Monterey and Carmel
April 25, 2013 09:15 AM
Monterey and Carmel are what I call “feel-good” places. The people, the weather, the flora, the terrain, and the ocean all come together to make it a beautiful and friendly place. Yes, it’s California-crowded and California-expensive, but it’s a cool area.
We arrived last Wednesday after a short, boring drive from Morro Bay. We settled into the Navy RV park on the grounds of the Monterey Pines Golf Course. It’s all part of the Naval Postgraduate School and the Defense Language Institute. The park is a bit primitive but suits our purpose. We aren’t here for the park; we’re here to experience the area. But the really cool thing about the park is the super-tame-and-friendly turkey that roams the grounds. She walks up and looks at you and talks, making cute little turkey sounds. She’s quite the charming bird.
Our first touristy stop was Cannery Row, made famous by Steinbeck’s novel novel of the same name. It’s pretty much a tourist trap, but fun anyway. The Monterey Aquarium is the centerpiece of the area. We planned to visit the aquarium but didn’t—terrible tourists, you know. Instead, we wandered around enjoying the great weather and the scenery, stopping at the Cannery Row Brewing Company (which doesn’t brew beer!) and having lunch at Paradiso Trattoria, a great little Italian restaurant on the water’s edge.
On Friday, we drove down the coast into Big Sur country. It’s a beautiful coastline, surprisingly remote and natural. Then, around noon, we returned back up to the coast to one of our favorite towns, Carmel by the Sea. We “discovered” Carmel in 2008 on our first fulltiming swing down the west coast and fell for it. It’s way too crowded and way too expensive, but it’s also one of the greatest little towns in the U.S. We had lunch at the Hog’s Breath Inn, once owned by Clint Eastwood. We wandered around visiting little shops, spent an hour or so on the beach, did some wine tasting, and generally enjoyed ourselves. If you haven’t experienced Carmel, put it on your bucket list.
After our day in Carmel, we had a great evening with friends from Castle Rock, CO, our former next-door-neighbors, Ron and Vicki, and their family. We truly love Ron and Vicki. They’re about the best humans you’re ever likely to run across. They and their family were in town for the Big Sur marathon. Ron, in particular, is an impressive runner. This year, he came in twelveth in his age group, quite an incredible accomplishment considering the world-class competition. Ron and Vicki—we miss you! (Unfortunately, I left my camera at home so we have no photos from the evening.)
On Sunday, we traveled upcoast to Santa Cruz to visit friends we met in Denver several years ago. Ann worked with Deb at Sports Authority and became fast friends. Ryan and I hit it off, since we’re both pilots and motorcycle riders. Ryan and Deb moved to Santa Cruz a few weeks ago and are renting a great little bungalow near the beach. We had lunch on the deck at the Seabright Brewery. Good food, great beer, great friends—it doesn’t get much better.
Our other brew pub visit was to Peter B’s Brewpub, located in the Portola Hotel near the beach in Monterey. They brew their excellent beers on site—it’s not your typical hotel pub.
Tomorrow, we head north to the Petaluma area, where we’ll park at the Coast Guard Training Base west of town. While there, we’ll celebrate Ann’s birthday (#29) and our anniversary (#24). Yeah, I married a five-year-old.
Alan
We arrived last Wednesday after a short, boring drive from Morro Bay. We settled into the Navy RV park on the grounds of the Monterey Pines Golf Course. It’s all part of the Naval Postgraduate School and the Defense Language Institute. The park is a bit primitive but suits our purpose. We aren’t here for the park; we’re here to experience the area. But the really cool thing about the park is the super-tame-and-friendly turkey that roams the grounds. She walks up and looks at you and talks, making cute little turkey sounds. She’s quite the charming bird.
Our first touristy stop was Cannery Row, made famous by Steinbeck’s novel novel of the same name. It’s pretty much a tourist trap, but fun anyway. The Monterey Aquarium is the centerpiece of the area. We planned to visit the aquarium but didn’t—terrible tourists, you know. Instead, we wandered around enjoying the great weather and the scenery, stopping at the Cannery Row Brewing Company (which doesn’t brew beer!) and having lunch at Paradiso Trattoria, a great little Italian restaurant on the water’s edge.
On Friday, we drove down the coast into Big Sur country. It’s a beautiful coastline, surprisingly remote and natural. Then, around noon, we returned back up to the coast to one of our favorite towns, Carmel by the Sea. We “discovered” Carmel in 2008 on our first fulltiming swing down the west coast and fell for it. It’s way too crowded and way too expensive, but it’s also one of the greatest little towns in the U.S. We had lunch at the Hog’s Breath Inn, once owned by Clint Eastwood. We wandered around visiting little shops, spent an hour or so on the beach, did some wine tasting, and generally enjoyed ourselves. If you haven’t experienced Carmel, put it on your bucket list.
After our day in Carmel, we had a great evening with friends from Castle Rock, CO, our former next-door-neighbors, Ron and Vicki, and their family. We truly love Ron and Vicki. They’re about the best humans you’re ever likely to run across. They and their family were in town for the Big Sur marathon. Ron, in particular, is an impressive runner. This year, he came in twelveth in his age group, quite an incredible accomplishment considering the world-class competition. Ron and Vicki—we miss you! (Unfortunately, I left my camera at home so we have no photos from the evening.)
On Sunday, we traveled upcoast to Santa Cruz to visit friends we met in Denver several years ago. Ann worked with Deb at Sports Authority and became fast friends. Ryan and I hit it off, since we’re both pilots and motorcycle riders. Ryan and Deb moved to Santa Cruz a few weeks ago and are renting a great little bungalow near the beach. We had lunch on the deck at the Seabright Brewery. Good food, great beer, great friends—it doesn’t get much better.
Our other brew pub visit was to Peter B’s Brewpub, located in the Portola Hotel near the beach in Monterey. They brew their excellent beers on site—it’s not your typical hotel pub.
Tomorrow, we head north to the Petaluma area, where we’ll park at the Coast Guard Training Base west of town. While there, we’ll celebrate Ann’s birthday (#29) and our anniversary (#24). Yeah, I married a five-year-old.
Alan
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