Monterey, Carmel and Pacific Grove Revisited, Part 2

On Friday, July 19, our son Blake and his girlfriend Kira joined us in Monterey for a long weekend. Blake was able to fly directly to Monterey from Seattle (5 minutes from RV park to airport!) and Kira drove over from Sacramento, where she’s attending graduate school. They both arrived late in the afternoon; after checking into their hotel, they joined us at A Taste of Monterey in Cannery Row. I took a photo of our group seated next to the windows, which overlook the bay from the second floor, but the lighting was terrible and so is the photo. Still, I thought you’d enjoy seeing the view from our table.

A Taste of Monterey is a wine tasting room which represents more than 50 Monterey County wine producers, most of which are very small. Many don’t have tasting rooms of their own, but even those who do see a benefit in also having their wines poured at a major tourist destination. In addition to tasting flights and wines by the glass or bottle, A Taste of Monterey also offers a limited food menu of small plates, flat breads and charcuterie. They also sell bottles of wine “to go” and operate a wine club. I enjoyed the wine I tasted there so much that I returned before we left Monterey to purchase 8 bottles. I will absolutely return the next time I’m in Monterey.

That evening we had a wonderful dinner at the Melville Tavern in Monterey, another place I would highly recommend. The restaurant is in an historic section of downtown in a beautiful old brick building and features an updated and interesting take on comfort food, with great service and reasonable prices.

Saturday was officially Carmel Day. We set our early; as is often the case in the summer, the day started off cool and overcast, and although the sun peaked through on occasion, the cloud cover never really lifted.

Carmel can be a hard place to describe. Probably most of the people reading this have been there at one time or another, but for those who have not, I’ll do my best to paint a picture. I have a few photos below, and there are some in a previous posting on this site from my visit there last summer.

The city is very small, with a population of less than 4,000 people. Real Estate in Carmel is absurdly expensive, and the commercial streets are lined with ultra-high-end shops and expensive restaurants. And yet, the overall vibe of the place is pretty chilled out and relaxed, there are some affordable places to eat, and dogs are welcome just about everywhere, indoors and out. I’ve always found the locals to be friendly and welcoming. There is a look of slightly shabby elegance to many of the older buildings, both commercial and residential. Huge trees overhang most of the streets and many of the sidewalks are brick or cobblestone. Everywhere flowers bloom in gardens and planters. The gorgeous local beaches are open to the public and parking on city streets and in most lots is free. It is a place of elegance and beauty, grace and hospitality, ridiculous wealth and exclusivity. The contrasts are endlessly fascinating to me.

Perhaps the coolest feature of downtown Carmel is the collection of secret passageways, stairs and alleys that can be found between the buildings, which lead from one street to another. Tucked into these passages and alleys are all manner of shops, restaurants, parks and gardens. With a downloaded guide in hand, we set out to explore these secret places.

After wandering around town a bit, we spent an hour or so relaxing on the beach. By that time, the fog had moved in again, so I have no decent photos. Again, there are a few pictures of the beach at Carmel in my post from last summer.

Sunday was Monterey and Pacific Grove day. We began the day with a light breakfast at Crepes of Brittany (highly recommend this place) and a brief walk through the Monterey State Historic Park. Then, we met our guide for our Food Tour of Old Monterey. In a bit of an ironic twist, the tour took us back not only to the Historic Park for a more thorough exploration, but also to Crepes of Brittany and the Melville Tavern, where we had dinner Friday night!

The Monterey State Historic Park is a well preserved collection of adobe buildings, dating back roughly to the period between 1820 and 1850, when first Spain and then Mexico ruled this part of California. Most of the buildings are located in the same general area, but a few are scattered around Old Monterey. The Historic Park operates a museum and has administrative offices in several of the preserved buildings. However, several of the courtyards, which contain beautiful gardens maintained by volunteer groups, as well as some of the larger buildings are either rented out for special events or leased for ongoing commercial use. It is an interesting model for historic preservation, providing a source of revenue to support ongoing preservation efforts while also fostering interaction between the general public and the Historic Park.

Our tour began at the Historic Park:

Our first food stop, upon leaving the Historic Park, was to revisit the Crepes of Brittany, where we had stopped for breakfast. We didn’t mind in the least, as all of us were anxious to try their sweet crepes, after enjoying their savory egg, cheese and ham crepes earlier that morning. We sampled their signature lemon sugar sweet crepe with coffee, which was absolutely perfect on this cool foggy morning.

Our second stop was at Dust Bowl Brewing, located in the old Monterey and Salinas Valley train station. As you may know, John Steinbeck, author of Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden, grew up in nearby Salinas, where there is now a museum located in his childhood home, dedicated to his life and work. One of the founders of Dust Bowl Brewing is descended from a family that migrated to California from Oklahoma during the Dust Bowl period, and he chose to name the brewing company and many of the beers it produces in honor of their struggle, sacrifice and success. We sampled several of their beers, which were wonderful, and tacos from the taco truck which is now permanently located on premises, which were equally excellent.

For our third food stop, we returned to the Melville Tavern, where we had dinner Friday night. Again, no complaints about the repetition from our crew. We enjoyed a sample size version of their famous meatloaf entree, complete with mashed potatoes, spinach and mushroom wine reduction sauce. It was divine.

Our fourth stop was at a the Cooper Molera Adobe Historic Site, administered by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Within the walls of its beautiful courtyard, several businesses operate, an old barn is available to rent for special occasions, and beautiful flower gardens flourish. We visited a bakery which had a storefront entrance on the street, but the outdoor seating was in the back of the building, within the walls of the Adobe Historic Site.

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Below are some of the more interesting or simply beautiful plants and flowers in the gardens at the Cooper-Molera Adobe House. The first two are called Passion Flowers, appropriately enough. The Bachelor Buttons to their right are edible and used in the creations of the bakery we visited on our fourth stop. On the bottom row, the first plant is called Brown Turkey Fig. Next is an Artichoke in bloom, which I’ve never seen. Last, simply beautiful Japanese Anemones, which I was lucky enough to grow for just one season years ago in NC.

Our last stop was Revival Ice Cream. Their signature flavor is called “the bees knees” and is made with honey and, surprisingly, a frozen slice of honeycomb. Two in our group selected this flavor, which they described as “wow” and “delicious.” The other two of us chose “lemon peel sherbert” which was very good, but perhaps not quite “wow” worthy.

After our tour, we headed to Pacific Grove and Asilomar State Beach, one of my favorite beaches anywhere. That’s where we’ll start next time.