Driving by our old house in Monterey makes me a little sad. I’m one of the least sentimental people around, but even this stone cold heart starts to thaw when I remember the good times we had there, our homeschooling days, neighborhood block parties, my garden where I waged war on earwigs night after night … If I let myself, I would miss it. The nostalgic voice whispers, “You’ll never live in such a magical place again. Josh was able to ride his bike to work, you were 3 minutes from one of the most beautiful coasts in the world, a mix of all the best things were within your reach — Farmer’s Markets, roadside produce stands, Trader Joe’s, REI, and Target covered all the bases. The boys could run and play and climb trees and build forts until you rang the bell calling them in every night. It will never be like this again.”
The boys went back to “our” Trader Joe’s and found the otter!
(The employees hide the otter in a new place every day and when the kids spot him they are given candy from the store manager).
And it won’t be. That’s the problem with going back — even if we did get to live there again it wouldn’t be the same. The kids are bigger, the neighbors are different, we have a
girl now… So I brush away the wishful thinking and turn my thoughts toward what comes next. Four days from now we fly back to our tiny island with no regrets. My cup is full. We’ve seen everyone it was possible to see, eaten all of our favorite foods at our favorite places, stocked up on clothes for the coming year, and loaded up our suitcases with bits of here to hold us over until the next time we’re able to make this trek. The introvert in me is all talked out and almost looking forward to the quiet days of Ramadan.
Artichokes in bloom
Fun trip to “our” mall.
The last item on our “Tour de Costal California,” a visit to Phil’s Fish Market for Phil’s special cioppino (a tomato based fish stew, loaded with seafood.)
This is the line from inside the front door. The food really is that good.
Ready to get cracking! Over Caleb’s shoulder, the line continues out toward the parking lot.
A first for her — last time we were here she was just a baby.
Calamari starter
Cioppino on the bottom left — scallops, mussels, clams, squid, fish, shrimp, and crab in a spicy stew.
Treasures to take home?
We are able to say “We used to live here” about way more places than the average person, but we don’t often get the chance to go stand on those exact squares of sidewalk and reminisce and relive. This has been a great trip for doing that — especially since the kids are old enough to remember all of their favorites too.
