Monterey
Having visited Monterey, California quite a few times beginning 30 years ago, I have always thought of it as an elevated tourist town, its major claims to fame, in my mind, being its costal location, its famous aquarium and the legend that was created in the pages of a John Steinbeck novel.
Over a decade had passed since I had last been to Monterey, this would be my husband’s first time. As I planned our upcoming trip, researching things to do in each location we would encounter on our way south on the Pacific Coast Highway, I struggled to find things for us to see in Monterey. We ended up just driving through, finding the next town, Pacific Grove (click here), to be much more impressive.
17-Mile Drive
What turned out to be even more than I remembered, however, was the 17-Mile Drive, a scenic road with stunning coastal views on the Monterey Peninsula.
Bird Rock
We entered the Drive via the Pacific Grove gate. After paying the $12.25 fee, we quickly arrived at Bird Rock. In the spring, which is when we were there, the rock is covered in cormorants and western gulls building nests and raising their young. There may also be California sea lions and harbor seals. More athletic than seals, sea lions can climb to the top of the rock to nap. Mature male sea lions leave in the spring for hunting grounds to the south.
The surrounding area is exactly what you would expect from “Monterey.” (See photo above this story’s title.) The rocks not only create the shore, they also rise up from the deep blue Pacific Ocean. Contrasting white caps pepper the water as do explosions of white when a wave makes impact with a rock.
Beautiful Gates . . . And Homes
Continuing on the 17-Mile Drive, we passed beautiful homes, in many cases we could only see the large gate close to the road, perhaps a roof line would peek out over its top in the distance.
Sea Pups
At one point a long covered length of fence blocked the view. “I wonder what is going on there?,” I asked Mister Rain. “There’s a sign that says it’s a sea pup area,” he explained.
Lone Cypress
The iconic Lone Cypress is a Monterrey cypress, this species of trees was once near extinction. Only growing naturally in this area, they can reach 70 feet in height and live 300 years. Their popularity may have saved them, they are now planted in California and throughout the world. This solitary cypress has survived the test of time for 250 years, withstanding the salt air and countless storms.
The Lone Cypress is used by Pebble Beach Golf Course as its official symbol and logo.
Pebble Beach Market
My husband loves to read local newspapers when we travel. It is always a crapshoot today with the print medium becoming more extinct than the Cypress tree but we stopped at the Pebble Beach Market to see what their selection of papers, if any, was.
The other reason we wanted to go into this store was to see how the other half lives . . . and buys groceries. The market had no newspapers (nor any celebrity sightings) but did have a nice deli to get sandwiches. We completely forgot to check prices!
Pebble Beach Golf Course
One of the main attractions during our California adventure for Mister Rain was this famous golf course, someday he would like to play a round here. For now he was able to see portions of the course along the Drive, beginning with the Pro Shop. I waited in the car, having been there before, while he looked for a polo shirt and took in the ambiance of this place he has wanted to visit for decades. He came out with a bag, reporting that he had been able to see the first tee of the course. Watching some guys tee off and taking some pictures, his initial thoughts were that he expected the course to be be grander, larger and more wide open.
Following the road south, we were able to catch additional glimpses of the course through the trees and residences along the way. Nearing the end of the 17-Mile Drive, he saw a guard house stationed down a side road. My husband pulled up to its open door, telling the woman working there that he would turn around. “Are you on the 17-Mile Drive?,” she inquired. “We are,” Mister Rain answered. “Go ahead and drive around,” she invited. We both thanked her, moving on to pass another hole of the course and what looked like a large event space.
Heading back once we reached the end of the rather short road, my husband realized that we were at the 17th Hole. Not too far in the distance the Pacific Ocean bordered the course. No one was golfing here at the moment, so he got out of the car, walking onto the green and posing for a picture. Not long after, a foursome arrived in their cart. “How are you hitting them?,” Mister Rain asked. “Okay,” was the shaky response. “What did you each pay to play?,” my husband wanted to know. “$650,” the one man shared. “Worth it?,” Mister Rain questioned. Without an inkling of doubt or second of hesitation one of the men spoke for them all. “Abso-golfing-lutely.”
Sixteen holes after his first impression of Pebble Beach Golf Course my husband still felt it was not what he had expected. It was not the unicorn he had anticipated, it was more of a champion race horse. In its defense, a good amount of the course was not visible from the road.
None of this mattered, though. The magic of Pebble Beach Golf Course’s and its location was the furthest thing from a disappointment to Mister Rain. Unlike my husband I am not a golfer. But even I, of the windmill type of golf course, was thrilled to be here.
A little shy of two hours after entering the 17-Mile Drive, we reached the Carmel gate. During the nine days we spent in California, Mister Rain drove our rental car 1,300 fantastic-filled miles. Though the 17 miles we traveled on the Monterey Peninsula were a tiny portion of that distance, they were epic.
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