Times to avoid?

I know there seems to be something big going on in Monterey almost every weekend. We are thinking about the August or September time frame for our next visit. Regardless of the timing we would plan on spending around 9 (not a typo; 9) nights in Monterey. Arriving on like a Thursday staying through until the following Saturday when we would red eye it back to the east coast. We%26#39;ll want to avoid things like the Pebble Beach golf tournament (I know it was last week), the Jazz festival, Laguna Seca races - big stuff like that if at all possible. I have not found a good calendar of events that I can rely on. Anyone who can help?

Times to avoid?

Hi pa. This calendar of events is quite good:

http://www.monterey.com/mc6/mc6_aug2008.html

Just click on the month in question. It will be a while, of course, before the 2009 calendar is available, but the major events are generally the same weekend (e.g., third weekend in August, etc.) each year. A big one in August is the Concours d%26#39;Elegance, and September the Jazz Festival. Laguna Seca has a few events.

Times to avoid?

Thanks, PG. That helps.

I probably should have been more specific but you got the intention. I was not talking about events to avoid rather I meant times to avoid when there are big events that one is not particularly interested in. But you got that.

My first visit (a business conference) started the Monday after the Jazz festival. We came in on the Saturday. Fortunately we had a place to stay but very busy. Last year it was the GP Moto. Again very busy and I met a bit of reservation resistance a full year in advance because hotels block out those weekends. After emphasizing the point that I wasn%26#39;t looking for a night or two but a full week, they finally relented.

So I just figure it is best to avoid those weekends if not attending the event. But that%26#39;s just me. Unfortunately, the week plus that I was interested in in August (straddles our anniversary) would be the weekend of the Concours.

I assume the Concours is a really big event? Lots of people coming in? There certainly appears to be a lot going on and almost all week.

Hi. Do your schedules require you to make the trip in the summer? If you could wait until after the Jazz Festival, you could come the last week in Sept. or in October, which is generally a very nice month, weather-wise. It%26#39;s hard to say whether the Councours is as big a draw as some of the other events, but it does seem to attract a lot of people. If you%26#39;re looking for a laid-back time and few crowds, it%26#39;s best to avoid summer, or at very least the big event weekends.

';you could come the last week in Sept. or in October, which is generally a very nice month, weather-wise';

How ironic. Our first choice was (and secretly mine still is) the week after the Jazz Festival. I am thinking about (in 2009, of course) flying in the Thursday after the festival and staying through Saturday 10/3 taking the red eye back that night.

My wife is less sure of the timing even though every year up to this one, we have traveled to Maine for a week in September (this year we are going in June).

Main ';problem'; is with the cats (we have 5 of them). Our live-at-home, adult, full-time student with a full-time job son is the surrogate care giver. As we learned last September, it is tough for him to care for the cats the way we do when he is gone from 7:30am until 10:30pm. He did it and everything was fine but my wife thinks it would be better to travel before he returns to school for the Fall semester. More than you wanted to know I am sure.

That said, I%26#39;d still much rather travel in the fall for the reasons you mention. We have time to decide. I just don%26#39;t want to hit a big weekend if I can help it.

As you can tell from the photo, I%26#39;m a cat lover (I%26#39;ve got 2, but Audrey, the cat in the photo, is the size of two all by herself)--so I do understand your dilemma. I hope you can work it out.

My 1 1/2 cats (don%26#39;t ask) do just fine on their own when I%26#39;m away from home. But I understand your dilemma. Have you thought of hiring a pet sitter to check on them during the day while your son is at school/work?

*** My 1 cat%26#39;s name is Kibbles, hence the moniker****