 Pacific
Grove
"P.G.," located at the northernmost
tip of Monterey Peninsula, is a charming town of Victorian
homes and old-fashioned charm.
"America's last home town" has maintained a certain old-fashioned charm
that appeals to those seeking respite from the busy world. Gracious old Victorian
homes recall another time. Locals still take time to chat in their favorite cafes.
And each year, the monarch butterflies return to "Butterfly Town, USA" in
a glorious display of autumnal splendor.
The Point Piños Lighthouse is
the oldest continuously operating lighthouse on the
West Coast. Open to the public Thursday through Sunday
from 1-4 pm, its steady light continues to guide sailors
safely through the bay.
Victorian-era homes are part of the charm of Pacific
Grove. Built as retreats for Methodists in the 1880s,
they vary from grand to homey. Look for the plaques designating
historic houses—they list the name of the original
owner and date of construction.
The Museum of Natural History is one of the finest of
its size in the country. A life-size sculpture of a gray whale outside
the museum invariably beckons to children to come and take a ride. Inside,
exhibits tell the story of native plants, wildlife and the region's original
inhabitants.
| Butterfly
Town, USA |
| From October
to February, between 40,000 and 60,000 Monarch
butterflies visit Pacific Grove on their annual
migration to Canada. Each year's flock is called "rabble" and
they are the great-great grandchildren of the previous
year's migrating flock. There is a Butterfly Parade
each year to celebrate the brilliantly dressed
visitors, and interfering with or molesting the
butterflies can cost the offender $1000! |
 Monterey
Historic Monterey is located at the southernmost
curve of the beautiful Monterey Bay.
Walking the streets of Monterey on the Path of History is
a journey back through time. Old adobes have been lovingly restored to
recall the days when our city was capital of the Spanish territory of California,
as have those historic buildings dating from Monterey’s time as California’s
first state capital. The history of Monterey as a sea town is evident at Cannery
Row, Fisherman's Wharf and the Monterey
Bay Aquarium. The Maritime Museum houses a complete
Visitors Information Center that's open every day. Photos and exhibits
depict Monterey's seafaring heritage.
The Monterey Jazz Festival draws
accomplished musicians from all over the globe. It's
the oldest jazz festival in the world. Veterans and
young artists play during the three-day, twelve-concert
extravaganza to the delight of patrons, many of whom
come year after year.
Mazda Raceway at Laguna Seca is home
to five major racing events including the World Superbike
Championships and the Honda Grand Prix. Top-name drivers
and cyclists have maneuvered its twists and turns to
the vocal accompaniment of excited spectators.
| Wonders of
the Deep |
| Monterey
Bay National Marine Sanctuary covers 5300 square
miles. The most extensive kelp forest in the nation
is home to sea otters, seals, shorebirds, squid,
sardines and many other species. 10,000 feet down
lies the undersea Monterey Canyon. It's grander
than the Grand Canyon and is the habitat of strange
sea creatures and tiny "monsters," many
of which can be seen at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. |
 Cannery
Row
Located on Monterey Bay between the breakwater
and the Pacific Grove border, it's a vibrant area with
a colorful past.
Home to more than 200 galleries, shops, wine-tasting rooms, restaurants,
hotels and inns, Cannery Row was immortalized in Cannery Row and Sweet
Thursday by novelist John Steinbeck. A bust of the Pulitzer Prize-winning
novelist overlooks Steinbeck Plaza. Steinbeck fans can
visit the writer's favorite spots of the 1930s on a walking tour that also
takes them past a bust of Steinbeck?s great friend, Ed ?Doc? Ricketts.
A charming local tradition is the small bouquet of flowers placed in Doc's
hands every day.
The Monterey Bay Aquarium occupies
the site of the former Hovden Cannery. But instead
of canning fish, the goal of the Aquarium is to protect
the bay, offering the visitor an exquisite view of
the abundance of mammals, fish and plants that populate
Monterey's waters. A visit to the Aquarium must include
the three-story kelp forest, the hands-on touch pools,
and the sea otter exhibit—but don't be surprised
if you can't see it all in one visit: more than 6500
live creatures fascinate children and adults throughout
the Aquarium.
Visitors aged nine and under love to interact with exhibits
at Splash Zone, where the penguins always draw a cheer.
Two new special exhibits highlight delicate and rare
seahorses and endangered species; the dazzling Jellies:
Living Art opens in April 2002.
| Tins of Gold |
| From the
1920s to the 1940s, an estimated 250,000 tons of
sardines were processed annually. Monterey became
the sardine capital of the world and ranked third
in total tonnage of catch among the world's fishing
ports. In the 1940s, the sardines disappeared.
Was it changes in currents, polluted waters or
overfishing that caused the disappearance of the
sardines? No one knows for certain. |
 Fisherman's
Wharf
Located off Del Monte Avenue in Monterey are
two separate wharves. Both are open to the public.
Fisherman's Wharf and Wharf #2 were once at the center of the city's history.
Seafood restaurants, fish markets, and candy shops fill the air with delicious
smells. There are art galleries and a theater. Charter boat companies offer
diving, whale watching and sightseeing tours. Commercial fishing boats
still unload the day's catch at Wharf #2, while gulls call, seals bark,
and sea lions bellow from the Coast Guard Pier. Fishermen can charter boats
to try their luck out on the bay.
Picturesque Monterey Harbor bustles with life and the present is never
far from the past. Though modern boats have taken the place of steamships,
the aura of old Monterey remains. Commodore John Drake Sloat raised the
American flag here in 1846. From the mid-1800s to the early 1900s, the
harbor was the site of a booming cargo and whaling industry. Today, visitors
can experience Monterey's past as they tour the harbor.
The Custom House is a historic landmark across from
the entrance to Fisherman's Wharf. Through this adobe building, goods
from all over the world passed on their way to other parts of California.
Today, you may meet an organ-grinder and his monkey, recalling days gone
by.
| Fish and Ships |
| Fisherman’s Wharf was
built in 1846. Trading vessels moored and unloaded goods on the docks
after the long journey around "the Horn." Sailors, anxious
customers, and dealmakers all gathered at the wharf to check out
the latest arrivals. Later, the fishing industry thrived. Sardines,
salmon, ling cod, squid and other catch were so abundant that a second
wharf was built. |
 Seaside
and Sand City
These two neighbors offer visitors a wealth of shopping, snacking
and beach-combing opportunities, backed up by reasonably priced accommodations.
Busy and bustling, the residential and commercial towns of Seaside and
Sand City are reinventing themselves at a great pace. They share very easy
beach access, and some of the sunniest weather on our sometimes foggy Peninsula.
Seaside is the Peninsula's most populous, and perhaps
most diverse, community. Its inland hills were once the home of the U.
S. Army base of Fort Ord, until its closure in 1993; now, the Bayonet
and Black Horse golf courses are open to the public. Surrounding a blue-domed
Russian Orthodox church, the tidy little Laguna Grande Park hosts neighborhood
picnics as well as a jumping, jiving music festival every September.
Waterside Sand City is an anomaly however you look
at it. With fewer than 1500 residents, its square footage of shopping
space out-classes many larger cities with ease. The Sand Dollar Shopping
area and new Edgewater on Monterey Bay center feature a book and coffee
shop, pet shop, Costco, supermarket, clothing stores and eateries galore.
| Seaside's Founding Father |
Dr. L.D. Roberts, founder of
the City of Seaside, moved to the Peninsula in 1887. He bought his
brother's ranch, subdivided it and named the city, Seaside. He founded
the Post Office there and served as its postmaster for 42 years.
He served for 36 on the School Board and for 20 years on the County
Board of Supervisors.
|
| The Sands of Time |
| The dunes of Sand City are ancient, dating back
to the Pleistocene era. When the last ice sheets melted between 15,000
and 6,000 years ago, the current dune system stabilized and the Pacific
Ocean receded, leaving the magnificent and constantly shifting dunes
visitors see today. |
 Marina
Buffered from the bay by lofty sand dunes, Marina is soaring into
the new century as the youngest of the county's cities.
Change is everywhere in Marina. New resorts with spa services and elegant
accommodations stand beside Marina's clean, comfortable motels, campgrounds
and RV parks. The newest member of the California State University system, California
State University-Monterey Bay, opened in the fall of 1995.
Nature lovers enjoy Marina's numerous parks and recreation facilities.
8,000 acres of Bureau of Land Management terrain is open to the public
for mountain biking, horseback riding and hiking. Interpretive signs
at Marina State Beach help visitors discover the unique
plants and animals that inhabit the dunes.
The International Festival of the Winds takes over the dunes every Mother's
Day weekend, with an array of hang-gliders, paragliders, wind-sculptures
and kites. (Year-round, the beachfront hang-gliding establishment offers
lessons and rentals for novices, too.) If you have loftier ambitions,
Marina?s pocket-sized airport offers sightseeing, helicopter, and skydiving
flights, and in October, vintage planes converge for the Marina Air Faire.
| A Garden of Sculpture |
| Stroll between magnificent groves of live oaks
and coastal chaparral to see original sculptures by local and world-renowned
artists at the new Sculpture Habitat. If the process
of sculpting in metal fascinates you, stop in at the nearby Monterey
Sculpture Center, where artists can bring their creations
to be cast in bronze. |
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