Thanksgiving in Pacific Grove

Let me share with you how I spent my Thanksgiving vacation.......My family and I spent a wonderful three days in Pacific Grove on the Monterey Peninsula. My sister, Stevie, and her family live there and invited us to come join them. This is the first time I have ever spent Thanksgiving with my oldest sister at the coast. Not one to miss out on a party, my other sister, Sandi, came from Las Vegas to spend the holiday with us. We all had so much fun! My niece, Kate, and her husband Steve, have a beautiful home that they opened up for everyone to enjoy as they hosted our yummy Thanksgiving dinner. There were over 25 of us!

The next day, Friday, we got up early and drove around the coastline of the peninsula taking in the beautiful view of the ocean waves. It is really breathtaking! We only live about three hours away in Fresno and I wonder why we don't just come over to the coast more often. There is nothing more humbling than a long look at the ocean.........

Next we headed to one of our favorite places to eat breakfast, First Awakenings, on Ocean View Blvd. If you go to Pacific Grove you really have to eat here. It's so delish! After a hearty breakfast we headed back up to Lighthouse street. It is such a quaint street with its Victorian buildings and its lampposts adorned with Christmas wreaths. I have visited this coastal town a million times since I was a little girl and I never get tired of it. I love it here! We walked around and did a little shopping. And then we found a totally funky little artsy store called Tessuti Zoo on Forest Street just off of Lighthouse. I recognized the whimsical hand sewn fish dangling in the store window from ten years earlier when I had purchased a pair of them to hang from the ceiling in my soon-to-be-born baby's nursery. Owner Emily Owens sews these whimsical creations and offers them - and about a zillion other crazy and colorful items - in her store. OH MY GOSH! Talk about eye candy for the artsy girl! I introduced myself to Ms. Owens and told her what a fan I was and may I please take some pictures for my blog??? She was so kind, and Yes, yes, you may, of course!

We found some treasures we just had to have! And look how fun our bags are........we even got delicious suckers on long sticks stashed in our bag of goodies. Of course my boys stole mine right out of my bag! That night we went out to dinner down on Cannery Row. It wasn't that crowded for a Friday night - probably a combination of a struggling economy and happy relatives eating leftover turkey sandwiches for dinner. After dinner we headed back to Kate and Steve's where we all stayed up late playing games - the kids played Guitar Hero downstairs while the adults played a word game called Taboo. You learn a lot about a person from the word clues they give! We had a blast! It was after one in the morning when we got back to our hotel room. Saturday was our last day..........After saying our goodbyes to our dear family members we headed down to the surf once more. We walked around on the sand and climbed rocks amid the roar of large waves. We saw jellyfish washed up on shore, a poor dead seal and bunch of hermit crabs scurrying underwater as the tide carried them out. We headed home to Fresno a happier, more rested family with many, many Thanksgiving memories!