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The Monterey Pennisula is one of the places in California that I have most certainly looked forward to visiting. Especially since I missed a great opportunity to see it with my sister a few years back and she has never let me live it down (and rightfully so). So I was really excited when I learned that I would be flying in there and would get to spend some time in this lovely Utopian place, as it had seemingly been described to me.
However, what was going to be a two day stay in the Monterey/Salinas area wound up being a divided trip between Monterey/Salinas and Fresno. Now for those of you not incredibly familiar with California's geography, these two places are over three hours apart. So my trip to Monterey would again be altered. I didn't mind too much though, since it meant more work and that's always a good thing.
Always trying to be the optimist, I made it a point to make the most of my time there no matter how short it may be. So I enlisted the help of some friends that are familiar with the area to at least get a recommendation for lunch.
It seemed that Cannery Row was the place that I should head. It is a quaint little area right by the water with a number of shops and restaurants lining either side of the street until it ends at the Monterey Aquarium.
So after I picked up my Ford Fusion from Enterprise, I was off toward Cannery Row.
It took me a couple tries to find the part of Cannery Row that I was looking for, since apparently the street divides off at some point, but my destination wasn't too far down the road. Once parked I could immediately see why I was told to come here. It had a really chill, laid back feel about it and people were just strolling up and down the street checking out the shops. It was exactly the way a place by the water should be.
I figured I should wander up and down the street a little ways to decide where exactly to strap on the old feed bag, when shortly into my walk I was greeted by a nice man with a hell of a deal.
See one of the few good things about the current economic climate is that businesses are having crazy deals and specials in order to attract customers. So as I walked past Paradiso Trattoria, the man offered me a free calamari appetizer if I would come in and have lunch. I looked over the menu, peeked in through the door to see what the decor was like, and decided this was a pretty good place to stop and grab lunch.
They showed me to my table which had a great view overlooking the water. I mean an absolute great place to have a relaxing lunch before going to speak to a gynasium full of Juniors during the last period of the day (there are two things it's hard for in school speakers to compete with, the end of the day and lunch). I knew it'd go well, but it'd take a little more effort so I was looking forward to a calm lunch.
And with a view like this to look at. I figured that was well on its way to happening.
I, of course, took that good man up on his offer for the Calamari appetizer and then decided that for lunch it was going to be some Prawn Scampi.
As they prepared my food, I just sat there and enjoyed the beautiful scenery and the nice breeze. A few minutes later, they brought out the appetizer.
Now I would be lying if I said that I was absolutely amazed by the Calamari, it wasn't bad, but wasn't anything to write home about. Even though I am a bigger fan of grilled calamari, I still do enjoy me some fried calamari and this wasn't the best I'd ever had. I was wondering if I was going to have a similiar experience with the Scampi.
It didn't take to long for me to find out. Just as I was finishing up the last bite of the calamari, the waitress brought out my Scampi, a Scampi that looked like it was going to completely make up for the so so calamari. A dish that was about to give my lunch the redemption it needed.
Oh and it did. After she put my desired amount of parmesan cheese on that bad boy, I dove right in. It was delicious. A tasty sauce with nice flavor throughout every bite. Nice big shrimp and plenty of them. This definitely completed my lunch experience. I was satisfied with my lunch choice.
Well time had ticked away quicker than I wanted and it was time to hit the road. I had to make the twenty-five minute drive up to Salinas and had to be at the school at least a half hour before the presentation. So I got my check, enjoyed one more glance at the view and I headed back to the car.
It was time to deliver a great presentation up the road, hop in the car drive three hours across the state, stay the night in Fresno, deliver a great presentation there, just to come back to the same school in Salinas to do it all again before flying back home to Los Angeles. But hey, it was damn good Scampi.
i was attracted by food.wow
Posted by: lily | Monday, June 20, 2011 at 09:53 PM