In November Wade and I drove to Central Coast for Thanksgiving with family. That was a lot of fun, with Bill’s special Turkey and my first time visiting this area, somewhere between San Francisco and Los Angeles. We also saw more of the area when his parents invited us to Monterery to celebrate his mom’s birthday.
There are a couple of routes north to Monterey and we took Pacific Coast Highway to Big Sur, a place I’ve always wanted to visit. So we packed up the car with a surf board, a boogie board, camera gear, Luna, and all we needed for the next few days for the three of us.
Big Sur
The Pacific Coast Highway, or Highway 1, as it names suggests, goes along the coast. Big Sur is about a 2.5-hour drive from the San Luis Obispo area. It was a beautiful drive, known to be one of the most beautiful. Since Wade drove, I took pictures and videos along the way. While Luna mostly sat on my lap as we were driving slowly around the bends along Big Sur, she found a nice perch on the surf board. At times, she returned to her secure spot in the back, beneath the surf boards. It was fun watching her watch the road and the scenery.
The face of the earth as the Creator intended it to look.
Henry Miller, who called Big Sur home from 1944 to 1962 (There is also a Henry Miller Memorial Library)
Big Sur is historically referred to the coastal wilderness south of Monterey. The Big South Country or el país grande del sur. Now, when we refer to Big Sur, it is the 90-mile area between San Simeon, where Hearst Castle is located, and Carmel. Highway One here winds along the Pacific Ocean, with Santa Lucia Mountains on the other side.
Roads were paved in the 1920s and the area got electricity about thirty years after that. There’s something about its isolated wildness. Many people are called to Big Sur.
Wade drove us to a spot near San Simeon to see the elephant seals, which are protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act. We drove past the usual spot, where it’s more crowded. Further along the way, we also stopped at Willow Creek, a spot for experienced surfers.
From Surfline:
Big Sur’s handful of spots are brutally fickle and are almost impossible to figure out unless you reside in the Big Sur region. Often that dreamy, long-interval pulse arrives with a roaring NW gale attached to it. There are days, however, when it’s possible to snatch a whiff of good waves at a few of the more consistent nooks, the first being Willow Creek, Big Sur’s southernmost surf arena and a formal recreation unit of the Los Padres National Forest.
Upon first inspection, you might think that the waves that break in front of the kelp-covered, tortoise-sized boulders of Willow Creek are too close to shore for a safe go-out. The truth is, it’s not as hazardous as it looks. The lefthander just north of the parking lot is usually best, although a wedging south peak can also turn on.
With its majestic backdrop, frigid water and huge kelp bulbs dotting the lineup, Willow is a good place to tap into Big Sur’s raw energy. Power is the name of the game here, which means that the frequent cleanup sets should be avoided whenever possible. Hollow sections exist, but you’re more apt to be surfing thunderous, carvable lefthand walls.
Willow can be the best break on the coast when the elements quit bickering and actually agree with each other, which means that it’s the staple diet for a small cadre of Big Sur waveriders. If there’s already a dense pack at the north peak, you can move into the overflow area to the south.
Pacific Grove
We stayed in Pacific Grove, in Monterey Bay. Just a couple of hours away from the Bay area, this town is a great weekend getaway or short trip year-round. It’s known for its beautiful coastline and sights such as the Monarch Sanctuary. We have one in Pismo Beach, and if you want to see the Monarch butterflies, go between November and February.
Birthday celebrations were at Fishwife, named after the first fishwife of Monterey, Mercedes Graham, née Ho’ridge. On the restaurant website, you can read about the love story of Mercedes and Nicholas and how their forbidden love led them to leave their home in Boston and find a new home in Monterey in the 1830s. Monterey was then the capital of Mexican California and it was quite a different time. According to the Fishwife website, they continue to serve the Boston Clam Chowder as Mercedes made it, her recipe passed down the generations.
The restaurant served meals outside in the tents, abiding by the restrictions at the time. It was windy and cold! Still, we had drinks like Fishwife’s Mule in copper cups. We started with crab cakes and calamari and we had fish for the main course. Fish was the reason Bill takes Cheri here and so this is why we were here celebrating her birthday. As a surprise, Wade ordered a couple of desserts – key lime pie and molten chocolate cake – and everyone sang “Happy Birthday.”
John Steinbeck & Pacific Grove
We have made our mark on the world, but we have really done nothing that the trees and creeping plants, ice and erosion, cannot remove in a fairly short time. – John Steinbeck, The Log from the Sea of Cortez
John Ernst Steinbeck (1902-1968) called a small cottage and garden in Pacific Grove home in the 1940s. Its original architecture dates back to the 1920s. This was not the first time the novelist spent time in Pacific Grove. The Steinbeck family had a summer vacation home here that John Ernst Steinbeck, Sr built in 1903. A small cottage at 147 Eleventh Street. He also stayed here at times between 1930 and 1936.
A Nobel Prize for Literature (1962) winner, John Steinbeck’s most well-known works include East of Eden and Of Mice and Men.
Published in 1939, The Grapes of Wrath won the Pulitzer Prize and was made into a movie with the same name in 1940, directed by John Ford. It was later adapted for the stage in 199.
After his separation from his first wife, Carol, John Steinbeck moved to Eardley Street in Pacific Grove. During the years here, John Steinbeck worked on Sea of Cortez and The Forgotten Village. This cottage is available for stay of 30 days minimum, bookable via AirBnB. In 1944, he and his family also lived briefly in Monterey.
He arrived in the world on February 27, 1902 at home in Salinas, California. John Steinbeck grew up in this house at the corner of Central Avenue and Stone Street. The Steinbeck House, his childhood home has passed through many people after his parents’ death and is now a restaurant. House tours are also available.
Tap Depot in Monterey
The next day we had lunch at Tap Depot with Wade’s parents and their friends. It’s part of the Dust Bowl Brewing Company, which has several locations in California. Its name is a tribute to the conditions in the 1930s that led the Tate family to move from Oklahoma to California. In 2009, a Tate descendant, Brett teamed up with Don Oliver, winner of the 2006 Samuel Adams Longshot Homebrew competition and launched their first beer, Hops of Wrath IPA. The first taproom, Downtown Taproom, opened a couple of years later.
The one we went to in Monterey, Tap Depot, opened in 2019. It’s about a 15-minute drive from where we were staying. The building was originally a train depot built in the 1870s. Located at 290 Figueroa Street, close to Fisherman’s Wharf, the Tap Depot is an easy place to meet up for lunch.
Sitting outside at the picnic benches, we had a couple of tacos from the taco truck on the premises and drinks from Tap Depot. Then we walked over to the pier. Wade’s mom wanted to show us the jellyfish. There were so, so many jellyfish. Their orange colour really stood out against the blue of the ocean.
Dust Bowl Brewing Co. Tap Depot
Old Train Station
290 Figueroa Street
Monterey, California
831 641-7002
website
El Carmelo Cemetery
Later that afternoon we walked down to the beach. The hotel is next to the El Carmelo Cemetery. Our patio leads into it. And so we cut through the park-like cemetery.
We passed by Point Pinos Lighthouse, which is part of the National Register of Historic Places. It was closed; otherwise there are guided tours inside this still-active lighthouse.
El Carmelo Cemetery has been part of Pacific Grove since the 1800s. While it’s operated by the city today, the cemetery was owned in the past by various organizations, including the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. While we were there, we watched the geese for a while. There were so many of them.
Opened from dawn to dusk, the cemetery sits like a park. Open. As the light was dropping, the trees were lit by a beautiful glow. Perhaps because it was a cemetery, we looked at the trees with different eyes. They looked like personalities, with faces and movement. Fascinating.
One night, we took a short stroll to the perimeter of the cemetery and took some interesting photographs.
Travelling with Luna was an adventure. We gave ourselves more time to check out as sometimes – often – she’d find a hiding place. This usually meant moving furniture to retrieve an unhappy cat. Still, it was a gift to be able to have her with us on these trips.
After we checked, we drove back to Asilomar. This time, with Luna in her carrier bag.
This area is the ancestral territory of the Esselen and Rumsen nations. Here sits the Asilomar State Beach. From Asilomar Natural Dune Preserve you can walk the boardwalk that is quarter of a mile long.
It was time to go, head south to Central Coast before going north, back to the Redwoods. With the warm weather – Wade was wearing shorts, it was a nice day for a long drive.