Carmel / Monterey / Pacific Grove /
Big Sur:
I was so lucky to live in Monterey, California when I was young. Although we’ve visited the Monterey Bay area
several times, we always enjoy returning.
This trip we visited some favorite haunts as well as explored new places.
Pacific Grove is on the tip of the Monterey Peninsula and it offers
some of the most beautiful scenery. We
drove to Lover’s Point to watch the waves crash into the rocks.
This rock feature is called Kissing Rock:
The area is also known for it’s Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary, so we got
a kick out of this Butterfly house in Pacific Grove:
The 17 Mile Drive from Pacific Grove, through Pebble Beach, to Carmel
is always fun. We saw a rock covered with
sunbathing sea lions.
This is where the famous Lone Cypress stands.
Carmel is such a fun little village, very walkable (if you like hills)
and full of shops and restaurants.
This
trip we visited the Carmel Mission, the favorite mission and final resting
place of Father Junipero Serra.
Junipero Serra died in this small room on August 28, 1784.
What do I say about Big Sur?
It’s a bit like Marfa, Texas – you have to visit it to get it!
In Carmel there is this very unusual home made of stone with a stone
tower. For those of you familiar with
the poet Robinson Jeffers, you may have heard of his house in Carmel, Tor House. We were lucky to take a tour of
the house and Hawk Tower, also built by Jeffers. Our guide read excerpts from Jeffers’ poems
that added to the mystic and setting of the spaces. Pictures are not allowed inside, so please
check out the Tor House website and the
video documentary about Jeffers.
San Mateo / San Carlos / Half Moon
Bay:
Our next stop is the San Mateo / San Carlos area. This is on the Peninsula between San Francisco and San
Jose. One morning we drove a scenic
highway through Big Basin Redwoods State Park to Half Moon Bay. This was our first glimpse of the beautiful
redwood trees that grow in northern California.
Near San Mateo there is a public monument that was built in 1934 to
celebrate the completion of a project to bring fresh drinking water from the Sierra
Nevada mountains to the Bay area. This classically designed monument is called the Pulgas Water Temple.
It’s certainly monumental!
I’ve always thought that this was a strange monument. But then, it’s not the only unusual thing we
found in this area!
Father Junipero Serra is often represented in various ways in
California because of his founding of missions; however, this particular statue
of him at a highway rest area was a bit overwhelming!
I think he’s pointing to the Pacific Ocean (not sure why) and he looks
like a lumpy mess of clay!
A fun, quirky theme we have seen in several places are unusually shaped
bicycle racks! I thought this one was
cleverly designed:
I’ve saved the best for last! We
saw a house that is locally referred to as the “Flintstone House”!
The original owners built this crazy house and when they decided to
sell is a few years ago, no one wanted to buy it. Get this – it was rented out as an Airbnb
space for a while! Well, finally a
“match” was found and new owners bought the house. They have since taken the Flintstone theme to
a new level!
Just learned that the neighbors are not too happy. ☹
We crossed the San Mateo Bridge to continue our journey through
northern California….
