Last year, we went to Sea Ranch. This year, our all-women's retreat (Grandma, my sister Ainsley, my girls and me) was at Asilomar in Pacific Grove (aka Butterfly Town, USA for their flocks of migrating monarchs). We had a fantastic time, visiting the monarch butterflies, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and the ocean.The girls are picking up so many words, now... just over the weekend, Ava added squirrel, blue jay, waves, ocean, otter, and jellyfish, among others. While being approached by some pretty aggressive begging-squirrels on 17-Mile Drive, Ava, after finding that just backing away wouldn't deter the fiesty squirrel, shook her finger and said, "Out, squirrel!"
The girls were very excited to see all the waterlife at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Word to the wise: they have a 2-day pass that can be purchased from hotels for the same price as a normal ticket at the door. Not only do you get twice the opportunity to visit, but you can beat the line at the counter and walk right in. Tickets are now $25/per person. Kids under 3 are free!
We rented the Director's Cottage, one of the cottages on the Asilomar property. It, like many of the buildings here, was designed and built by the infamous Julia Morgan. Asilomar was the stereo-typical UC Berkeley brain-child. Crunchy, functional, and geared toward connecting with nature. The rooms, on top of it, are very reasonably priced! We enjoyed it so much, we looked into having a Dent reunion and at least another all-women's retreat here sometime next year. Leisure guests (most rooms are occupied by various groups and conferences) can make reservations 6-months in advance. You have to be in-the-know to get a cottage. They don't do reservations for them online; you need to call and ask.
All the groovey photographs of the whole 3-day trip can be seen here.
