It was Thanksgiving week. My husband and I had a couple of days off work, our children were all out of town, so we decided on on a little drive to the Monterey/Carmel area to do some wine tasting.

We found staying just a short way from Monterey in Marina, CA a whole lot less expensive than staying in either Monterey or Carmel. So we had a room for under $100. just next to the Marina State Beach, which is home to the California Condor.

On Friday evening we went into the town of Monterey and did a little wine tasting at Silver Mountain Winery where we had an award winning Pinot Noir and enjoyed the art gallery and silver shop displays. Baywood Cellars and Bargetto were within walking distance but we didn’t get there before they closed at 6:00 pm.

The huge, full moon was out over the bay that evening and it was so stunning that several professional photographers were set up to catch the right moment. Of course, we forgot our camera back in our room. But it will forever be in my memory as a beautiful sunset with the moon so visible and bright over the bay. Had dinner at an English pub, that was pretty average. Good English beer menu, but their wine selections were awful!

The next day we drove about 10 minutes into Carmel and had breakfast at The Village Corner. Great place for a quick meal inside or out (where you can bring your dog) and very crowded. Although our wait was less than 5 minutes. After walking around the town doing some people and dog watching (since Carmel was voted the number one dog friendly town in America) we headed out to do some wine tasting.

Our first stop going south on G17 or the River Road was at Pessagno Winery. Had never heard of them, but some nice common wines like Chardonnay, Syrah, Zinfandel and Port. The landscape driving the 15 miles there was only interesting if you like to see lots of farm fields and vineyards. We did see a cactus farm and a field of about 10 or 12 wild turkeys.

Our next stop was Hahn Estates Winery. They had a nice selection of wines to taste and a fairly large gift store. Just a mile or so we stopped at Paraiso Vineyards. Beautiful view of the countryside and great place to bring a picnic by the fountain or in the gazebo.

It was time to head back because although it is only about 35 miles the road is curvy and narrow so it takes at least 90 minutes and that’s if you’re not stopping for wine tasting. Once you head north on Carmel Valley Road it gets quite beautiful with trees covering the road and reminding you of Napa or Sonoma.

We had to stop at Bernardus because they have some of my favorite Pinot Noirs. After passing about 5 or 6 more tasting rooms we came to Chateau Julien. It was a wonderful finish to our tasting because they had 2 terrific Ports, a fire blazing in the the fireplace and a lovely setting to enjoy a glass of any of their outstanding wines.

For dinner we were looking for a place to enjoy fresh seafood and found a little out-of-the-way restaurant that was voted “best seafood place” by the locals called Fishwife in Seaside. Most of their dishes had a Caribbean flavor, and we had some fabulous fresh seafood that would match anything at any restaurant in Carmel that would charge twice the price. They even brought us a complimentary platter of calimari, which I thought I didn’t like, until I tasted theirs. It was wonderful!

The last morning there we took a short walk on the beach which was right next to our motel. The waves were huge and it was a bit overcast, but what a fabulous little get-away it had been.

Sometimes those little vacations that don’t take much planning or fighting airport crowds, or spending a fortune on are more pleasurable than the others.