Relaxing get away

Aaron and I had the opportunity to take another weekend get away! (I think we are getting spoiled!)

We left Saturday after I went to school and then put in a few hours on our last 'official' day of the store being open.

Aaron picked me up from the store after the kids got picked up at our house and we left around 5. The drive was long but nice. We chatted a little about our days and then each of us got lost in our own thoughts. I fell asleep for the last portion of the drive and awoke as we pulled into the hotel. We stayed right on the beach with a room looking out on the ocean.
This is what was saw from our room!

After dropping our things in our room we went to the restaurant hotel for a light dinner. We had the best fried calamari and clam chowder. YUMMY!! It was perfect.

Off to our room. We played some cards and I took a nice long hot bath while reading a novel. It was a perfect evening.

Sunday I got up early enough to do some homework and shower before Aaron got up. Then we ordered in. I had never done room service before so this was a nice treat. Again the food was delicious. I had an omelet with spinach and artichokes and the best fried potatoes. Aaron also had an omelet and potatoes. We were full and ready for our day.

We bundled up and headed off to walk the beach. For a holiday weekend it was very bare. We walked down stopping to watch the waves, birds and to pick up odd pieces of washed up sea things! A nice man even offered to take our picture.

After we were thoroughly cold we headed back. As we walked I closed my eyes and let Aaron be my guide. I knew he would lead me where we needed to go so I used my other senses. I felt the cool ocean breeze on my face blowing my hair. I listened to waves crashing on the shore. I heard the birds flying and chirping. I heard the cars drive by and the families talking and laughing. I felt the sand beneath my shoes; softer in the dry sand and more firm when we were closer to the water.


We reached our room again and freshened up before heading to the wharf. We walked and walked. The day was cool with light sprinkles. As we hoped the rain would stay light we became tourist window shopping but not entering any of the shops on the pier. Near the end was a man and his birds. Gathered around him were families and visitors in awe of the colors and types of birds. The man was bringing the children to him to hold the birds then having them pose for their mothers camera telling them to pet the bird like a cat. Some children were scared and hid. Others couldn't wait for their turn. After awhile the crowd thinned and Aaron and I stepped up. We couldn't pass up this opportunity.

We continued our walk following the path 1.2 miles to Cannery Row. The view on this path is spectacular. The city has gone to a great deal of work to keep it clean and well groomed with plenty of benches available to stop and a take a break. As we walked along we spotted a father and his son climbing on the rocks below near what Aaron has named 'Crap Capped Mountain' for obvious reasons.

As we looked we noticed this one white seal up on the beach. Suddenly 4 rocks moved behind him! Those seals camouflage quite nicely on the rocks.

Further down we stopped to take a snack break and were quickly joined by 2 hungry guests! They didn't give up their perch until after we did! During our break we saw a family going snorkeling and a group getting ready for a scuba diving trip. One our way back we saw a father flying a kite with his daughter. This is a great place for so many activities!

Down in Cannery Row headed into Ghirardelli market for a free sample and an ice cream cone. Then off for some more walking and window shopping. Finally we headed back the same trail being passed by both walkers and cyclists as we took our time.

Time to head back but before going to the hotel we stopped at Chili's for dinner. The waitress thought it was cute when Aaron and I ordered a salad and a steak dinner and shared them both. Cute or not it was the right amount of food with out having to take any home!

Back at the hotel Aaron wanted to go check out the spa. As soon as we changed and headed outside we discovered it was raining. This did not deter us! I am not usually one to be out in the rain but hey I was going to be getting wet anyway so what did it matter! The spa was a hot 104*. We stayed until we were officially prunes and had to get out. In our room there was a sign saying to use the towels at the pool instead of bringing down ones from the room so we obeyed. They forgot to mention that the towels were not much bigger than a hand towel! Drying of was kind of pointless anyway as it was still raining so we just ran back.

At this point exhaustion took over and I fell asleep within minutes of lying down. This meant I was no longer tired at 4 in the morning. Oh, well. I got up and got some more homework done and of course checked my facebook! By 6 I got back in bed for a few more hours of sleep. We both had a lazy morning of showering, packing and sitting before we checked out around 11. On our drive back we stopped for brunch and movie. I can't do the slow relaxing weekend for all my vacations but this one was needed and came at a great time.

Thanks Aaron for catering to my every whim this weekend. Thanks Dad and Connie for keeping all of our monsters. Thanks Sarah for closing the shop Saturday so we could get on the road.