We went to Monterey for Memorial Day Weekend this year. Day One, Saturday, started out bright and early. Got on the road by 4:30 in the morning and luckily didn’t get pulled over. There were so many cops on patrol this weekend! We arrived in Monterey around 10, had breakfast, and met up with Bang and Vyl at the bike rental at noon. Our original plan was to rent bikes and ride them to a winery. It turned out that it was way too far and dangerous to ride there.

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So, Plan Two was renting a 4-person surrey. If you don’t know what a surrey is, imagine two side-by-side tandem bicycles welded together like a horsecart with a nice plastic cover to shade you from the elements. Nevermind the dangerous chain that can lop off a toe or the rickety seats that can throw you off at any time. Fortunately, the surrey was so much fun…in fact, it was quite hilarious. We had to try out best to pedal together, avoid running over small children, avoid the cars, and try not to fall out. We rode to the end of the bike path, which was only 2 miles away, and ate lunch there. We had a picnic at Lovers’ Beach where we illegally drank a really good bottle of Chardonnay that Vyl had been saving up and enjoyed the view. Good choice, Vyl!

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Later in the evening we drove to Chateau Julien where we tasted some so-so wine and some facial gymnastics performed by Vyl, the wine snob. We also had some meager pours but got a second helping of the Gewurtztraminer. Dinner was at Passionfish in Pacific Grove. My escolar was yummy and so was Jes’ duck. We also tried some more wine there, which was just the beginning of our own little “Sideways” experience this weekend. To be continued…