there wasn't much activity. It was a beautiful, relaxing walk though, and well worth the effort.

The Big Sur River looks like a pretty good fishing spot. There are supposedly steelhead rainbow trout in there, but like most of California there are so many rules and regulations I'd need a fishing lawyer to figure it all out. Besides, I think it was closed season, best I could tell from trying to follow it all.

After that we took a leisurely drive back up the coast, stopping along the way to marvel at the scenic vistas. (I imagine that term will be worn out before this drive is over.) We cruised in to Carmel by the Sea, took our shoes off, and went for a walk on the beach (where dogs are allowed). The water was colder than a mountain stream. I asked a surfer (they all had on wetsuits, or were they drysuits?) what the water temperature was. He said it was about 52 degrees. Brrrrrrrr.

Next we took the 17 Mile drive around Pebble Beach. It's a sort of "Cades Cove Loop of the Rich and Famous". There are breathtaking views of the rugged beaches and crashing waves, exquisite chemically enhanced golf courses, and lots of multi-million dollar homes overlooking the ocean. It was well worth the $8.50 commoner/rube fee they charge to drive around it.

Then we cruised by the Monterey Bay and Fisherman's Wharf to watch the sunset, up Cannery Row and back through downtown Monterey, and finally "home" for a couple of martinis at the resort sports bar. It was a wonderful day.

Here are some photos...