Top Things to Do Near Our Monterey Bay Hotel

A weekend getaway on the Monterey Peninsula often involves kids and keeping them occupied.  A great getaway doesn’t always mean big or expensive events, a getaway can be as simple as getting out of the city for awhile and visiting Monterey.  Obvious choices are a day on the beach at Del Monte Beach or Lover’s Point Cove in Pacific Grove.  However, there are alternatives a-plenty.  Ask our Front Desk Associates about places to purchase a sumptuous picnic lunch and make a day of it at Lake El Estero right by Old Monterey.  There, you can rent paddle boats or kayaks and spend the day on the lake.  Another use for that picnic lunch would be to visit the playground at Dennis-the-Menace Park—also by Lake El Estero—where there are picnic benches, grills and a large play area for the younger set complete with swings, jungle gym and other play-inspiring toys.  Afterward, finish off the day with dinner at the kid-friendly Bubba-Gump seafood restaurant in Cannery Row.  Return that night to a comfortable room at our hotel with accommodations for the whole family. Maybe just relax and watch a movie on our new Flat Screen TVs, or relax at the Poolside or if you want to get some exercise use our fitness room.  In the morning, enjoy our complimentary  hot served daily 7am to 10am.

March brings thoughts of pots of gold, green beer and how lucky the Irish might be.  After doing a little research, I discovered that the phrase “Luck of the Irish” is actually a misnomer.  Throughout their history, the Irish have had spectacularly bad luck, in terms of famine, wars and misunderstandings between Catholics and Protestants.  Some trace the origin of the phrase to the US where, during the exploration for gold in the West, there were a high number of Irish people who got lucky, and found their “pot o’ gold” in the gold fields of California, or were equally prosperous in silver mining.

Luck of the Irish does owe its origin to the U.S.A.  When they arrived, they were very disliked, treated badly, despised and hated.  When the Irish had any kind of success, most Americans at the time didn’t believe that the Irish were capable of such successes, so they called it luck.  Hence the term “Luck of the Irish.”  Once a year, we can consider ourselves lucky too, lucky to not get pinched, lucky to have green beer and lucky that there are a multitude of Irish and British bars in Monterey in Monterey where we can celebrate this day with the Irish.

Favorite Local Pubs include, Crown and Anchor (ps love the British version of Chicken Curry!), Britannia Arms, London Bridge Pub (Decent Fish and Chips too).

There is nothing like getting a free ride, no parking hassles and stress free sightseeing. So, make a day of it, start in Old Downtown Monterey, lunch in Cannery Row and catch the Pacific Grove trolley for a view of the ocean and the bay, taking the FREE Monterey trolley back from the aquarium into Downtown Old Monterey. Spend an innovative day visiting the places the locals visit.

Catch the free trolley-buses between the hours of 10 AM and 6 PM daily. Visitors can enjoy Monterey Peninsula and have a chance to see things that they might miss when driving or don’t know the area. This year, there are two trolley lines running that will take you all over the Peninsula. Park at the downtown parking lot and catch the main trolley line that runs from Downtown Old Monterey to Old Fisherman’s wharf, through Cannery Row and stops at the Monterey Bay Aquarium before returning to Monterey. Second, for those that want to see more of the Pacific Ocean and visit Old Pacific Grove and take a drive along the bay, there is the trolley-bus for Pacific Grove. Both trolley-busses intersect at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, making it convenient to transfer from one bus to the other. Remember, these trolleys are FREE and you can get on and get off the stops at your leisure.

http://www.monterey.org/Portals/1/parking/pdfs/trolley_map_color.pdf

http://www.monterey.org/en-us/departments/parking/thewavefreeshuttle.aspx

The nation’s largest protected marine sanctuary exists just off Monterey Bay. Explore the more than 276 miles of waters of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.