Our First Wedding Anniversary (Jan 2017)

Well well well, can you believe it?? Josh and I have been married one year! And what a year it has been. I quit my job (Miss you DCC), moved to the US, despaired of ever getting a job, started uni, passed the Patent Bar Exam and GOT AN AMAZING JOB. Hopefully this year isn’t as big….. Although I still have to pass the Cal Bar. Anyway, on to how Josh and I celebrated our anniversary. We decided to go to Carmel-By-The-Sea. Yes, that is the actual name of the suburb and yes, it is by the sea. First, we took a roadtrip selfie.

We left on a Friday and so by the time we arrived, it was starting to get dark. We parked, dumped our bags and left to get a drink. We found a little place to drink at and because it was mild out, we sat outside.

It was strange however because they gave us the weirdest glasses to drink out of. When we asked the lady why they were this shape, she said they were no spill cups, so you know, sippy cups for adults.

The shape of this glass however did not stop me from drinking the wine. It was an organic Malbec from Northern California. It was alright. Leaving this place however we soon realised that there was a huge blackout in Carmel. Most of the streets were so dark I had to use the “torchlight” function on my phone to light the path for Josh and I. We tried to go to an Italian restaurant we read about and they were right in the middle of the blackout. They had sat their entire restaurant hoping the lights would come back on and after 90 mins, the patrons were all eating sliced meats and oysters. Disaster!!!

We ended up walking back up the street and eventually settled on a restaurant that had the lights on and a working kitchen.

Flaming saganaki! Okay, so I know the saganaki doesn’t look that great. But they brought it to the table and then set it alight in this huge bonfire and shouted “Woap!”. It was visually cool although Josh and I were a bit embarrassed that everyone was staring at us. This dinner brought us to the end of our night.

The next day, we decided to go to Monterey. Evidently the only really great thing to see was the aquarium. Every American who heard we were going to the area asked us, eyes shining, if we were going to the aquarium. Josh and I thought it was weird because really, we didn’t have children. But realising that if we started drinking at 10 am, we wouldn’t be able to last all day/night, we decided to give it a go. After parking the car in Monterey, we followed the sign to the aquarium.

Not going to lie, was intrigued that the cannery was next to the aquarium. We kept walking and got our first look at the aquarium.

So this was my first look at the aquarium and … it looks like a factory. It was only when I got inside did I realise that the entire area had been a cannery and then when it closed down, it was remodeled to be an aquarium and general tourist area. I liked the display of old school fish labels and tins.

They also had a display of the old machinery used to tin tunas.

There was a display that showed what tuna looked like in these tins.

So this is all fake right, but it looked so gross that I could not bring myself even to touch it. Yugh!

You’ll see some pictures of what Cannery Row is now, but I thought this little picture was cool to show what it used to be like.

Okay, it was now time to brave the fish and the children. First thing I noticed was the windows were murky.

There were some cool stuff.

I took the following picture because this fish was huge and angry looking. I’ve included a small child as a point of reference of how large this fish is. Also, can you see the extreme side eye this fish is giving that child!

This I thought was informational, it shows you what pollution does to the sea.

We then went outside, and the weather was amazing! Josh and I enjoyed the sunshine especially since it has been raining perpetually in SF.

Josh and I went back inside and finally began to appreciate the beauty of the sea. The jellyfish were really cool. They felt like giant screensavers.

Josh and I also really like the swarms of fish.

At this point, looking at fish and sea creatures was making Josh and I hungry. So we left the aquarium and walked down cannery row. I have to admit I felt like I was walking around in a theme park.

It was strange to see how many lolly shops there were. Since most of these shops down Cannery Row were clearly tourist traps, we consulted our trusty Yelp app and found the Fish Market/Restaurant.

This is the closest that Josh and I have been to a fish and chip shop from home. And more importantly, they served wine.

The place was a little kitchy but I still really liked it.

First up we had oysters.

They did not last long.

So a really annoying thing about fish and chips in America. Firstly, they usually drown the fish in really bready/cakey batter and have stringy chips. So even if you do find a place that does a really nice batter and has great chips, EVERYONE makes their fish using cod. Cod is a tasteless joke of a fish. It tastes like cardboard. And no amount of salt or tartare sauce can fix it. So at this place, I asked if they made their fish and chips using cod. The waitress replied “absolutely, we make our fish out of locally caught Monterey cod”. I’m sure the waitress thought I would be pleased/impressed. Instead, I shuddered. So I requested she make the fish out of halibut. She haughtily told me it would cost more and she would need to find out how much more. I said “Not a problem, I still want the halibut”. I think it only cost an extra $4 so really, what was her problem. It didn’t matter though, Josh and I finally got something that resembled and tasted like fish and chips from home.

At this point, Josh and I decided we should really start exploring the wineries around the area and so we headed back to Carmel-By-The-Sea. This place is so dedicated to their wine tasting rooms they have a street map for easy reference.

As we were walking along the street towards some, a really nice fellow told us to head down a path towards our first tasting room.

I refused to say anything nice about this winery because when we got there, there was a single man behind the counter and he spent his entire time fawning over three women who were there. Everytime we needed the next wine to taste, he would quickly come over and splash wine in our glasses and then go back to those women. AND  on the other side of us there was this weird customer who heard our accents and was fascinated that we were Aussies. And then this weird customer kept asking if we’d seen various Australian lizards of which I hadn’t but Josh had. Anyway, moving on.

Our next winery was so much better and this was Caraccioli cellars. They specialised in bubbles so their heaviest red was only a pinot noir. They were absolutely lovely and took the time to explain each wine and the processes for making them. At the end, Josh and I ordered an extra glass each of what we enjoyed. Guess who ordered what?

The bubbles is Josh’s, and the red is mine. From there, we had our final dinner at Mundaka.

This place was amazing. Josh and I had our first taste of foie gras.

Doesn’t look much but it tasted amazing!!! And then we had steak tartare to share.

This came on a huge shale plate with lots of fancy smears.

All in all, this weekend was great and Josh and I enjoyed celebrating our first wedding anniversary. Thanks to all of you for your support this year.

Next, Vicki and Steve (Josh’s parents) are coming to visit and we’re going to Yosemite. Look out for my next post which should have some incredible pictures of scenery.

Talk soon!

Sim & Josh