Carmel on my mind.  Yesterday I finished The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. Hard travelin’ times in California for those folks. The book is truly a stunning experience. Getting myself down to the sea seemed a good recovery strategy from living with the Joads this past week.

Seeing Frank Lloyd Wright’s first home design in Oak Park and the Robie House in Hyde Park at the University of Chicago campus motivated me to take a closer look at Frank Lloyd Wright house design for the Walker Residence, currently a private home in Carmel, California. The past few May days have been glorious around these parts. Big Sur for some more nature time is on my agenda today. Read More…

I like to talk up the place I live – the Monterey Peninsula of Central Coast California. This is another one of my posts that has nothing to do with hotels. This post does share some of the great attractions of coming to the Monterey area.

The Monterey Peninsula is a place with nearly 200 hotels in three fairly small towns in Carmel (pop. 4,000), Pacific Grove (15,000) and Monterey (28,000)where the total year-round population is less than 50,000 people. Seaside, Marina, Del Rey Oaks, Carmel Valley and Pebble Beach add to the surroundings to give the area a real population a bit over 100,000 people. Salinas is a city of nearly 150,000 people that you might think would encroach on the Monterey Peninsula. Despite over 200 years of development in this area of the California Central Coast, the Fort Ord National Monument, agricultural fields, and hills separate the Monterey Peninsula from the Salinas Valley and the rest of the world. Read More…

Bruce Springsteen released the album The Ghost of Tom Joad in 1995. The album was his first album (Billboard highest rank #11) not to reach the Top 10 albums on Billboard 200 after a streak of eight consecutive Top 5 albums.

The highway is alive tonight
But nobody’s kiddin’ nobody about where it goes
I’m sittin’ down here in the campfire light
Searchin’ for the ghost of Tom Joad

- Bruce Springsteen “The Ghost of Tom Joad” Read More…

This is day three of the 32nd annual Steinbeck Festival. As I read and hear more writings from Salinas native John Steinbeck (1902-1968), I recognize my surroundings here in Monterey County through descriptive words from decades past that still apply to the places and people of the region today.

The Salinas Valley is 100 miles of premium agricultural land in about a ten mile wide strip of valley land sitting between the Gabilan Mountains to the east and Santa Lucia Mountains of Big Sur to the west. The center of Monterey Bay is where the Salinas River meets the sea. Read More…

Artichokes? Yeah, we have a festival for those!

Castroville Artichoke Festival happens the weekend of May 19-20, 2012 in the little town of Castroville about 16 miles north of Monterey. This is the 53rd festival. Looks to me like the festival started in 1960, the year I was born not too many miles away from Castroville across the fields of Monterey County. Though back in 1960 some of those fields between Castroville and Monterey were artillery ranges at the former Fort Ord Army Base. Read More…

La Cuesta Encantada, or Hearst Castle as it is familiarly known, is the most renowned project by San Francisco-Oakland architect  Julia Morgan (1872-1957). She was one of two women to earn an engineering degree from University of California Berkeley in the 19th century (only two other women earned engineering degrees from 1900-1940). She was the first woman to receive a certificate in architecture from the Ecole Nationale et Speciale des Beaux-Arts Paris in 1901.

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Sunday, and final round of the 2012 AT&T National Pro-Am Golf tournament at the Pebble Beach Golf Links. This is the Monterey Peninsula where four days of gorgeous sun in the weather forecast dazzled the commentators, players, spectators and cameras with the brilliant sunlight of Thursday’s Round 1 play.

Ken Duke, one of the old guys at 42 years of age,  set a back-nine Pebble Beach Golf Links course record with an 8-under 28 score for the par 36 back-nine holes on Day 1 of the tournament. 

18th hole flag at Pebble Beach Golf Links.

This is the Monterey Peninsula and the sun faded over Pebble Beach as thick fog and drizzle covered the green grass coast for most of the past two days and the temperature dropped from upper 60s on Thursday to lower 50s on Friday and Saturday.

Pebble Beach Lodge is a place I worked for about four months before leaving the Monterey Peninsula to attend college at UC Davis. I landed a job in food service at Pebble Beach as a temp worker for the February golf tournament when it was still known as the Bing Crosby National Pro-Am Golf Championship.

The Lodge at Pebble Beach is a fine place to visit with a large outdoor patio looking out to Carmel Bay.

Even Pebble Beach must change with time and new guests. The long-time fine dining restaurant Club XIX, “Club 19”, at the Lodge closed its doors in October 2011.

Sand bunker near the sea cliff at Pebble Beach GL 18th hole.

The Lodge at Pebble Beach has hotel rooms looking out to the 18th green.

Pebble Beach is a place of natural beauty, yet there is still a constant battle with environmentalists over development plans in this private community on the southwestern portion of the Monterey Peninsula. Hotel and housing development plans in Pebble Beach require cutting down thousands of Monterey pines. The strikingly unique aspect of the scenery on the Monterey Peninsula is the abundance of Monterey pines covering the hills along the coastline. Tree covered land in an urban area is rare on the California coast.

Here are a couple of articles from Sierra Club regarding plans for hotel and golf course development at Pebble Beach in the past decade.

Pebble Beach development imperils Monterey pines (2004)

Pebble Beach to go before Coastal Commission in June (2007)

Pebble Beach denied golf course development project June 2007 by Coastal Commission (April 2008)

The June 2007 Coastal Commission ruling included this statement:

Commissioner Sara Wan said, “In my 20 years of attending the Coastal Commission’s meetings, this is the most egregious example of development trying to circumvent the Coastal Act. It amounts to wholesale destruction of the environment and destroys the essence of the Monterey pine forest.”

Looks like Pebble Beach may get a 2012 revised plan for development approved in the next few months. Ventana Sierra Club. Monterey Herald (Nov 2011).

2012 golf and celebrity fans coming to Pebble Beach to see the Woods

The crowds seem way down to me this year for the AT&T Pro Am as a casual observer of traffic patterns in the area and the visuals on TV. Supposedly there were plenty of vacancy signs in the abundant Carmel hotels.

I have not ventured into Pebble Beach to see the tournament this year. My past experiences going to the AT&T convinced me golf is a sport best watched on TV.

Tiger Woods is on this plaque two times for 2000 and 2001 Pro-Am Team wins. Tiger only won the AT&T golf tournament once as the PGA winner in 2000. Phil Mickelson has won the AT&T Pro Am three times in 1998, 2005 and 2007. Dustin Johnson is going for a three-peat in 2012.

Charlie Wi starts Sunday Feb 12, 2012 final round with a 4-shot lead over Tiger Woods who sits in 3rd place. I’ll be watching Tiger Woods today. If you are watching too, you might want to focus your eyes on the trees behind the Woods.

The Monterey pines are an integral component of the beauty of this place we call the Monterey Peninsula.

The Inn at Spanish Bay is a Pebble Beach golf course resort built near the Pacific Grove town line. A public access boardwalk from Sunset Drive runs along the sand dunes above Asilomar State Beach to Spanish Bay. 17-Mile Drive and Sunset Drive form the road boundaries of Spanish Bay Resort on the Monterey Peninsula.

Google Maps showing Spanish Bay Resort, Pebble Beach at lower left of image. [click on image to open full-size].

This is not a hotel review of The Inn at Spanish Bay. This is another post in my Loyalty Traveler series “At Home He’s a Tourist” where I share the sights of the Monterey Peninsula from my walks around local communities near my home.

Walking to Spanish Bay, Pebble Beach

Asilomar State Beach and Sunset Drive see a steady stream of cars on any evening with clear skies as locals, workers, tourists, surfers and stoners come down to the wild western coastline to watch sunset.

Pebble Beach has a $9.25 car fee to enter the gates into the private residential lands of this scenic and exclusive southwestern point of the Monterey Peninsula. The famous Lodge at Pebble Beach can be seen from Carmel Beach, but natural barriers make it difficult to access the Lodge walking along the coastline. And climbing up the bluffs to the Pebble Beach Golf Course is certainly frowned upon.

The Inn at Spanish Bay is easily approached by foot or bicycle and there is no entry fee required into Pebble Beach for walkers and cyclists. Spanish Bay Resort was developed in the late 1980s during the years my wife and I lived away from the Monterey Peninsula while going to college and working as teachers in small fishing villages in Maine and north coast California in Humboldt County.

Resort development in Pebble Beach is tough to get through environmental impact reviews. Just recently a project to expand The Lodge at Pebble Beach, the Inn at Spanish Bay and a new build hotel resort for Cypress Point have made headway.

Read More…

Lovers Point is one of the most popular coastline destinations in Pacific Grove. The park offers visitors a beach, sand volleyball court, kids wading pool (seasonal) and a rocky outcrop for climbing around.

Lovers Point park, Pacific Grove, California.

Sand volleyball court at Lovers Point, Pacific Grove.

There used to be two restaurants next to the park, but both are currently out of business. This is some of the most expensive real estate in the area and the restaurant business does not seem to thrive in the Lovers Point location. There is a snack bar stand by the beach and picnic tables in the grassy area of the park. There are public access toilets in the grassy field.

Picnic tables in Lovers Point Park.

Lovers Point Park is one terminus of the ten mile Monterey Bay Coastal Trail offering a dedicated paved path for pedestrians and cyclists from Pacific Grove to Marina along the southern side of Monterey Bay.

Lovers Point Park is a 4-acre park at the end of 17th Street in Pacific Grove. This is one of two grassy landscaped parks on the coastline of Pacific Grove. Berwick Park is located on Ocean View Blvd. between 9th Street and Carmel Ave. Curbside parking is unmetered and unrestricted alongside Ocean View Blvd. adjacent to the park. This is a popular stretch of parking real estate for visitors to Cannery Row and Monterey Bay Aquarium who do not want to pay parking garage fees or $1.50 per hour parking meter fee to park in Monterey.  The Aquarium is less than ten minutes walk from Berwick Park.

Berwick Park, Pacific Grove, California

'Life at the Top' Sea Otter Sculpture by Pacific Grove artist Christopher Bell (1994)

The Pacific Grove history mural is located on a wall beside the Monterey Bay Coastal Trail adjacent to Berwick Park. This is one of the best locations in Pacific Grove for viewing big waves from the comfort of a bench and the safety of elevated ground.

Pacific Grove wave action Jan 20, 2010

The water is usually much calmer and Lovers Point is one of the few places where it is reasonably safe to let children wade in the water. The water here is cold and few people swim in the ocean for more than a couple of minutes without wearing a wetsuit. Generally the children are most likely to play in the water while adults watch from the warmth of the sandy beach.

Lovers Point Beach (May 2010)

Lovers Point jetty with Monterey and Mt. Toro in distance Jan 2012.

Lovers Point has an east facing view that is brilliantly sunny during the day. The positional location in winter means the sun dips behind the hills dividing Pacific Grove and Pebble Beach, leaving the beach in shadows in late afternoon.

May is an ideal month to visit the area when iceplant flowers bloom and the seaside view brightens with dazzling displays of color.

Pacific Grove iceplant flowers in May.

Major storm waves seen from Lovers Point January 2010.

Lovers Point stormy weather big wave surfer - Jan 19, 2010.

Lovers Point is a beautiful location on the Monterey Bay shoreline to relax, spend time in the sun or fog and enjoy the seaside life of Pacific Grove.

Butterfly sculpture in Lovers Point Park, Pacific Grove, California.

Tide pooling during low tide at Lovers Point January 2012.

Pacific Grove and Pebble Beach are the western front of the Monterey Peninsula. Pacific Grove is the northwestern
portion and Pebble Beach is the southwestern portion of the arm of forested land reaching out into the Pacific Ocean of Monterey Bay.

Pacific Grove aerial photo.

This photo was taken during a flight out of Monterey Airport (MRY) in 2010 and shows Pacific Grove with the Stanford University Hopkins Marine Station at the bottom. Monterey Bay Aquarium is just out of the picture. Lovers Point in Pacific Grove is center right. The beaches at top are by Spanish Bay Resort, Pebble Beach. Asilomar and Point Pinos in upper right are in the fog.

If there is one word to describe Pacific Grove as a culture, perhaps it is “traditional” in the sense of being hometown USA traditional Americana culture with a uniquely California flavor. This is a town where the school kids participate and march in the civic parades and festivals. Pacific Grove is nature’s garden by the sea where the surf meets the rocks. Ocean View Blvd., past the Monterey Bay Aquarium is the primary drive, walk, cycling route for scenic views on the Monterey Peninsula.

Monterey Bay Coastal Trail in Pacific Grove.

Pacific Grove calls itself Butterfly Town USA. I have seen pictures of Monarch butterflies in the millions in Mexico. I have never seen more than a few Monarch butterflies at one time in Pacific Grove. There are supposedly about 25,000 butterflies that arrive in October.

Do not molest the Monarch Butterfly in Pacific Grove.

While you might not see butterflies walking the coastline of Pacific Grove, there is a guarantee you will see many types of marine mammals and birds. I have never been to another environment where there are more sea mammals by the shore in a populated area than around the Monterey Peninsula. A person taking time for gazing at the sea along the five miles from Monterey Fisherman’s Wharf to Cannery Row to Lovers Point in Pacific Grove and around Point Pinos to Asilomar Beach
is guaranteed to see California sea lions, harbor seals, sea otters and cormorant birds. Most days you will see California brown pelicans flying overhead and gliding above the waves. There is a chance you will see deer in the woods and on Pacific Grove golf course.

If you are lucky you may see porpoises and whales. Most of the whales I see in California each year are sighted from
Asilomar Beach in Pacific Grove between December and April when the gray whales migrate south in the fall and winter months to Baja Mexico and travel north again in the spring months. The past month has offered the most gray whale sightings I’ve ever seen from the beaches of Pacific Grove and the LA Times reported December 2011 was the most gray whales spotted for three decades in southern California.

Hopkins Marine Station

Just to the west of Monterey Bay Aquarium is Stanford University’s Hopkins Marine Station in Pacific Grove. This is the area that was once known as China Point before the Chinese were relocated around 1906 to present day Cannery Row. The Hopkins Marine Station is restricted access. The beach at Hopkins is a marine life refuge where there are almost always dozens of harbor seals sunning themselves in the sand.

Hopkins Marine Station of Stanford University - Marine Life Refuge.

Harbor seals on beach at Hopkins Marine Station, Pacific Grove, California.

Harbor seals on the beach in Pacific Grove.

Last summer I saw porpoises playing here one day at Hopkins Marine Refuge. The picture below shows the typical summer fog pattern for Monterey Bay. The center of the Monterey Bay is frequently foggy in summer months as seen in the porpoise photo.

Porpoise leaping near Hopkins Marine Refuge (June 2011).

I live in the sunbelt area of Monterey about a mile from the sea. Typically the fog rises up from Pacific Grove to the ridge of hills dividing Monterey from Pacific Grove and does not cross down the hillside to cover Monterey.  Our microclimates on the Monterey Peninsula leave sections of Monterey with hundreds of hours more sun each year than sections of Pacific Grove less than a mile apart. Pacific Grove is one of the foggiest locations in the area since it sticks out into Monterey Bay. December and January are the months with the least hours of fog in the area.

Santa Cruz Mountains on the north side of Monterey Bay are 30 to 50 miles away.

Ocean View Blvd. in Pacific Grove offers unmetered and unrestricted free parking along most of the shoreline. This stretch of road also houses some high-end B&Bs for ocean view lodging like Martine Inn, Green Gables Inn and Seven Gables Inn.

Green Gables Inn, Pacific Grove, California.

Seven Gables Inn, Pacific Grove, California.

Monterey Bay Coastal Trail extends from Marina to Lover’s Point Pacific Grove in a dedicated bike path over ten miles in length.

Monterey Bay Coastal Trail.

The Pacific Grove section of the coastal trail has numerous benches by the shoreline for resting and gazing at the sea.

Pacific Grove, California.

A Pacific Grove history mural is located along the Monterey Bay Coastal Path between Hopkins Marine Station and Lovers Point.

The native people of this coastal area – the Rumsien Ohlone and the Esselen – lived in a world of natural beauty and abundance for thousands of years. Their way of life was drastically changed by the arrival of the Europeans. Those who survived adapted to their new world, and today, many descendants of these original people feel strong ties to their ancestors and to this land.

In 1879 Pacific Grove’s Chinatown was nearly 70 men, women and children. Within this makeshift village, located where Hopkins Marine Station now stands, the Chinese practiced their traditions, and developed the techniques of nighttime squid fishing. In 1906, a mysterious and tragic fire destroyed most of the village. The last Chinese disappeared from the village in 1907.

In 1875 Mr. David Jacks, whose substantial landholdings included a grove adjoining his Monterey property, made a legal agreement with San Francisco’s Howard Street Methodist Episcopal Church. The Pacific Grove Retreat Association was formed, and 30′ by 60′ “tenting lots” were sold, at $50 per site.

This paradise in the grove inspired the saying, “Carmel-by-the-sea, Monterey-by-the-smell, and Pacific Grove-by-God.

Pacific Grove is one of my favorite places to be when the big waves roll into town. There are benches by the sea to watch spray
entertainment on the rocks.

Pacific Grove waves (Jan 2010).

Pacific Grove waves (Jan 2010)

The waves in 2010 were something spectacular when 25+ ft. waves hit the coast of Pacific Grove. Mavericks annual big wave surf contest occurs off Half Moon Bay about 80 miles north. The Mavericks surf contest window began yesterday for the 2012 event. Not all years have big swells and the surf event was not held in 2011. When big swells arrive and perfect conditions converge on the California coast for big waves, the call goes out that Mavericks will happen with 24 hour notice to bring big wave surfers to California from around the world.

I happened to photograph the coast of Pacific Grove on the same day as the last Mavericks surf contest February 13, 2010 when the wave faces of 50+ feet were the largest in the event’s history.

Yesterday I took a photo at Point Pinos Pacific Grove when a publicized wave warning was issued for 12 to 15 ft waves making dangerous conditions for the coast of the Monterey Peninsula.

Pt. Pinos Pacific Grove with 15 ft wave warning Jan 6, 2012.

A person is standing on the rocks on the far left of picture. The day of Mavericks on February 13, 2010 also brought waves of incredible height that can be seen peaking behind these same rocks at Point Pinos, Pacific Grove.

Point Pinos Pacific Grove February 13, 2010 (same day as Mavericks Surf Contest, Half Moon Bay).

This Pacific Grove article has crashed once before when I originally posted the piece on Boarding Area December 24 and now the post is acting up again in WordPress. This post ends here by necessity as I can’t add more photos. I will follow up with more on Pacific Grove and Asilomar State Beach in a separate post.

This is the fourth post of my “At home he’s a tourist” series for locations here on the Monterey Peninsula.

Cannery Row in Monterey – 1

Cannery Row in Monterey – 2

Point Lobos Walk in Why visit Monterey and Hyatt Carmel Highlands in December? (Dec 6, 2011)

“Cannery Row in Monterey in California is a poem, a stink, a grating noise, a quality of light, a tone, a habit, a nostalgia, a dream.” – John Steinbeck – Cannery Row.

Cannery Row Stohan's Gallery and El Torito Mexican Restaurant.

Cannery Row is still somewhat of an eyesore on half the length of the street with vacant, fenced off lots on the ocean side and a large asphalt parking lot on the other side. By the the mid-1970s all the canneries had closed down. Restaurants and shops come and go and change names frequently.

Culinary Center of Monterey closed its doors in 2010.

Cannery Row Hotels

A few fine hotels have opened along Cannery Row over the past few decades with the Monterey Plaza Hotel being a leading redevelopment project for Cannery Row when it opened in 1985 one year after the Monterey Bay Aquarium on the opposite end of Cannery Row. Monterey Plaza Hotel is a member of Stash Hotel Rewards. The newest addition is The Clement Monterey InterContinental Hotel opened in 2008 and available as a Priority Club Rewards hotel at 40,000 points per night.

Read More…