Moss Landing and Vicinity

After our brief stop in Tehachapi, we moved on to our first real destination, Moss Landing; it is located about halfway between Monterey and Santa Cruz on the Pacific Coast. We stayed at a small RV park right next to the harbor/marina, on a strip of land that is separated from the mainland by a small branch of the Old Salinas River, and from the beach and ocean by the main branch of the Old Salinas River.

Moss Landing has historically been dependent economically upon whaling and fishing and related industries such as canning. Today, while fishing remains important to the town’s identity, tourism, and particularly tourism related to outdoor recreation, has become dominant. In addition, Moss Landing is the location of several significant conservation and research institutions, including The Elkhorn Slough Ecological Reserve, The Moss Landing Marine Laboratories and the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute.

Since our arrival, we’ve mostly had foggy, misty, cool weather in Moss Landing, especially in the morning and evening hours. During the day, we have gone outside the immediate area for various activities and have typically found a bit of sunshine and slightly warmer temperatures. As someone traveling primarily to escape the heat and relentless sunshine of Palm Springs for a while, I find the cooler, wetter weather very refreshing, but I would not enjoy a daily diet of it.

One evening I braved the fog and the mist to walk around most of Moss Landing. I walked the length of the commercial district, crossed back and forth over the two bridges that connect the town with the dunes/beach/ocean, and followed a path along the river between the two bridges. Below are some photos from this journey of approximately 1 3/4 miles.

As you can see, it was a gray, misty day. These are two fairly well preserved examples of the dominant architectural style and era of most of the buildings in Moss Landing. There is not a great deal of commercial activity in the main business district, but there are a few offices and galleries and restaurants.

The Captain’s Inn at Moss Landing is one of two hotels in Moss Landing. It doesn’t look like much from the front, but I’ve seen photos of the buildings in the back and the interior of some rooms and it actually looks pretty nice and well cared for.

There was a huge farm right along the road just before the first bridge. It was misting gently and these cabbages just looked absolutely gorgeous and so very, very green against the mist, fog and gray sky.

The main channel of the river (on the right) is narrower here, while grasses and some wild flowers are growing into the river on the left. There were several sea lions or sea otters playing in the water, but they hid as I approached to take their picture.

I have to say that I really like this photo of the second bridge; to me it captures a mood, created by the mist and fog. It is at once kind of cold and sad and lonely, almost melancholy. And yet, there is a soft beauty when the hard edges are camouflaged by the fog, and a bit of mystery too.

While in Moss Landing, we visited Capitola, a beach town between Moss Landing and Santa Cruz, on two occasions. The first time we went to check out a wine bar that unfortunately was closed when we arrived. While in town, we spent a bit of time at the beach and I took a few pictures of our surroundings.

What’s not to love in this picture, except maybe the tree trunk in the middle of the shot! (I’m not too crazy about the modern concrete house next to the tree either.) But, I just had to get a photo of the beautiful light olive green house on the second from the top level and this was the only angle available. I also love the two white (or light blue?) Victorians on either side of the top row.

The beach in downtown Capitola was quite busy for a Wednesday afternoon. There was a free twilight concert scheduled for later that evening, and people had already started to gather for the event.

Next up, a return visit to Capitola; a trip to the beach in Seaside, just north of Monterey: and much more.

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