So it's our anniversary today! Thank you to everyone who sent us cards and well wishes :) We went to Monterey this weekend to celebrate. It was a great weekend to be there except that it was the motorcycle race weekend, too. Everyone in our hotel had come for that. Literally, we were the only people who had not come for the race/parade. The guys next door were really loud. They kept Hannah awake Friday night. So that took a little of the romance away from the otherwise romantic inn we stayed at. But that was okay because the hotel was very accessible and centrally located for restaurants, the ocean, aquarium, etc... Drew's parents reserved the Victoria Inn (www.victoriainn.com) for us. Thank you Tom and Mary! It was a very pretty (as you can see from the photo) and comfortable place to stay. They had a complimentary wine and cheese "tea" in the dining area in the afternoon, too. It is owned by Best Western (though you'd never know it from its appearance) so it's not too expensive either.

We went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium on Saturday. We both hadn't been since we were like 10. We got tickets at the hotel which saved us waiting in the massive line. Well, Drew gets to go to the head of lines anyway. Fortunately, he gets in for about $10 less than standard adult price. Hannah got $2 for being a student. It's normally $25/per adult! The only problem was getting into the aquarium was a steep hill. It was packed but it always is. Drew was able to enjoy all the exhibits, including the touch pools. You could touch starfish and sting rays. We esp liked the jellyfish and the shark exhibits. We couldn't get any photos of the sharks though. The featured exhibit was about otters. That was hard to see because there were so many people. Hannah esp liked the sardine tanks that were in a circle above your head. We found a place with smooth pathways in Pacific Grove (next town down the street from Monterey) and decent parking. That place had a great view of the ocean. Our hotel room had a small view of the water on the balcony. We found three good restaurants to recommend. The first was Hula Grill on Lighthouse Blvd. It was a fun Hawaiian place for a casual dinner. Drew had a cocktail that came in a Tiki God head glass. For lunch after the Aquarium we had Thai food at Amarin. It's right next to the Aquarium in one of the old cannery buildings. The chicken satay and spring rolls were yummy, esp the sauce for the rolls. Then we had a romantic dinner at Loose Noodle Italian restaurant, also on Lighthouse Blvd. Hannah had her standard gnocchi (which was delicious). Drew had pesto cannelloni that he really liked. We had a connoli for dessert that was soo good!! We had planned to hit Big Sur on the way home (about 30 miles out of the way) but Drew was exhausted since he slept badly Saturday night. He promises to take Hannah before the summer is over since she has never been. We had a great time in Monterey :)