I never did blog about our babymoon! So, excuse the past-blogging. But I want to get it down for memory sake... So on Thanksgiving day we took off for Carmel. We were so excited to get out of town. I had been hoping that we could do it a little closer, like January, but this was the only time we had together. And honestly, I will probably not feel up to walking around a lot and being away from home in January. So it all worked out. All the families seemed to be doing their own thing anyway, so it was okay. We arrived in Carmel to a blue-skied, sunny day. We checked in to the Carmel Crystal Bay Inn, only to find out (long story short) that I had booked our mini-suite for December 25-27!!... instead of Nov 23-25. Luckily they had a queen room for that night but nothing for the next night. Later, thinking back, I kind of felt like Mary and Joseph trying to find a place to stay and there being no rooms at the inn. lol Well, at first we hoped all night that a cancellation would happen but after sleeping in the most uncomfortable bed, we decided to look elsewhere. They actually made some calls for us and we got a room at the Carmel Bayview Inn. It was awesome as it was more in town and right across the street from our favorite restaurant, Forge in the Forest, and also right next door to a great deli! After checking in, we ate lunch in Carmel and then took a nap. Then we ate our Thanksgiving dinner (although not traditional) at Forge in the Forest. It was delicious as usual! We had a great evening!
The next day we went into Monterey for our usual breakfast at First Awakenings (another favorite!). And as luck would have it (or we were just being blessed), we got the perfect table outside, right next to the fire pit. I had the most amazing pumpkin and granola pancakes!! They were divine! We even decided that we should decide on a name here, but whether we really did will remain to be seen. ;-) We hung out in Monterey for most the morning and into the afternoon. It was 45 deg but there I was in a t-shirt and jeans. The sun was so warm. We had the most relaxing time there, enjoying our lattes, watching all the people! There was a guy in one of the squares doing spray paintings. He had an awesome ministry there in playing AirOne from K-Love and sharing the love of Christ in between paintings. He did a painting specific for us and we were able to talk with him a little bit. It was really cool. We finally headed back to Carmel where we walked from our hotel into town, stopping first at a home decor store. (this was our second blessing of the day!) We saw a wall-mounted wine rack we wanted but it was a little too much. So I approached a guy sitting at a desk. I asked him if they are flexible on their prices (totally out of character for me!). He said I was talking to the right man as he is the manager. I told him what we were looking at and he asked what our budget was. I think it was originally $95. He said he'll give it to us for 85. I said 80 and he said ok. We walked to the register and then he said if we have cash he won't charge us tax. So we started counting our bills. But we only had 68. He said he'll take it!!! I was blown away and told him he's going to make me cry and Sean said that happens easily these days. Then we started talking baby stuff and he began going on and on about how awesome parenthood is and giving us all this encouragement and then he turned to Sean and started offering all of this dad-to-dad, husband-to-husband advice. It was so awesome!! Come to find out he is a Christian and celebrated with us in giving God glory for this miracle! And as if all that wasn't enough.... Sean asked where he's from and he says Austin, TX. Well this is an ongoing thing with us because we keep meeting people from Texas which is where we keep talking about visiting and maybe moving to some day. So we chatted all about Dallas and Austin and he shared a lot of good insight with us. We walked out of there on cloud nine!! Pretty cool encounters today.
Friday night we decided to stay in for the evening. We headed to the deli next door, ordered a pizza (which was amazingly delicious!) and bought Kettle chips (only the best!), good sodas you can't find at normal stores and really good chocolate! We hung out in bed, ate dinner and watched God TV. It was a fabulous and relaxing evening!!
We ended our trip with breakfast once again at First Awakenings and my traditional trip to the Sock Shop. Except this time, a new tradition transpired. Usually I buy new fun socks every time we go to Monterey. But this time, I saw the cutest baby socks and decided that from now on ... baby AND mommy get new socks every time we visit Monterey!!!! :-D
We had such a great time!! I felt so very happy and blessed and fulfilled the entire time. There were no expectations but to enjoy each other's company. We had great conversation, but also great quiet times too. It was truly rejuvenating. And the next time we go...? There will be 3!!
carmel bay view inn rocks!!
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