Monterey's Cannery Row

I planned this week in central coast a year ago. With timeshare and long weekend, you just have to think it would happen. And in the past, it is usually not a problem with the family. There is always an exception. This time, it was Tom’s work schedule. Yes, I wasn’t happy about the change in my plan. I like things to go as planned. I don’t like surprises. Yes, kind of controlling, but hey it gets thing done this way...

My hotel booking was for 5 nights in Monterey, follow with 2 nights in Pismo Beach. The Chows were to meet us up for the first part of this trip (due to Memorial Day long weekend) and then I would have Tom all to myself the rest of the week. With him not being available for the entire week, what is the fun of vacationing by myself? I considered cancelling it but the Chows were to accommodate me and stay a bit longer. And I decided to invite my local girlfriend, Barb, to come along on the second half of the week. Hey, she is self employed so it is much more flexible with her schedule.

My original plan was to ride up north with the Chows and they would drop me off at Pismo Beach when we came back down. Tom was to fly into Monterey airport and I would pick him up for the weekend. Then with the RAV4 accident, we were given a rental car by the insurance company. At that point, we were not sure how long it would take to repair the car (as we didn’t know it would be totaled). I may as well take it for the week. So I took off early on Saturday morning, trying to get into Monterey in time to pick up the hubby. His flight is due in around 2pm. Wow, I made it without much interruption, taking the Hwy 101. There were lots of cops on the road; I was a well behaved citizen that weekend

The Worldmark timeshare is a mid range timeshare, not high end luxury which I classified the Four Seasons, Westin, and Marriott, but also not bad, bottom of the barrel. I have never stayed here before at Marina Dunes. But it is usually sold out a year ahead out of all the locations they have in the US. I clocked exactly a year ago, so I got first pick. Hey don’t laugh too hard, it is the same thing if you want to book a room for Yosemite, you need to call it a year ahead!!!! We have a glimpse of the ocean from the living room and the place is only steps from the beach. Next door at the Sanctuary Beach Resort, a single bedroom was going for $250+ a night. I got a 2bedroom. Ok, I don’t have the terry robe, the slippers, the golf cart, etc. But we are on the same sand path, sharing the same pool, same reception area, and starring out at the same sunset. Hey, not complaining at all for what I paid!!!

Here are pictures of Marina Dunes.



The Chows finally arrived in late afternoon. The Tams didn’t come this time, as (1) we really didn’t have the rooms, and (2) Vanessa could take any days off besides the official Monday holiday and it was too long a drive for a 48 hours stay!

Our first activity was to go for a walk and look for dinner. We headed out to Cannery Row. Surprisingly, it was not crowded at all, relatively speaking for a long holiday Saturday night. We strode up and down the main road. I like the overpass between the buildings, wondering if those were at one point used as conveying belt when processing the sardines. Do they have conveying belt back then?

We poked around the old restored buildings across from Doc’s lab. Now I understand why it was still there, because of history. Else, this prime property would have already been a luxury hotel or something!!!! Oh, now that I am more grown up, maybe I should read John Steinbeck's Cannery Row



We didn’t find any particular restaurant outstanding here. We ended up at the Fish Hopper, because it seemed to have the best potential for decent food. To avoid the long waiting line, we ate at the bar area. The food was better than expect. Setting low expectation to begin with also helps with the final result of one’s feeling…shouldn’t there be a quote like this somewhere out there in the WWW?