Narrative Essay Example: My Perfect Vacation

It was a bright June afternoon and I had finished packing my bags for a vacation with my friends in Seaside, California. This was the second time I went on a vacation with my friends without any parental supervision. The first vacation we went on was an average trip down to Disneyland. This time around, I knew we would be visiting certain places in Monterey County, but I did not know what to expect as I had never visited this area before. However, the pleasing views that Seaside had to offer helped create the perfect vacation for me.

Upon arriving at Seaside, our first stop was at the Airbnb we had rented. The 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom, and beautiful ocean view deck home was the ideal resting place for my friends and I. It gave a homely feel to all of us, which was exactly what we needed if we wanted to unwind at this house.

After settling into the Airbnb, we stayed there until the night, and then decided to go on a quick trip down to Cannery Row, a waterfront street down in New Monterey. When we parked down at a local Denny’s in order to avoid paying for parking, we walked up north towards Cannery Row. This walk through Cannery Row at night had me at a loss for words. The beautiful lights, the people walking by us or eating at the outside diners, was such a beautiful view to witness. The old cannery buildings were so modern and tall, some of them even looked like a random barnhouse in the middle of the streets. We even walked all the way past the Row and into the San Carlos Beach, where we watched the ocean meet across the sand. We watched this go back and forth for multiple minutes. Although the sand looked spotted and grimy, I was completely ignoring that fact due to the peaceful sound of the ocean. After that, we decided that it was getting late and went back to the house. This short trip at Cannery Row was the perfect first stop for this trip because it had told me to open my eyes and pay attention to the appealing areas that Seaside had to offer.

The following day, my friends and I decided to go on a trip down to Carmel Beach. On the car ride there, I remember looking out of my friend’s truck and seeing hundreds and hundreds of tall trees on the side of the road. These trees made us feel like we were in the middle of nowhere, although we were driving in an extremely crowded expressway. This view was so peculiar, but it still was so gorgeous because of how well the nature blended in with the busy streets. I also remember Love Yourz, an extremely meaningful song that tells the listeners to appreciate their life by J.Cole, was being played in my friend's truck while we were driving through this expressway. This song playing in the background while driving through the busy expressways in Seaside was another perfect mix, as it now created a nostalgic and sentimental tone while we were driving to Carmel Beach.

Once we arrived at Carmel Beach, we took our bags and headed towards the sand. Now in my life, I have only been to a beach a couple of times. This lack of experience did make me feel uneasy with this beach at first. I remember being extremely uncomfortable with the feeling of the sand while walking on it with my slippers on. The sand felt stiff and harsh with my slippers. After seeing my discomfort, my friend then suggested that I should just go barefoot if I wanted to be more comfortable with the sand. Now this may sound obvious to people who have been in the sand, but because I had rarely been to a beach I did not understand this. After taking the slippers off, I felt loose. I was able to run in the sand and fell in love with the feeling of the sand in between my toes. Once I had been completely adjusted with the beach, I decided to take a minute and deeply look into the beach. I distinguished the light beige sand with the sky blue water. This scenery looked like the beaches in the Bahamas. The time I took to really examine the beach made me appreciate Carmel Beach even more, because I realized that the sights I was seeing throughout this vacation were completely different from what I had been used to. 

The day after our beach trip would be our last full day in Seaside, and we spent it by going to the Point Lobos State National Reserve, a nature sightseeing reserve. This reserve would turn out to be a very beautiful nature experience. First off, each view was so different, it was as if one spot on the reserve would represent a different place in the world. We would see seals on one place, whales on another, and many different birds on multiple reserves. We would be taking multiple pictures at each reserve because there each reserve would display something completely different from the others. Additionally, aside from the mesmerizing observations we had seen, there were so many trails to walk through. The trails were long-lasting, and would have parts where you may have had to climb on top of rocks in order to get the best views. It was like we were being rewarded for completing these lengthy trails. That definitely made the reserve such a bizarre adventure, but I would not go back and change this moment, since I really did adore this experience.

When my friends and I had returned from the reserve, we decided to reflect on the vacation we just had. We discussed how each place we had visited gave us such enriching viewpoints. We all saw each spot we visited in different ways, but still thought very highly of the Each place we explored felt so perfect, and this led to us coming to a conclusion that this vacation truly was flawless. We came to a realization that the world around us can be so pretty, if we really look into what we view, and not take it for granted. We did this throughout our whole time in Seaside, and it made it an astounding occurrence for us.

The multiple trips I took when visiting Seaside created the perfect vacation for me. The vivid and delightful sights I saw from Cannery Row, Carmel Beach, and Point Lobos, created many  fond memories in my head that will last with me for a long time, which really goes to show how superb the Seaside experience was for me.