My parents picked me up at my airbnb to have have leftover Claypot rice from Koi Palace at their airbnb.

I brought my MacBook along to plan the day.

My plan was as followed.

Old Fisherman's Wharf -> Cannery Row -> 17 Mile Drive.

I was excited to drive down to Monterey.

But since I've only racked up a couple of hours driving in the US, it was intimidating as well.

One thing I noticed about the freeways is how easy it is to exit to a different lane when you're on the most right lane. Some of them are really subtle, and it's easy to exit on accident.

Also, my parents kept asking me to slow down at a 65 speed limit freeway. Cars around me were going 80-90 so it was hard to stick to 65.

We arrived at 2 p.m. I paid for 2 hours of parking with the Park Mobile app, and walked to the wharf.

My mom got distracted by some flea markets selling trinkets on the way.

Initial impression of the wharf: it looks like a mini SF Pier 39. There was less crowd, and more boats around the wharf, just sitting on the ocean.

We got a $14 bread bowl Clam Chowder. We sat on a bench and all of us started munching it. It warmed up our tummies.

After that we went into some shops, and got 2 scoops of homemade ice cream on the way back to the car.

Next stop was Cannery Row.

It was a nice street, with restaurants and gift shops around.

I saw a statue of John Steinbeck, and started seeing him on street pole banners, then found out he wrote a book about Cannery Row.

Walking down the street to the end brought us to the aquarium.

I looked up the Antique mall and found out it closing in 45 minutes. I rushed my parents to get to that place in time.

I really loved the Antique mall. It was two floors filled with antiques owned by over 100 local dealers. I could totally spend at least 2 hours there. I looked at some vintage posters, saw an atari game console, vintage hot wheels, old t-shirts, and a bunch of other stuff. The whole time I figuring out what I could snatch for my apartment back in Iowa.

With 5 minutes left until closing, I had to get something. I frantically hunted for clothes, and managed to thrift a thick Rock Oil racing white sweater and a Flaming Santa Cruz black t-shirt.

Next, we went to the Lighthouse bookstore.

My mom bought a cooking book. I read some poetry.

It was dinner time.

Sea harvest was the closest restaurant. We were cold and hungry.

I got two plates of grilled seafood. We chose sea bass and salmon.

It was my first time trying sea bass. I was surprised at its richness in fats. The salmon was cooked to perfection. The rice that came with it also tasted good.

It was already 8pm, 17-mile drive can happen another day.

Before leaving, I wanted to drive along the coast.

We stopped at Perkins park and admired the wide bed of purple flowers, and the ocean crashing on the rocks.

I drove further down and saw some people sitting at the beach, with a campfire in the middle.

I got out and took some pictures.

It was getting dark.

We said goodbye to Monterey.