Our Honeymoon

Since our wedding was on the 19th, and Christmas was only 6 days away we knew we needed to stay close for our honeymoon. We decided that Monterey/Carmel/Pacific Grove would be perfect. We also knew that we were dirt poor. We looked and looked for a something that would be fun, but not too expensive. Didn't really work. We booked an EconoLodge for three days and put it in the back of our minds. A week or so later my boss and I were chatting, and he asked what I wanted from him as a wedding gift. I laughed and said, "Uh, I don't know". He said that he'd been thinking about something for a while, but wanted to run it past me. He then said that he knew we don't have much money and wanted to know if I'd like him to pay for our hotel for our honeymoon. I was floored. Never in a million years would I have imagined someone wanting to do that for us. I immediately said, "Sure!". He then told me to make up a list of places and the cost and let him look it over. I couldn't wait to get off work to be able to tell Darren.

Over the next few days we looked online, him in Idaho and me in California, and made a list of about 8 places that looked good. They were all in a price range that was good with my boss, so we spent a few days trying to decide. Funny enough, we didn't end up picking any of them. I was going over our list with my aunt Kristin and she said they had stayed in Pacific Grove at a place that was pretty nice. Lighthouse Lodge and Suites. I looked it up online, and liked what it provided more than anything we had on our list, so we booked it.

We spent the 20th through the 23rd in Pacific Grove before flying to Virginia for Christmas. It was so nice to be able to relax and just do nothing. The city of Pacific Grove is tiny, and I loved driving down the main drag. On Monday we walked down to the local lighthouse, found out it wasn't open for a few hours, so we went and saw "The Blindside" at the town theater. We grabbed some lunch, and then headed back to the lighthouse. I don't remember what year it was built or anything, but it was really neat.

Tuesday we went into Monterey, to the wharf, to try and find me a pearl necklace. We weren't successfull, and it was crazy windy, but it was fun anyway. On our way back to our lodge we found a pizza place, Gianni's Pizza, that Kristin and Bobby raved about. They weren't open until later, so we drove down the coastline, and went and got ice cream at the small shop in town. Turns out the owner is a HUGE Beatles fan. And I do mean huge. There was Beatles' paraphenalia covering every wall and on every shelf. It definitely was memorable! And the ice cream was pretty darn good as well.

Overall, it was a great and much needed vacation. We are so grateful to everyone who made it possible!