Our Company off-site was in Monterey, California on Thursday and Friday. Since the presentations began promptly at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday and since 4 of us were driving down together, that required me to get up by 5:30 a.m.! I showered, packed and rolled my overnight bag to the car rental place to meet up with the 3 other women, none of whom had ever been to Monterey before. I haven’t been there in more than 20 years, so was certain that things had changed a bit! The car rental place was disorganized and it was something of a chore to pick up the car, but we were on our way by 7:20 a.m. or thereabouts. The traffic wasn’t too bad, so we made it to the Monterey Plaza Hotel and Spa on Cannery Row by 9:40 a.m., although we were the last to arrive. I did have time to check in and grab something to munch on by 10:00 a.m., though. We had a couple of presentations, lunch was served buffet style, another presentation, a break and a final presentation for the day. At 3:30 p.m. we walked over to the Monterey Bay Aquarium where we had about an hour and a half to walk around by ourselves before going on the private one-hour after hours tour at 5:30 p.m. There was always a huge line to get into the Aquarium on my past two attempts, so I’d yet to see it. At $37.95, the entry fee seemed a tad expensive to me, but the Company paid, so I can’t complain. My favorite part of the Aquarium was the jellyfish exhibit, which yielded some amazing photos. During the after hours tour, our guide said that their pride and joy happened to be the kelp forest, however. There were surprisingly many volunteer divers working after hours to clean the tanks, collect “eggs” and feed the fish. Since many volunteer divers in the past had been wheelchair bound, a special elevator had been funded and installed to make it easier for them. When our guide mentioned that both the octopus and the sea otters were highly intelligent creatures which needed daily stimulation, one of the guys in the group asked “What happens if they don’t receive stimulation? Do they get bored or depressed?” Apparently, yes! Once our tour ended, the group hopped in cabs en route to dinner at Il Fornaio inside the Pine Inn in Carmel. We four women happened to catch the “Soul Cab,” as the driver referred to it, complete with a blue disco ball hanging from the ceiling and smooth “soul” music playing in the background. Once I mentioned something about him jamming Ashford and Simpson, he was surprised and challenged me to name the other songs that came on during the 15 minute drive. My track record was perfect – R and B was my music genre of choice back in college! We had a private room at Il Fornaio for the roughly 20 of us. The set menu was salad, a choice of 4 entrees and tiramisu. Though the beef looked tempting, it stated that it would be cooked rare, which I detest. I’m from Kansas and like my beef done well to medium well! Thus, I went for the chicken. They were also serving endless bottles of sauvignon blanc and pinot noir; I indulged in several glasses of both. During this time, I chatted up the newest analyst, who’s from somewhere in New York and is extremely quiet. We both agreed that people in San Francisco are flakey and not overly friendly, except when they’re bragging about the City and/or themselves! After dinner we walked over to Sadie’s, a bar in Carmel. I ended up sitting at the bar with the MD’s, who told me to start off the drink orders. My go-to drink is usually rum & Coke, but I gave up sodas for Lent, so instructed the bartender to make me a dirty martini that was so dirty it would be toxic. The bartender had a bit of an attitude, as if he thought I couldn’t handle it. Not only did he make a HUGE one for me (a triple?), he also made it extra, extra dirty, then told me that I BETTER finish it! Threats from a bartender?! Believe me, I finished it, though it took me awhile. My memory gets a little foggy after that. I was in a cab on my way back to the hotel in Monterey, but don’t recall who was riding with me. I was apparently drinking Frangelico and Bailey’s at the hotel bar, along with the analysts. Someone said I also got lost on my return from the Ladies’ Room! Hey, it IS a confusing hotel as far as the layout! At that point, M. (who will be joining us as an analyst in May or June), W. and possibly J. (both analysts) took a cab to a bar in downtown Monterey. There I drank beer and vodka shots with the boys; M. said she’d quit drinking by that time. There was some confusion as to how we were getting back to the hotel; maybe there weren’t any cabs around. We ended up using Uber. M., W. and I were staying in the same tower on the same floor of the hotel. She had her hands full with W. and me, as we were in rare form by then. As we walked by a room with a hotel employee inside, W. supposedly walked in and grabbed a chair, for no apparent reason. The hotel employee, who informed us that he was Tongan, found us highly amusing. He must have felt sorry for M. because he assured her that he would make sure I got to my room, if she made sure W. got to his. I have absolutely no recollection of any of that, but he most assuredly got me safely to my room. I do have a vague memory of me laying on the bed in my robe, with the Tongan guy sitting in a chair next to my bed. He’d returned to my room with a glass of champagne for me, but I don’t recall why. I must have asked him for one!!! I remember him smiling and saying to me “Maybe you SHOULDN’T drink that glass of champagne!” I assured him that I was feeling no pain, though, and would be fine. He was a perfect gentleman and left, once he made sure that I was ok. Luckily for M. and W., the Tongan guy saw them in the hallway still struggling to get into W.’s room. W. couldn’t find his room keys, thus was cleaning out his wallet (and subsequently throwing his credit cards on the floor) in the process of searching for them. He’d throw his credit cards on the floor, M. would pick them up, then they’d repeat it all over again. Since the Tongan guy had a master key, he was able to let them into the room.
I woke up at 6:00 a.m. on Friday with that champagne flute next to my bed, which made me laugh, as I only barely remembered the evening! Although I wasn’t hung over at all, I still kind of felt like crap on a stick, but had to shower, pack, check out and be downstairs for the 8:30 a.m. presentation. M. filled me in on what happened the previous night during breakfast. I told her that there’d been a Tongan guy in my room with a glass of champagne, but I couldn’t recall where I met him or why he brought champagne to my room! She explained how we met him, but said I must have “the magic touch” for him to bring the champagne! It worked out well for W. and her, though. If the Tongan guy hadn’t brought the champagne, they would have still been in the hallway for who knows how long trying to figure out where W.’s keys were! Presentations were over at 12:15 p.m. and we had another buffet lunch before departure. Believe me, three of us were asleep during the majority of the road trip back to San Francisco, leaving the other woman to fend for herself! Although she just moved here from Pennsylvania two weeks ago and isn’t that familiar with Northern California, we made it safely back. Thus ended my little Monterey adventure!
