California's Best Trips 2 - Full PDF eBook

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Pebble

Beach

CanneryRow

Monterey

Pacific

Grove

17 -Mile

Drive

Carmel-by-the-Sea

PointLobos

StateNatural

Reserve

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2

3

4

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PACIFIC

OCEAN

cm^1

#I

p1 76

lL

‚

7milesto

FG 13

1 Monterey

Working-class Monterey

is all about the sea. Start

exploring by taking

our walking tour (see

p176) of Old Monterey,

downtown’s historic

quarter, which preserves

California’s Mexican and

Spanish Colonial roots.

It’s just inland from the

salt-sprayed Municipal

Wharf II, overlooking

Monterey Bay National

Marine Sanctuary, which

protects kelp forests,

seals, sea lions, dolphins

and whales.

Less than 2 miles

northwest of downtown

via Lighthouse Ave,

Cannery Row was the

hectic, smelly epicenter

of the sardine-canning

industry, Monterey’s

lifeblood till the 1950s, as

immortalized by novelist

John Steinbeck. Today the

ecoconscious Monterey

Bay Aquarium (%831-648-

4800, tickets 866-963-9645;

http://www.montereybayaquarium.

org; 886 Cannery Row; adult/

child $33/20; h10am-5pm

or 6pm daily, extended

summer hr; Wc) puts

aquatic creatures on

educational display, from

touch-tolerant sea stars

and slimy sea slugs to

animated sea otters.

Walking south along

Cannery Row, take a few

steps up Bruce Ariss Way

to peek into the one-

room shacks of former

cannery workers. Further

south along Cannery

Row, stop at Steinbeck

Plaza (cnr Cannery Row &

Prescott Ave) to soak up bay

views and snap a photo

of yourself with a bronze

bust of the famous writer.

54 p175

The Drive » From Cannery

Row, Ocean View Blvd slowly

traces the bayfront coastline for

2.5 miles west to Point Pinos,

TRIP HIGHLIGHT

Around

Monterey &

Carmel

Tourist-choked.Cannery.Row.isn’t.actually.the.star.

attraction.on.the.Monterey.Peninsula..Much.more.

memorable.are.ocean.panoramas.caught.from.

roadside.pull-offs.on.the.edge.of.the.bay,.on.the.

hiking.trails.of.Point.Lobos.or.from.the.open-air.

decks.of.a.winter.whale-watching.boat..Historical.

roots.show.all.along.this.drive,.from.well-preserved.

Spanish.Colonial.adobe.buildings.in.downtown.

Monterey.to.Carmel’s.jewel-box.Catholic.mission.

15