Here we are again! Just a few weeks after our trip to the Pacific Northwest, we (Faith, Walker, and I) are heading back out to the west coast, this time to visit Faith’s sister Anna and her family (husband William // children Mary, Madeleine, James, and Ransom). Last fall, we visited them in Havre de Grace, MD, but they recently moved to Monterey, CA. They’ll soon be moving overseas, so we wanted to take the opportunity to see them one last time before then.
This was definitely a very last-minute trip – probably the closest to departure that I’ve ever booked flights. Thankfully, I had some airline miles and credit card points to use, so we didn’t have to pay anything for the flights (which would have been very expensive last-minute!), and were able to fly into Monterey instead of one of the larger international airports.
BNE
Saturday morning, we left Boone around 08:00, stopping briefly at Bald Guy Brew in Blowing Rock to grab some drinks, since I’d used up all our coffee at the house. Faith got an iced Americano, and I got a pourover of their Ethiopian Gigesa Natural. We also tried one of the seasonal specials, a iced cubano shot – this is made by putting a layer of turbinado sugar on top of the espresso puck, pulling a shot through it, and then mixing with a small amount of milk, cinnamon, and ice. It was delicious as always!
Bald Guy Brew Coffee Roasting Co.
Boone/Blowing Rock, NC
I guess I don’t do a lot of local food ratings for the High Country, but I figured it’s about time I threw some in the mix…
Bald Guy is the standard by which I judge all other coffee shops. Don Cox (the bald guy), is a master coffee roaster who pioneered fair trade/organic/etc. before it was even the “cool” thing to do. They specialize in medium-roast single-origin coffees, and only buy the highest possible quality beans.
This is not a shop for sugary drink-lovers, but if you like quality black coffee and enjoy medium roasts, you won’t find a better spot.
* – Would definitely visit again
** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area
*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there
We made a pit stop in Granite Falls to eat a cheese omelette (courtesy of Mom), and then Mom and Dad drove us to the airport in Charlotte.
CLT
Once we got through TSA and to our gate, I went to fetch us some lunch from Wow Bao, a Chinese restaurant in the airport. We got two bao buns (sweet steamed buns filled with spiced meat and vegetables), citrus chicken over white rice, and a few ginger chicken potstickers.
The food was very good, and fairly reasonably priced for airport food. The airport was pretty chaotic because a lot of flights had been rerouted there due to weather; there was a surprising amount of University of Michigan fans around because of the diversions. I made sure to let them know I was an App State fan any chance I got.
PHX
The flight was long, but very smooth – Faith and Walker napped some, while I watched part of a WWI movie and the Olympic men’s basketball championship game.
We had a layover in Phoenix, an airport (also city/state) we’d never visited before. I was surprised by how many mountains there are around the airport. I was not surprised by the heat (depending on the source, it was somewhere between 106-111°F outside). PHX is a large airport, but didn’t seem overly crowded. It was an almost 20 minute walk to our gate, but we made it with no issues.
In the airport, we got food from La Madeleine Country French Café, which was a shockingly good meal, even by non-airport standards. We got a hot sandwich with turkey and sun-dried tomato pesto, a chicken Caesar salad, and salt & vinegar chips.
La Madeleine Country French Café
PHX Airport
Here’s a first: a restaurant in an airport earning a star. A great place to get a hot sandwich while your plane’s tires are melting on the runway.
* – Would definitely visit again
** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area
*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there
MRY
We had one more short flight (about an hour and a half) into Monterey. Walker also slept on this flight, which was a huge blessing. It turned out to be impeccable timing for scenic views; we flew in during golden hour, as the sun illuminated the Central Valley, the Carmel Highlands, and the coastline.
The view from the plane was spectacular, and phone camera pictures simply can’t do it justice.
We both thought we were either going to hit the mountains or the ocean as we descended, but we dropped into the local airport without a problem. It’s a tiny airport, with just ~4 gates. We deplaned directly onto the tarmac via a ramp, and then quickly passed through the airport and out to the arrivals pickup area. The Pinkertons picked us up shortly thereafter, and then had a short drive back to their house.
Welcome
The cousins were all very excited to see Walker (and us, I guess). We visited for a while, fed Walker some spaghetti, and put him down for bed. After all the kids were in bed, we visited with William and Anna and ate some ice cream (black raspberry chip and mint chocolate chip) before heading off to bed ourselves.
The Best Things we Saw Today
Isaac
The best thing I saw today was… “the view flying into Monterey”.
The best thing I ate today was… “the sandwich at the Phoenix airport and black raspberry chip ice cream”.
Faith
The best thing I saw today was… “the landing in Monterey”.
The best thing I ate today was… “spaghetti at the Pinkertons”.
Conclusion
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Tomorrow, we’ll mostly stay around Monterey.
– Isaac, Faith, and Walker
2 Responses
Love all your travels. The pictures and food descriptions are great. 😊
Glad you had safe travels there.
Always great to see family!
Pictures were fantastic!
Food looked delicious.