Today was a fantastic day. It didn't start out that way, though. I researched Monterey in the morning, after enjoying a continental breakfast at the motel. THANK YOU, Sea Breeze Lodge, for providing an actual continental breakfast. For future reference, all other motels, a basket of 3 stale muffins jammed in behind an empty coffee pot does not constitute a breakfast. I enjoyed a delicious slice of banana bread, a glass of orange juice, and took a coffee to drink in the car on the way into town.
When I arrived at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, I was feeling a little tired but otherwise happy until I stepped out of the car to put money in the meter. I became aware of two middle-aged men standing nearby, staring at me. Leering would be a more accurate description, in fact. I turned to them and said, "Good morning." "Good morning," they responded, not taking their eyes from my breasts. "Are you serious?!" I snapped, obviously pissed off. "You are staring." They looked up, shocked. One of them said, "You - uh- have something..." and then they pretty much ran away. I looked down and - to my horror - realized I had spilled my coffee all down the front of my sweater as I drove from the motel. How could I not have noticed? The cup must have been leaky. I was humiliated, especially because I had rudely yelled at the men who were just taken aback that I would prance around in a sweater covered with coffee.
That put a damper on my morning for a while, but I got over it and looked around Monterey, a beautiful residential town. The whole town is obsessed with Steinbeck, since he wrote Cannery Row about the main strip downtown. I had to drive through Castroville on my way to Santa Cruz, and that's when my day got awesome.
Castroville is the least special of any town in the world except for one thing: it is the artichoke capital of the world.
I LOVE ARTICHOKES.
They are my lifeblood. My mother prepares steamed artichokes for my birthday dinner every year. I just cannot say enough good things about artichokes. I had to research the Giant Artichoke Restaurant, which sounded promising especially given my tastes, so I decided to eat lunch there. Here's how I felt about it:
It was better than I could ever have imagined. Outside of the restaurant, there is a giant statue of an artichoke:
Yes. That exists.
I ordered a steamed artichoke with melted butter (they wanted to dump all kinds of other nonsense on it, like sour cream and cheese, but I told them NO WAY) and enjoyed it immensely.
Now I'm about to go research "The Mystery Spot" here in Santa Cruz. I don't know what it is.... seriously. It's a mystery.
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