There are several different north-south conduits in California: (1) the dreaded Highway 5 and slightly easier 99, which take you quickly through the Central Valley, (2) scenic Highway 1, which hugs the coast, and (3) historic Highway 101 (El Camino Real), which roughly follows the trails of the Spanish Missions.
When I decided I would drive to BlogHer, I was determined to take one of the coastal routes back home. We don't do this often, as both routes definitely add several hours to the trip. This is one of the reasons why I decided we would include an overnight stop in Monterey.
The other reason? Monterey happens to be my favorite town in all of California. It's charming, it's small enough that you can park your car downtown and walk to just about all the places on your sightseeing list, it boasts some great restaurants and luxury hotels... and there's plenty to keep the kids interested.
"Are we going to go to the Aquarium?" my daughter asked hopefully. It's been four years since our last visit and I was happy that she had such good memories of the place. I added another night to our hotel reservation so we could visit and not feel rushed.
Monterey is a fairly easy drive from both San Francisco (about two hours) and San
Jose (roughly an hour and a half). As our starting point was the latter, and I still wanted to see some redwoods, we took Highway 17 up through the hills to Santa Cruz, before heading back south through the artichoke fields in Castroville, the picturesque dunes of Sand City and on to our destination.
(You may also fly in to Monterey Airport, which is how I used to get there on business oh, so many years ago. It's possible that it's expanded since 1998 -- but back then, all direct flights from LAX were on small commuter prop-planes. My first visit was memorable for the beauty of the approach - we came in low over the bay and I could see the foam on the white-capped waves. It was smooth and pleasant. My second visit -- in the winter -- was memorable for the wind, rain, turbulence and my fear that the flight would be my last ever. From that point on, I booked flights that stopped in San Francisco first - for some reason, those were nice, big 737's.)
By the time we located and checked into our hotel, it was 4:00 p.m. With the summer sun setting around 8:00, there was still plenty of time to explore. We headed to the bay and parked near Monterey State Historic Park, which sits on a wide plaza adjacent to the downtown business district. The city was California's capital under the flags of three different countries (Spain, Mexico and the United States) and here you can view 10 historic buildings that have survived earthquakes and economics to give us a window of what California life was like.
You can walk from the plaza all the way down to Cannery Row, the same area made famous in the comic novel by John Steinbeck. (In fact, the creators of the world famous Aquarium were greatly influenced by the work of real-life marine biologist Edward Ricketts, a friend of Steinbeck and said to be the basis for the character of "Doc." Ricketts' lab was located right next door to the defunct Hovden cannery that the Aquarium replaced.) There are also wide bicycle paths and plenty of bikes to rent for people like me who never think to bring one.
Instead, we decided to visit Old Fisherman's Wharf, once the headquarters for Chinese traders and Italian fishermen -- now, a fun magnet for tourists with its kitschy souvenir shops, purveyors of fresh salt-water taffy, and pretty good restaurants (featuring all kinds of seafood). The Wharf is also home to several fishing and whale watching tours. We were too late to take one of these (they typically go on for three hours) -- but we did purchase tickets for a 20-minute bay cruise in a glass-bottomed boat. This is actually a better bet for families with young children - the ride is mild (less chance of sea sickness) and ideal for little people with short attention spans. Cost: $10 for adults, $8 for children
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While we didn't see too much under the ship (some kelp beds, an occasional sea star), getting out into the bay gives you a great view of sea lions, sea birds, and my favorite: the cute, furry sea otters, who wrap themselves in sea weed and float on their backs. We got to see a couple of these in the distance and it's always a thrill.
Tomorrow: Our visit to the Aquarium.
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