After watching the sunset over the pacific the previous night we started the drive up highway 1/Big Sur, a drive we had been looking forward to all holiday. 

After a short drive we stopped to view a beach where elephant seals can be seen.

Todays song - Kiss from a rose 🤔 ( by Seal)

It was at this point that Net noticed the first sign saying the road was closed after 25 mile with no detour. We then doubled back to make our journey to Monterey. 
Whilst it made the journey longer it was probably quicker as we could go faster on the highway. Also it took us through California's vinyards so lots to enjoy.

On arrival at Monterey we checked in and decided to walk down to the tourist area known as fisherman's wharf and cannery row. The man who checked us in was a little shocked when we suggested we would walk but it was nice to stretch the legs and we also took the chance to go on the beach.

We soon found a bar for liquid refreshment, the London Bridge Pub, very English in appearance, or at least an American view of what English pubs are like.

We continued our exploration of the town and found a viewing point of the bay with promised views of sea otters, to our surprise we actually spotted one.

Yes it really is there 😎

After a visit to a wine shop to taste their local offerings we purchased a bottle to take back to our room as this was a 2 night stop for us.

Prior to calling an Uber we decided on one last drink in a small bar on the main road. That's not what happened !

I decided to order a second drink and a lady sat at the bar said " that's what I normally drink ". An obvious English accent so I asked where they were from and they lived close to our nieces on the Wirral. But the coincidence did not stop there. It turns out Teresa was from Mansfield and went to the same schools as me. Over 5000 miles from home, it's a smaller world than I thought. Several drinks later we finally got that Uber back to the hotel.