It Happened In Monterey

Mom and Dad came to visit me in San Francisco! Neither of them had been to Bay Area before, so we had a great week of exploring together. The first weekend that they were in town, we planned a trip down the coast to see a bit more of the area. They picked me up after the Sunday matinee and whisked me off to Monterey!

Our home base for the get-away was the Gosby House, a bed and breakfast in Pacific Grove. Pacific Grove is the town at the point of the Monterey Peninsula and home to Vivolo's Chowder House where the three of us each had one of the best bowls of clam chowder we'd ever had. My friend, Jeff Brewer, recommended the place and we were all grateful. The chowder is served in a bread bowl that has been hollowed out, rubbed with garlic, sprinkled with cheese and toasted before the chowder is poured in. AMAZING.

We arrived in Pacific Grove in time to check-in, get dinner and catch sunset on the beach:

Dad and a Pacific Grove Sunset

Bed and breakfasts aren't always my thing, but the turn-down service at the Gosby House was quite nice

The next day, we set about exploring the peninsula. The first item on our agenda was the famous 17 Mile Drive around Pebble Beach. In addition to being the site of one of the most famous golf courses in the world, Pebble Beach is a gated community situated on the southern coast of the Monterey Peninsula. The drive circles the community, hugging the coastline for much of its length. The views are often spectacular. Along the way, we spotted lots of wildlife: Harbor Seals, Sea Lions, Black-Tailed Deer and California Ground Squirrels.

The Lone Cypress stands on a small, rocky promontory along the Pebble Beach coastline and has been adopted as the symbol of Pebble Beach

Dad, Mom & the Lone Cypress

Several Harbor Seals were basking in the weak sunlight at Cypress Point

From Pebble Beach, we continued southward along the coast into Carmel-By-The-Sea. We had a nice Italian lunch in Carmel and did some window shopping before we found the Carmel Mission. The Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo is another of California's original Spanish Colonial Missions. The Carmel Mission was founded in 1770 and named for the Archbishop of Milan, Italy: Charles Borromeo. The mission was destroyed in the early 1800's as the Catholics withdrew and privateers sacked the mission. Father Junipero Serra, the Franciscan Friar in charge of the California Missions is buried on the grounds of the beautifully restored mission that is once again an active parish church.

The Carmel Mission as seen from the courtyard

The interior of the Carmel Mission Chapel

Back in Carmel-By-The-Sea, we hit the beach. Carmel Beach City Park is a beautiful white sand crescent against the Pacific Ocean. It would be beautiful enough on its own, but it's also the site of a Frank Lloyd Wright designed home. The Walker Residence is perched on the beach jutting into the Pacific near the end of the city beach. The house and the setting are a perfect match.

Carmel Beach City Park

The Walker Residence - the living room's roof is cantilevered to allow for unobstructed window views in more than 180 degrees. The house really does seem to grow from the cliff.

Monday night, we returned to Pacific Grove for dinner and a movie. We wandered through the Pacific Grove farmers market sampling the amazing variety of local produce that's available in Northern California before we snagged some burgers and settled in to see Up. I loved Up. Such a moving and human story told in such a beautiful way.

Tuesday morning, we visited the Pacific Grove waterfront one last time. Just off-shore, several harbor seals were resting on the rocks and the tide pools right on the beach were full of sea life. Starfish, crabs, mussels and anemones all made their homes on the rocks.

So much life at the edges of the ocean

Dad spotted this Harbor Seal on Monday morning and we were happy to see him again on the same rock on Tuesday

From the beach, we finally visited Monterey itself. We wandered Cannery Row and scoured the waterfront for the elusive Sea Otter. While we didn't spot any otters, we found plenty of souvenirs!

Cannery Row - Monterey, CA - named for the Steinbeck-era sardine canneries that once lined this ocean-front street

En route back to San Francisco, we made a stop at Big Basin Redwoods State Park. Big Basin is the oldest of California's State Parks. Its nearly 11,000 acres are dominated by the old-growth Coast Redwoods. Coast Redwoods are the tallest growing species of trees on earth. The trees at Big Basin were humbling. Several trees in Big Basin are more than 300' tall and more than 16' in diameter. To think that these very trees have been growing for, literally, 1,500 years was almost too much to consider.

Dad & Mom inside the hollow core of a living Redwood tree. The tree was hollowed out by fire, but the more than 200' tall tree lives on!

Dad and Mom with a cross-section of a fallen redwood. Mom's thumb marks the tree's ring that indicates the portion of the tree's lifespan that corresponds with hers.

We left Big Bend and I returned to work at the Golden Gate, but my adventures with my parents in San Francisco were far from over!

JV