Opening Weekend of Summer: Day Trip to Monterey

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Road Trip to Monterey

For the first weekend of Summer, I decided to connect with my Travel Buddy and take a drive from Silicon Valley down to Monterey for a day trip. The drive was nice, with plenty of people on the road with the same idea in mind.

Lunch in Monterey

Our destination of choice for a bite to eat was Hula’s Island Grill. Based on 2183 reviews on Yelp it has a 4-star rating. My Travel Buddy decided it would be the perfect place to try something new. In viewing their pictures on Yelp, it appeared to have a good mix of Carribean, Hawaiian, Mexican and American cuisine. The menu items were an interesting mix of the above cuisines including a Jawaiian Jerk Chicken Plate, Cubano Pork Tacos and Bacon Cheeseburger Deluxe. They also have Gluten-Free and Vegetarian menus.

Happy Hour Menu

The restaurant has indoor and outdoor seating. We opted to sit outside to enjoy the sun with our meal. We were happy to see that they have a Happy Hour menu with $6 appetizers until 6PM. This was a pleasant surprise for a Saturday afternoon.

The drink menu had a unique set of names for a few of their specialty drinks. Drink names such as Dr. Funk, Zombie, and One Eyed Pyrat definitely had us inquiring with our server “what’s in it?” For drinks, I ultimately had to go with a Red Stripe while Travel Buddy decided to get the Hula’s Mai Tai, which was pleasantly more than what she expected for the serving size.

Interesting Menu Items

For appetizers, we decided to get the Crispy Coconut Shrimp Rolls and Kona Style Chicken Wings. Both were what you normally expect for appetizers. There was nothing outside of the ordinary in flavor to rave about. The Coconut Shrimp comes with a pineapple, horseradish dipping sauce. The flavor is interesting and the best way that I can describe it is tangy but not sweet or spicy. I didn’t get any kick or hint of horseradish at all. If you’re intimidated or not a fan of spicy flavors, there is no need to be with this sauce. The Coconut Shrimp Rolls themselves were filled with Bay Shrimp and hit the spot. The Chicken Wings were okay as far as wings go. Again, nothing to rave about. I do consider myself to be a self-proclaimed wing connoisseur and expert on wings. However, I’ll save this for a future post. The flavor of the wings did compliment my Red Stripe. Wings and beer are the ideal pairings and you can never go wrong with them as far as appetizers are concerned. “It is known, Khaleesi” for my Game of Thrones fans out there.

For my main entree, I decided to go with the Luau Pork Sandwich which the menu describes as “heaven on a bun” and I must say, this proved to be true. The pork was tender and filled with flavor. What makes the Luau Pork Sandwich even better is it’s topped with Hula’s coleslaw and their buns come from La Brea Bakery in Los Angeles. When I say that my first bite was memorable; I kid you not. I do believe I was chewing with my eyes closed the first few bites in pure bliss as this truly is a delicious sandwich. Our server told us that the pork is marinated and slow-cooked for 48 hours. The pork was so tender and filled with flavor. I was not disappointed at all.

Not to be outdone, Travel Buddy decided to go with Jawaiian Jerk Chicken Plate. It includes roasted chicken, spicy jerk sauce, fried plantains, rice, slaw and johnnycakes. The serving size was huge and for $18, you definitely are getting your money’s worth.

All in all, Hula’s Island Grill is a nice place to grab lunch while in Monterey, and it’s only a few blocks from Cannery Row. I definitely recommend checking them out.

Hula’s Island Grill

Website: https://www.hulastiki.com/

Address: 622 Lighthouse Avenue, Monterey CA 93940

Tel: (831) 655-4852 (HULA)

Sun & Mon: 4pm – 9:30pm

Tue – Thu: 11:30am – 9.30pm

Fri & Sat: 11:30am -10pm

Coastal Views

Next on the agenda for the day trip was a nice scenic drive to Rocky Point Restaurant in Carmel by the Sea / Big Sur. Some of the most beautiful views of the ocean are found there. Although the weather was overcast, the views remained stunning.

One thing that you should absolutely be aware of is the parking. Parking is reserved for Rocky Point Restaurant guest only. They have a security guard that monitors the lot to ensure that people are going into the restaurant and not parking to go down the hiking trails.

We were still pretty full from lunch, so we went to the bar for a couple of drinks. I had an Old Fashion and Travel Buddy had a mocha. From there, the restaurant has seating outside with views of the coast and access to the trails. We simply sat out enjoyed our drinks and then went hiking.

To say that these pictures do no justice to the awesomeness of the ocean waves and tide pools crashing against the rocks, is an understatement. The sound of the ocean is always pleasant and relaxing. Add the sounds of the water hitting the rocks, the birds flying and even the seals that happened to be out on this particular day, all made for a relaxing afternoon.

The trail is not a long or difficult, however, it is very narrow on the way down and only allows for one person at a time. If I had to guess I’d say it’s about half a mile if I had to guess.

Rocky Point Restaurant

Website: http://www.rockypointrestaurant.com/

Address: 36700 CA-1, Monterey, CA 93940

Tel: (831) 624-2933

Hours: 11:30AM – 8:00PM

Time at the Beach

For the final portion of the day trip, we decided to pull over on the way back at Monastery Beach. On this particular day, the lifeguards were out and telling people to stay on the dry side of the beach and not to go into the ocean or even get our feet in the sand where the incoming tide runs up the beach. They said, the water was pulling people under and keeping them under the water and that they’ve had several rescues and one death over the past week.

The trail is not a long or difficult, however, it is very narrow on the way down and only allows for one person at a time. If I had to guess I’d say it’s about half a mile if I had to guess.

Monastery Beach

Address: Cabrillo Highway, Carmel, CA 93923

The beach concluded our day in Monterey and we had a relaxing drive back with the windows down. Traffic was not bad and everyone on the road seemed in no rush to get back, including me.

Although we wanted to try something new to eat, my all time favorite restaurant in Monterey is Fisherman’s Grotto. If you’ve been to Monterey, how do you spend your day? What places do you like to eat? Feel free to share your experiences or favorite spots in the comments below.

Cheers!!!

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