Monterey

Our first stop of the day was Point Lobos State Natural Reserve. This is a scenic coastal area at the north end of Big Sur. There are miles and miles of hiking trails at Point Lobos. The area is known for sightseeing, photography and enjoying nature. We spent the morning hiking around the reserve. We enjoyed being outdoors. It was a beautiful clear day. The reserve wasn't particularly busy. We paused often to soak in the stunning cliffside ocean vistas. We watched, what must have been hundreds of, California Sea Lions congregate on rocks in the ocean. Their noisy barks could be heard from many areas of the reserve. In fact, the name “Point Lobos” is derived from the name Spanish explorers called this area - “Punta de los Lobos Marinos" which translates to something like the "point of the sea wolves.” We also observed many Brown Pelicans around the reserve, both sitting on rocks and diving into the ocean. I really enjoyed scrambling around the rocky shoreline and searching the tidepools for sea life. We didn't see much sea life in the pools, but I enjoyed exploring the shoreline. 

So many pelicans

These rocks are covered in Sea Lions

Our next stop was Cannery Row. Cannery Row is a famous waterfront street in Monterey. It was the site of many now-defunct sardine canning factories. This area was called Ocean View Avenue until the late 1950's, at which point it was renamed Cannery Row in honor of John Steinbeck's novel of the same name. Before this trip I read Cannery Row, which certainly enhanced my visit. John Steinbeck begins his book with this famous description of Cannery Row: 

“Cannery Row in Monterey in California is a poem, a stink, a grating noise, a quality of light, a tone, a habit, a nostalgia, a dream. Cannery Row is the gathered and scattered, tin and iron and rust and splintered wood, chipped pavement and weedy lots and junk heaps, sardine canneries of corrugated iron, honky tonks, restaurants and whore houses, and little crowded groceries, and laboratories and flophouses. Its inhabitant are, as the man once said, "whores, pimps, gambler and sons of bitches," by which he meant Everybody. Had the man looked through another peephole he might have said, "Saints and angels and martyrs and holymen" and he would have meant the same thing.” - John Steinbeck, Cannery Row

Around the Cannery Row area there are many callouts to Stienbeck and his book. There is a bust of Steinbeck celebrating his influence on the area. There is also a large monument celebrating the Cannery Row book, along with others who influenced this area. Near the Monterey aquarium is the Pacific Biological Laboratories, a biological supply house, operated by Edward F. Ricketts, who inspired the character of Doc in Cannery Row. This building has been preserved. I, of course, made sure we visited this building. 

While we were at Cannery Row we ate lunch at Fish Hopper. Indoor dining is currently not allowed in Monterey county due to COVID-19 restrictions. Fish Hopper has taken over a portion of the main plaza area and set up distanced tables. It was a nice sunny day so it was quite pleasant to eat seafood while sitting out by the Monterey bay. 

When we were done exploring Cannery Row we drove to the Monarch Grove. We didn't expect to see any butterflies, but we were curious to see if any docents would be around that we could talk to. Normally docents are in the grove from 12-3pm from November - February. However, there were no docents there, probably because of COVID or the lack of butterflies. We will be back and try to see the butterflies another time. 

Near the Butterfly Grove is an area named Lover's Point. It is a rocky area near the ocean. It has some great views of the Monterey Bay. We sat on a bench and enjoyed watching the ocean crash against the rocks for a while. Alison loves angry water and to watch the waves crash. In this park there was a large population of fat squirrels. It was fun to watch them run around the rocks. 

We headed over to Del Monte beach. We walked along this beach. Here there were a lot of seals swimming around in the bay. We watched these large groups of seals swim. There were also tons of ocean birds. While we walked along the beach I picked up some sand dollars. The sand dollars on this beach were intact, which I have never found before. I was pretty excited. I think I am going to give them to Skylee. 

We made one more stop before calling it a day. We visited the Mission San Carlos Borromeo del Río Carmelo, or Misión de San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo, aka Carmel Mission. Originally built in 1787 it is considered the most authentically restored Roman Catholic mission church in California. It wasn't open when we arrived, but we really wanted to walk around the grounds and enjoy the beauty of the church. Afterward we picked up dinner and headed back to our hotel for the evening.