It was our first visit to California, and we'd stayed in San Francisco and the Bay Area for a few days before proceeding on a Family Adventure with a dozen others, arranged by our son and his partner. The adventure took us from Fremont south, via Santa Cruz to Monterey, following clues and engaging in quizzes, treasure hunts and explorations. One of these was for me to don my first ever wetsuit, surf out to a skier in Santa Cruz Bay to collect a clue for my team. I survived, but we didn't win.
We then headed south along Highway 101 towards Big Sur where we drove into the grounds of the Ventana Inn for two days with a delightful blend of relaxation and fun.These were to conclude with a family celebration lunch.
We arrived in the restaurant well on time, only to be told that lunch was not ready and that we'd need to prepare it ourselves! We were handed aprons (with the hotel logo), paired up and led to the kitchen where the pizza dough was waiting with any amount of toppings and cheeses for us to choose our combination. The chef and his team were on stand-by to answer questions, but not to help.
Half an hour later our pizza went into the oven and we proceeded back to the restaurant waiting to be served with what we ourselves had produced. Though we didn't win the prize, it was one of the tastiest pizzas ever, and the fun of making it ourselves in the Ventana Inn kitchen remains a wonderful memory.
