Monterey Trip Chronicles, Day Two

Sunday, May 15th Highlights

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1. Mass at Sacred Heart, Salinas

2. Royal Presidio Chapel, Monterey

3. Rappa's for lunch at Fisherman's Wharf

4. Customs House, Pacific House, Casa d'oro gardens

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Sunday morning, the kids began to adjust to California time a bit... they slept in till 7am... We had plenty of time to have breakfast and make it to the 11am mass at Sacred Heart in Salinas. In fact we arrived so early that the little kids were able to nap in the parking lot while Emily played at the school playground for about 20 minutes! The church filled up quickly and the locals were dressed pretty casual. Emily was able to attend the children's liturgy, just like at our church, and seemed very excited to go with the big kids to their special classroom. She brought back a special handout with the day's readings and was very proud of it. Here are some pictures we took after mass:

Family shot... looks like Lia is ready to bolt!

Here is Emily next to a nice mural of the Salinas Valley

Next, we visited the Royal Presido Chapel in Monterey. "It is the oldest building on the Monterey Peninsula and the oldest church in continuous use in California, and the only remaining chapel associated with a presidio in California. Not surprisingly, it is also a National Historic Landmark. " Again, Emily thought it was "Awesome!" I think the little kids were napping again so we took some pictures of her here:

After the presidio, Chris was excited to find FREE parking near Fisherman's Wharf on Pacific near Scott (for future reference). We ate at Rappa's and it was a big hit with the kids. We arrived around 2:00 so it wasn't too crowded and we were able to get a table by the window so the kids could watch the boats going in and out of the bay. They really liked that! We even saw a seal sunning itself on a buoy. All the restaurants in this area hand out samples of their chowder as you walk by. This is great when you are hungry! The chowder here was fabulous as was the sourdough bread. Outside of the restaurant there was a bird guy. He had all sorts of birds and let Emily hold one. She really liked that. I think her Nana will love this picture:

The only picture of us together on this trip! Thank you to the nice man who took it!

There is a historic walking tour near the wharf. We were able to go into the Monterey Custom House. "Monterey’s Custom House is a traditionally styled Mexican adobe structure. It was used by the Mexican government (1821-1846) for the collection of taxes imposed on foreign merchants. " We also walked by the Pacific House and the Casa d'Oro gardens. For future reference, the bathrooms at the gardens were very nice and very clean! David and Emily were being silly outside the custom house... couldn't resist taking these:

Another busy and fun day! More to come...