Andrew and I went away this weekend to celebrate his birthday and the end of his finals week and to have some quality time together before he leaves for a big poker trip. I’ve been dying to take Andrew to Monterey for a few years now — even though he’s lived in California for five years, we’ve never gone. It was the perfect chance to sneak away.
We had an awesome weekend. For his birthday dinner, we had steak at Chart House where we were seated by a window and got to watch sea otters play as we enjoyed our dinner.
The next morning, we woke up early and had an amazing brunch at First Awakenings. I had the most amazing pesto omelet ever, plus some awesome potatoes. Seriously, if you go to Monterey, don’t miss this place. We liked it so much we ate there twice:
After breakfast, we drove about 45 minutes into Big Sur for a hike. We did a long-ish loop (about 9 miles!) at Andrew Molera State Park. It was definitely a “challenging” trek, but the views were reward enough:
It was awesome. We headed back to our hotel before heading out for dinner, and of course, a delicious post-hike reward:
Sadly, I’m 99% sure this will be the last time I eat dairy, but trust me, that peanut butter and chocolate deliciousness was almost worth feeling sick all night. So amazing.
We took some silly photo booth pictures, because Andrew has never done it, and hello, they’re the most fun!
We closed out the trip by doing the famed 17 Mile Drive which boasted views like this one:
In short, it was amazing. It was such a great break from day to day life, and it was awesome to have a chance to just talk and relax together. I’m so glad we had a chance to go.
How was your weekend?
Wow- those photos are so gorgeous! They make me excited to visit that region of California some day! :) I am glad you guys got a chance to get away and spend some quality time together!
My weekend was good. Lots of studying, a couple of runs, and a lunch with some family. All in all it was a good weekend!
YUM! I want that breakfast and ice cream! And I LOVE your photobooth pictures. You guys are so cute together!
Your weekend sounds amazing and your pictures are gorgeous! I see all those beach photos popping up over my Instagram feed and I was trying to figure out if you lived there or were gone on some kind of vacation haha :)
My weekend was good! I took a road trip to see a concert in a town just two hours away, spent some time with family, and enjoyed the sun! Back to work after nice weekends is always the toughest though, Sigh.
LOVE the photobooth pics. Framers for sure!
It was so fun to see your photos and live vicariously. You went to places I used to go to when I lived there. And it was a soggy weekend in Seattle so seeing all that blue sky and ocean was lovely. I’m so glad you had a good trip!
It looks and sounds like you had a lovely time. Sometimes weekends away are very necessary. By the way, I love, love, love the new blog. It is very colorful and cheerful! :)
I’ve been to Monterey so many times and now I really need to add those places to eat on the list. And the 17 mile drive! I need to do that asap.
Looks like an amazing weekend! The hiking and views are to die for! Love your pictures of you and Andrew…so cute :)
That looks like SO MUCH FUN!!! I am truly jealous.
My weekend was equally as exciting. On Sunday, for example, I didn’t put on a bra until 5:30pm.
What a lovely weekend! I love breakfast foods, especially anything egg-y so that omelet made me positively drool. ♥.♥ So did the ice cream… Ice cream will also make me sick, yet I can’t help myself, ah!
Such a sweet weekend y’all had. :D
LOVE weekend getaways! Those photos are GORGEOUS!!
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a pic of your other half. You guys are a REALLY cute couple!
I want to live in California. I envy all my blog peeps who do.
What a fun weekend! I still can’t believe Andrew had never taken a photobooth picture! But then again I was with Nicole when she had her photobooth cherry popped. I guess it’s not as normal for some people!!
Oh man, what a fun trip! I’ve never been to Monterey either. I definitely have to check out First Awakenings when I finally go!
SO PRETTY! I love a good weekend getaway. It’s so nice to just escape for a bit.
First Awakenings is the BEST! My husband and I went there for breakfast on our first out of town trip together, barely a month after we started dating. We had so much fun, and I had these insane cranberry pancakes that were completely magical.