Surfs up.....

Monterey - Pacific Cove - Carmel - San Francisco

Eager to put our failures of the previous night behind us we didn't linger long in the hotel despite the offer of breakfast (a piece of cake and coffee) and headed into the centre of Monterey to treat ourselves to a decent brunch.

The morning was foggy and damp which meant the town was quiet and uncrowded.

So we didn't expect the loud braying which filled the air surrounding the marina as we stepped out of our parked car. Seals, hundreds of them, lounging noisily at the base of the Pier ahead of us. Mesmerised we made our way towards their swirling brown masses.

A structure erected to offer protection in rough seas had become their capitol and the hierarchy which surrounded the group was intriguing to watch as they vied for the best positions lounging on the wooden horizontal planks. Further groups of younger seals played innocently in the marina oblivious to the struggles of their elders and incoming sail boats.

Despite the early hour the restaurants and food shacks which lined the Pier were ready to serve their crab and clam based delights and already had a few takers. We ambled past untempted in search of a cosy café, which we found on the ground floor of an art deco cinema in the town.

Despite its retro feel it offered a modern day twist on breakfast which reflected the Mexican roots of the town, so guacamole, salsa and sour cream were added to our growing list of unusual breakfast flavours.

We headed towards the history-loaded Cannery Row with tingling lips and soaked up the multi-national heritage of the restored wooden buildings which once inspired Steinbeck. Like most commercial historical sites it has been 'Disneyfied' by numerous hotel and restaurant chains. However, if you looked closely, points of historical interest were visually pinpointed by information boards. Unlike most visitors we didn't ignore them and initiated ourselves with what remained of the heritage of the Row.

Unable to resist forever we eventually got sucked into the machine and found ourselves in an outlet shopping centre browsing for bargains. We came to our senses an hour later and headed further around the coast onto Carmel to make the most of the stunning weather.

The route to Clint Eastwoods' former mayoral seat took us through 17 mile drive, a gated community which includes some outstanding coastline, championship golf courses and the luxury abodes of the rich and famous. The coastline was the most impressive of the three with crystal clear blue water, pounding surf and golden sands.

Carmel although visually charming, was stiff and unwelcoming which was echoed by the exclusive shops of the glitterati which lined it streets. I was surprised to see a Lush franchise amongst them and couldn't help treating myself to a couple of bath bombs, a luxury I miss from the UK.

With a long drive ahead of us to reach our hotel nearby San Francisco airport, we decided to treat ourselves to an early dinner in Carmel. I tried the local artichoke delicacy, hubbie topped up on ribs.

We were hoping the traffic from the last day of the Sea Otter Classic would have dissipated by the time we headed north, but unfortunately we got snarled up twice on our planned routes to highway 101. Luckily we managed to extract ourselves after 10 minutes from both of the queues and attempted an alternative route. Our second deviation was on to highway One, which was empty to the point of ghostliness as the fog rolled in off the ocean and reminded us both of the north Cornish coast.