Monterey Car Week is a frenzy of automotive activities leading up to the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. I always say, it is the most scheduled “vacation” we ever take. Each day brings at least three or more car related festivities to engage your senses. We survived the energetic whirlwind swirling around the Monterey Peninsula by having all sorts of automotive fun.
The peninsula is full of traffic for car week, we deal with it by staying less than 10 miles from everything. Avoiding the hotel/motel frenzy is our key to a great trip. This year Airbnb made our stay easy, comfortable and relaxing on a quite street in Carmel. Renting is far more efficient than over paying for a sub-standard dank hotel room. 
Nothing beats having your own quiet retreat for morning coffee or to unwind mid afternoon on your deck with a glass of wine, while playing guess-the-car by just listening to what went by. Calm morning walks amongst the slumbering cottages is a divine way to start the day. Personally I don’t mind saving a few bucks by making our own breakfast from time to time.
The Carmel Concours on The Avenue was stocked full of car candy, much of it race ready. Porsche was the dominate marque, like a mini Porsche car show. This is the first big event of the week however, every day and night in Carmel there is some form of automotive splendor.
Pacific Grove hosts The Little Car Show along a couple of city blocks which offers a different version of vehicular appreciation.
Auction previews are always fun and worth visiting whether or not you are actually car shopping.
At Bonhams this 1985 Ferrari 288 GTO fetched over $2 million.
Cool overcast skies does not keep the people away from catching the first glimpse of the cars which will be featured on the lawn at Pebble Beach. The crowds were bigger than I’d ever seen at 7:30AM for the Pebble Beach Tour d’Elgance, and the normal start time was pushed back an hour this year due to the wild fires. 
We managed to sneak in ample test drives: Bentley V8 Spur, Bentley Bentayga, Lamborghini Huracan, and the new Maserati Levante.
Despite having every day scheduled, it pays to be flexible, such as when someone offers you tickets to The Quail Motorsports Gathering. Check out my Instagram video of Jim Glickenhaus driving his SCG003 up on stage.
Visits to various automotive displays and houses prior to the weekend makes for a great way to check out the new cars without the crowds.
Can’t miss the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion, admittedly we just make our way up an down every row of the paddock, view a race or two then leave.
Dinner reservations are a must almost everywhere on the Monterey peninsula, though there are plenty of events to attend for dinner or cocktail snacks. Mid-week a quite lunch at Stillwater Grill at The Lodge At Pebble Beach is a great spot to enjoy the calm and look upon the field taking shape for Sunday.
Just like the tour, the crowds were out early for the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance – I mean prior to 8AM early. Fortunately we have a system: round one take photos, round two discuss cars while sipping champagne on the field, and on our final pass we people watch. 
Sunday was absolutely perfect, partially due to the wonderful hospitality of Bentley Motors which offered a primo vantage point for the awards ceremony.
Monterey Car Week is addictive. Each year there seems to be more people and more cars, still we keep coming back. My husband got tired of me calling Porsche GT3s pedestrian, there was one almost every time you turned your head. It seemed like you couldn’t go down the road without seeing a McLaren either. Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance is spectacle like no other. Now I need a vacation!
Keep coming back, despite feeling as though I avoided taking photos I already had, there are over 1200 photos I just loaded into my library, just for you.
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