I just got back from a lil jaunt up the coast to the Monterey Peninsula and let me tell you, I. was. mesmerized. By everything. There is so much to see it’s crazy so I have compiled a lil list of some things you simply have to do when you visit this magical place, okay?!

Of course, the first stop one needs to make on the journey around the peninsula is Bixby Bridge:

From there you can drive south to Big Sur (highly recommend–it’s nuts beautiful) or back around the peninsula, but no matter where you are, everything is beautiful, like literally everything:

For the purposes of this post, we are starting at the bridge and working our way north around the peninsula.

GOING NORTH: CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA

Downtown Carmel-By-The-Sea –

Hang out in downtown Carmel-By-The-Sea for a few hours: walk up and down really, seriously charming streets with lil shops and restaurants of all kinds:

((A fun game is taking a hit off of your vape pen every time you see a picture of or reference to Clint Eastwood throughout downtown Carmel)) (((He is kind of like a town elder?))) ((((remember his ex-wife’s show on E! a few years ago? It was based here….they ate at Forge in the Forest on the show and you can eat there in real life!!))))

ANYWAY

At the top of the series of hills that is Downtown Carmel, you may notice the police station where {SPOILER ALERT} The Monterey Five go to purge themselves of the lie:

Stop by Carmel Bakery for something delicious to snack on while perusing downtown. Founded in 1899, it’s the oldest running retail business in Carmel and the cookies are excellent, ok.

Carmel City Beach –

Walk all the way down to Carmel City Beach at the bottom of downtown and chill out as you watch the waves crash on the white sands of Carmel-By-The-Sea:

GOING NORTH: PEBBLE BEACH

If you’re a golfer, chances are Pebble Beach has been in a few of your more suggestive dreams. There are plenty of golf courses laid out around the north-western part of the peninsula. The best way to see it all? The 17-Mile Scenic Drive:

****bonus points if you roll the windows down, open the sunroof, and que up “No Bad Days” it’ll cure your blues!! ******but also bonus points if you’d like to wallow in some blues but also pretend like you’re a recent widow closing one chapter of your life and about to open a new one and blare “Ride” –or really Lana Del Rey’s entire discography–it’s powerful*********

From there, head around to–

GOING AROUND: LOVER’S POINT

Technically in Pacific Grove (“PG”), Lovers Point Park has walking/biking trails, park benches to chill and take in the scenery, coastal access, easy parking–I mean, what more can you ask for?!

MONTEREY:

Cannery Row –

It’s a little too touristy for my taste, but it’s an easy 20 minute walk around and see it all, check it off the list type of stop. Honestly, the hotels on the Row are the best part–they’re mostly all very pretty and have great dining.

City Hall –

It’s a nice stroll!

Friendly Plaza –

The corner of the block that city hall is on has been made into a little park commemorating the relationship between the Spanish, Mexicans, and Americans in the town since the 1800s. Plus, it has this tree that went to the moon once:

Downtown Monterey –

It’s your cute little by-the-bay kind of downtown. There are a bunch of shops and restaurants and a theatre and all the things, you know? Head from Downtown toward the Fisherman’s Wharf, and you’ll pass State Historic Landmark #1, the Custom House. Built around 1827 by the Mexican government to preside over their port on the Alta California coast, it’s the oldest government building in California.

Commodore John Drake Sloat of the US Navy came along a lil later and raised the American flag over the Custom House in 1846, claiming over 600,000 square miles of territory including what is now California, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico.

so that’s kind of interesting! You can go in it but I did not, so you know. Walking through Custom House Plaza does it justice though I think.

Fisherman’s wharf –

If you like clam chowder you are in for a treat! Nearly 79% of the restaurants on the pier specialize in clam chowder which seems weird to me but I am not a clam chowder fan and also how can you eat something named clam chowder don’t you get grossed out when you hear the name? It sounds like Plankton served it at the Chum Bucket. But anyway, it’s pretty AND has a bunch of italian restaurants because Monterey was a hub for those Roman Reelers (there are bunches of statues commemorating them as well–the backbone of the community if you will):

There’s a great path that runs all along here connecting it all, so if you have some time and just want to stroll by the harbor I highly recommend it!! The views are so, so good.

But really, the views are so, so good everywhere on the peninsula so just hop in the car and find a scenic spot to pull over and stare in barefaced awe of the majesty of mother nature and the upscale elegance of the cities that dot this ridiculously pretty part of the California coast.

There’s so much more to do and see but this will get you started, ok?!

What are you waiting for?! Drop everything and head to the Monterey Peninsula today, ok?!?!

-chasertheprince

First of all, let’s start with this:

I found this incredible sweatshirt-cardigan at a thrift store years ago and have always wanted to wear it in Santa Fe. This cardigan is truly 61% of why Kennady and I went to Santa Fe in the first place, and you’ll see why:

Forgive my hair, it was a mess. But see what I mean? A total Santa Fe cardigan. I saved it for this occasion–legitimately I’ve only worn it twice in the years I’ve owned it.

And let me tell you, Santa Fe bitches loooooved it.

We Air BNB’d a cute little casita with the nicest owners super close to the Plaza so getting around was a breeze! The weather was perfect. We pulled into town late friday night, woke up Saturday morning ready to take on the town.

A couple Santa Fe Musts:

Clafoutis:

Charming French bakery and restaurant!! It’s a popular spot, so be prepared for a wait. It won’t feel like long though, as French phrases fly from the mouths of the owners and insanely delicious looking pastries pass by on trays and in hand. I had a crepe and it was great. just look at it:

Whatever you get, you legit won’t regret it.

Meow Wolf:

So, to be fair, I’m not a spend-all-day-at-the-museum type of person unless it’s a history museum. Meow Wolf is definitely not a history museum so that may give you an indication of where this is going. Don’t get me wrong, it was cool–i just don’t have the patience or the desire to figure out what happened at this place. I would definitely recommend it, but it was definitely different than I imagined.

There are a bunch of cool things to look at, though so that’s always good.

And honestly there’s not a great deal more to do in Santa Fe, so you might as well spend a few hours there.

A Spirits Tour of downtown.

I definitely recommend doing something like this, otherwise you won’t know where to drink or what to have. Our tour in particular began with a quest to meet this girl wearing all black and a grey backpack at the fountain.

She was chill. She had folders prepared for each of us with leaflets on local spirits (like booze not ghosts) and the hot late night spots. Stook us around to these bars and we had the following drinks peppered with light discussion on the rich history of the town:

Low & Slow: (a lowrider bar–lowriders are extremely popular here?) (I had to get clarification on what exactly a low rider was) (not just a jean cut)

we had ‘the last word’ which was like some kind of weird gin drink. We then dove into the first part of our New Mexican history lesson ((I sort of got in trouble with the group when i burst out laughing when she went into describing a conquistador’s ruthless ruling to cut the right foot off of the oldest male child from each family.)) (((i laughed similarly when the Pueblo Revolt came back to bite the spanish in the ass, though I did make a much more concerted effort to tone the laughter down a bit))) ((((Not because I’m heartless, because of the way she phrased it AND the reactions of those in our group who c-l-e-a-r-l-y did not know much about suppressing revolts. it’s not a humane business, people. it’s regrettable, but it’s life)))).

Tonic:

we had the ‘bliss behind your eyes’ and it wasn’t something I’d order again but I drank it because why? I’m a team fuqqing player.

Del Charro:

we had the ‘Silver Coin Margarita’ it was spicy and I was happy. Apparently, margaritas are some sort of specialty in this town, so honestly a margarita crawl would’ve been something a bit more my speed.

Cross of the Martyrs: We then rounded out our stay with a “hike” to the cross of the martyrs which is on a “hill” “overlooking” the city. The hike was paved and took ~7 minutes. The hill did overlook the city. The cross was about 1/6th of the size of Life Church’s in Edmond but you know, they tried!!

We then piled up in the car and said “see ya”.

Overall, I’m happy we stopped through there and I enjoyed the time we spent. If nothing else, Santa Fe is a chill place super easy to navigate. A weekend is the perfect amount of time here, promise.