Happy Anniversary to Us!

The Pies are celebrating their 1 year anniversary today! Not only that, but this marks 10 years that we have been together.

Mr. Pie - I love you with all of my heart! You are the best husband a Pie could ever ask for and more. I'm so happy to be your wife!

Co-Worker Shannigans, Part 3

You have a rooster on your head

Day 5 ruled!

We woke up a bit earlier today because we knew the inevitable was coming...it was the last day of our vacation :( However, we made the most of it and it was a blast!

Our breakfast at First Awakenings. This is the BEST breakfast I've ever had - hands down. If you are ever in Monterey, you need to go here.

Mr. Pie's breakfast scramble special - sooo tasty!

My eggs benedict with spinach - the most delectable breakfast dish I've ever had. We asked for their hollandaise sauce and they said it was a restaurant secret. We'll just have to come back!

The restaurant was in an outlet mall so we walked around for a little bit. Mr. Pie bought some sandals. Here's a little butterfly buddy we spotted on the way back.


Afterwards, we headed back to the hotel to pack. Here's Mr. Pie leaving our hotel :(
We then headed out in search of this vineyard because they made the best Gewürztraminer I have ever had. Unfortunately, their tasting room was more than an hour away but their executive office was just 20 minutes away in Salinas. They were kind enough to have us come over to buy some wine from their office! Yay!

Afterwards, the Pies had about 2 hours to kill before the airport and since we were near there, we ended up going to Tarpy's Restaurant which we had heard about before the trip. We spied the Ventana tasting room nearby so we headed up before we were hungry for lunch. It was also great - the tastings were free and we ended up buying 3 bottles. Also, the wine tasting guy packed up the rest of our other wines in a styrofoam box so that we could check it in! There goes the issue of our overstuffed luggage :)

With less than an hour to go, we headed off to Tarpy's. It was excellent!! I couldn't have asked for a better meal to end the vacation with. I'm just sorry that we didn't discover it sooner so that we could have had full entrees. Oh, and the guy at the vineyard gave us a coupon for a free app!

Here's the free calamari app with a ginger sauce. It was exquisite. The BEST calamari I've ever had.
Since we weren't starving (we actually never were on this trip), we opted for 2 other small dishes.

Grilled artichoke - wonderfully delicious!

And the raw oysters with bruschetta like topping - divine! I'm turning Mr. Pie into a raw oyster eater :)

Tarpy's has interesting decor. I'll let you insert your own joke here with Mr. Pie's picture:


And then my own picture with the statue in the background:

They also have the best bathroom signs. Make a wrong turn and it's this:

Keeping making that right turn:

And this:

Finally! Barbie and Ken to show you the way!

We then rushed off to the airport, making it in time for our flight! It was sad to leave Monterey and our wonderful vacation :(

And Mr. Pie was able to capture the NorCal fire!

Where the Ocean Meets the Water

Day 4 was spectacular!

We started off with breakfast at the hotel cafe. I had the egg white omelet (I swear my body is suffering from overindulgence). I had to have something healthy! Mr. Pie also felt the same and way and settled for the oatmeal:

Of course, we had to sneak in some bacon :)

Afterwards, we packed up day bags to set off for Carmel and then Big Sur! Along the way, we spied this house for sale:

Our curiosity got the best of us so we stopped to go through the open house. Here's the amazing stove:

And the copper sink!

It also included a beautiful yard with a fountain, 3 bedrooms upstairs and a 2 car garage. All for the low low price of $2.9 million. So anyway, we went on our way :)

We stopped in Carmel at Bruno's Market & Deli for picnic food and also at Luca's for their delicious looking Italian sliced meat tray.

Here's the drive we took to Big Sur:

Someone's house! Check out their pool:

We could actually see the NorCal fires:

So scary!

And finally, our destination: The River Inn in Big Sur. Amazing. Fantastic. So serene.

We spent a long afternoon there, polishing off a bottle of the Pinot Blanc I picked up yesterday at wine tasting, indulging in 6 different kinds of Italian cold cuts, cheeses, pate, french bread and our chocolate covered strawberries from the hotel. It was wonderful. The river was way too cold today (actually the weather returned to normal Monterey/Carmel weather - chilly and a bit overcast) so we layed in towels in the grass and took a nap!

Our dinner reservations were at 7 so we headed back to the hotel to clean up. Dinner at the hotel was a bit disappointing. Since it was overcast, Mr. Pie's plan to watch the sunset was a little crushed although we had a wonderful view of the ocean. That's where the ocean meets the water ;)

For appetizers, we ordered the crab stuffed mushrooms and a bowl of clam chowder:

The mushrooms were delicious! I wished I ordered it for my dinner :)

Mr. Pie got the pork special:
I got Pete's Famous Cioppino. It actually shouldn't be famous :( The seafood was very fishy.

We decided to take dessert (fruit cobbler with vanilla bean ice cream) back to the room. It was a wonderful, spectacular day!

Tomorrow - our last day :(

Um You're at the Wrong Plaza

So today is Mr. Pie's conference and I GET TO GO TO THE SPA!!!!!!!!!

Here's what I woke up to:How sweet is Mr. Pie?? You can't see the note but he told me to enjoy myself at the spa with these presents!

Mr. Pie had to go here:

While I went here:

Only it wasn't where I was suppose to go! I got mixed up with the hotel names and went to the wrong spa. As soon as I found out, I hopped into a cab and made it over to the Portola Spa. Ahhh...it was great! I had the salt body scrub which made my skin glow and then off to my designer facial. I love being pampered (who doesn't?!). Afterwards I had an Italian lunch and walked in downtown Monterey. I picked up a few surprises for Mr. Pie and then headed back. I spied a wine shop that had wine tasting! So I joined up with 2 local gals who were super nice and their dog, Lucas who is super sweet (he didn't have any wine). The tastings were delicious and I ended up picking up a bottle of Pinot Blanc for our picnic today. Afterwards, I met up with Mr. Pie. His conference was a success! So I took him back to the wine tasting place before we headed off for dinner:
Dinner was awesome at the Whaling Station. For starters, we had the Blue Point Oysters (even better than the night before), a dirty martini for me and a sidecar for Mr. Pie. We also had the tasty calamari and shared a bowl of clam chowder. For dinner, Mr. Pie got the prime rib which was amazing:

I had the seafood pasta - which was only just ok.

We were stuffed, headed back to the hotel and passed out!

Tomorrow, more Big Sur!

The River Creek Inn

Day 2 was even more amazing...so much so that we're repeating some of the same steps on Sunday :)

We started off the day with room service:

Then Mr. Pie got on his blackberry:Hahaha

Afterwards, we set off for Carmel! Along the way, we were able to drive through Pebble Beach (the 17 Mile Drive which is actually a road and also the mileage) for $9.25. It was worth every penny.

I cannot believe people live here! The houses are incredible! We saw a couple of for sale signs but I think we will need to stick with our price range ;)
Here are more pics of us on the way to the actual Pebble Beach Golf Course.
Awww...Mr. Pie drew in the sand :)

Tanning sea otters!

A putting green facing the ocean:

Pebble Beach! Tiger was not there - haha. Mr. Pie was very impressed - it's probably kind of like when I see a new mall. Mr. Pie took care of his trophy for him:

Pebble Beach 18th Hole: Afterwards, we drove through the gate to Carmel! It is the cutest town. We stopped at the Hogs Breath Inn from a recommendation from Jimmissa.

Look how cute the table is!

And then. Tragedy. My camera battery ran out :( Mr. Pie went to the camera store next door and was unable to purchase a new battery. He did, however, pick up two disposable cameras (old school style!). We'll develop those later.

The rest of the day was even more amazing. We drove down PCH and stopped along the way for the most amazing pictures. Don't worry, we're going back on Sunday! The last stop was at the River Inn (which Mr. Pie called River Creek Inn - hahaha, is it a river or a creek? It can be both?) and we got to sit in the river in these chairs and put our feet in. AMAZING. It was worth it!!

For dinner, we stopped at Flaherty's in Carmel. OMG, the food was awesome!! We started off with oysters on the half shell along with a bottle of Scheid Gerwturmeiner and also scallops in a pineapple and ginger sauce. It was delicious. For dinner I got the seafood pasta and Mr. Pie got King Crab legs. Everything was wonderful and to top it off, we had creme brulee (chocolate AND vanilla) and vanilla bean ice cream. The only downfall was that the place was not air conditioned so the server made us a delious iced coffee.

The Pies then headed off to the hotel and took a dip in the pool.

Tomorrow? THE SPA!