Monterey Day 2 - The 17 Mile Drive

The Monterey Peninsula is known for many things, but most notably, to golf fans anyway, it is the home of Pebble Beach, one of the 'holy grails of golf'. Look back into our postings from the last trip and you'll find the other - St. Andrew's, Scotland.

Anyone who has watched the Pebble Beach ProAm Tournament has also had glimpses of the coastline in Monterey Bay and rest of the general area. As have we, so we knew that the 17 Mile drive was going to take much longer than the half-hour one might usually allot to that distance.

In order to discourage people from just driving around - it is, after all, also a fairly exclusive residential area - the State Park Authority charges $9.75 per car at the entrance gate drive along the marked route. Of course, if you stop at any of the Pebble Beach properties and spend at least $30.00, they will deduct the fee from your total bill.

Here are some of the highlights of our drive:

Shepherd's Knoll overlooking the bay

 

One of the houses along the route. This was about average size;
there were some much smaller and some a lot bigger!

 

Homes along the fairway at one of the Monterey Country Club's
courses.

 

Waves rolling on the beach off the Spanish Bay course

 

One of Spanish Bay's holes, with the clubhouse and inn
in the background

Point Joe

Looking out from the Fanshell Overlook, through the chain
link fence. They actually close off access to the area
in the spring when the seals have their pups in the cove.

 

The Lone Cypress. In silhouette it is the
logo for Pebble Beach

Oh, gosh! And we were there, too!

 

And finally, we arrived at the gates of golfer heaven, the Pebble Beach course itself!

Larry and Norm at the Pebble Beach clock

 

The 18th fairway stretches out behind Larry

 

The tree guarding the18th green

The 18th hole sure looks intimidating from the tee box!

Sorry we spent so much time on the 18th hole, but it was the only one we could get near, and there were people playing on the 17th. By the way, the cost of a round of golf here is $495 per person; we assume that includes the caddy since all the golfers we saw had one caddy for every two players. The catch is that you can only book ahead if you are staying at the resort - at a mere $600 plus per night. If you're not staying, you can book a day ahead, but only if they might conceivably have space on the next day; a real stroke (pun intended) of luck. Mind you, if you can afford it, the lodge and environs sure are pretty...

And we can't forget lunch - Monica's Tuna Salad Nicoise. Yes, they do light propane fires in the middle of the table when it is cooler.

A last little touch of whimsy for the
junior golfers 

The view back from Carmel-by-the-Sea

 

And, having filled our day to the brim with that, we headed back to the hotel for a little R&R, then went back down to Fisherman's Wharf for another good dinner.

Barb in front of one of the wharf's well-known candy
shops, specializing in salt water taffy

Believe it or not, this was an appetizer! It was certainly
enough for dinner! Fried oysters, stuffed clam and
calamari

 

Looking over the marina at night

 

Next up, the drive to Napa wine country, including our first time across the iconic Golden Gate Bridge.

 

The Monterey Peninsula, Heart of the Central Coast

Golf Day!! And for Barb, Spa Day!! Monica on the other hand was just going to get the blog up to date, sit by the pool a bit, and maybe read a book.

The Del Monte Golf Course is one of the Pebble Beach Golf courses, the other more well-known being Spanish Bay, Spyglass Hill and, of course, Pebble Beach itself. After having breakfast at the very small clubhouse - since this isn't one of the main courses in the rotation everything is a bit smaller and more rustic - Larry and Norm got their bags and their cart and teed off.

 

Since Larry and Monica's room overlooked the 17th green and 18th tee, Monica planned to get back to the room about the time they would be playing by to get some photos. Strangely enough, the timing did actually work out! Not only did she get a couple of photos of them, but Larry got one of her, too.

Monica on the balcony talking to one of the guys' playing partners.

 

Once they were done - not a bad round for each of them, and they didn't lose enough golf balls to make much of a difference in the suitcase weight going home! - we took a taxi into the town of Monterey to look around a bit.

Monterey was originally a working town, with the main industry being fish canning, particularly sardines. Cannery Row is now one of the most famous (and touristy) parts of town, since it was immortalized in John Steinbeck's novel of the same name. Mr. Steinbeck has also been immortalized in Monterey, with a small square named after him.

The bust of John Steinbeck at Steinbeck Square

 

We strolled from Fisherman's Wharf down to Cannery Row and back, a distance of almost two and half miles - nothing, of course, to us if you've been following our previous blog posts. The bay is home to all sorts of wildlife, including sea otters, harbour seals and sea lions. Here are a few photos:

Fisherman's Wharf is just one restaurant and candy shop after another, with a few restaurants also having fish markets attached.

We settled on dinner at Crabby Jim's based on the posted menu and the delicious sample of clam chowder being offered outside. And it turned out to be quite a good meal!

Larry with his first Dungeness Crab of the trip!

Monica couldn't resist the crab either, but she had hers
with some shrimp and scallops.

Another great day in southern California, with yet another interesting day trip planned for tomorrow. The famous 17 Mile Drive around the peninsula and the possibility of seeing some of the world's most famous golf courses.

 

Pacific Coast Highway Drive

Saturday morning had us leaving San Luis Obispo, joining Highway 1, the picturesque Pacific Coast Highway, just at the edge of town. Unfortunately, though, our forecasts didn't tell us anything about the weather system that just happened to hit the central coast overnight Friday, so we drove toward Hearst Castle and San Simeon in heavy clouds and a good drizzle.

Reaching Hearst Castle we were pleased to find that the parking lot was nowhere near full - this was the only tour we had not pre-booked, and we weren't sure of the chances of getting in. No problem; in fact we bought our tickets and headed straight to the bus for the next tour. And you need buses to get from the visitor centre to the top of the 'mountain' the house is built on. Apparently, as this has always been a Hearst family ranch, William Randolph and his father used to ride their horses to the top and camp out - quite a feat since the elevation at the top is about 1,600 feet. When his father passed away, William hired woman architect Julia Morgan (out of the ordinary for 1919) to build him a little something on the hill since he was tired of camping in tents up there.

The problem we had was that we couldn't see anything when we looked down, even when, as the story goes, you get high enough that you break through the low coastal clouds. Well, nobody told the low coastal clouds to get out of the way. It was drizzly and cool and foggy outside the whole time we were there. The only advantage was in the photography: it gave all the pictures an ethereal haziness, almost as though we were walking through a landscape that wasn't quite real.

The 'Casa Grande' or Big House, 69,000 square feet.
Just a little ranch house on a hill....

 

Here and below, two of the 'cottages' on the hill - to go along with
the house that had 115 rooms...

 

Unfortunately, the rules are that you can't publish photos without written permission, so the pictures of the big rooms inside will have to wait for a private showing. We will, however, take the chance on including one shot of the Roman Pool so you can see the level of opulence Mr. Hearst lived in.

 

 We're looking forward to coming back to the area and perhaps seeing this 'ranch house' in more favourable conditions.

As we continued up Route 1, the weather didn't get much better than it had been all morning.

But it was really very strange. The minute we crossed over the Bixby Bridge (the one off in the distance in those recent Chrysler Town & Country ads) the clouds started to part and the sky got blue. This is the very next photo we took:

 

As the sky got clearer, we starting moving away from the coastline a bit, going through some small communities as we neared the Monterey Peninsula. After a stop for lunch at Carmel - not in town but at a shopping plaza on Highway 1 - we finished the trip, arriving at the Hyatt Regency Monterey around 3:30.

Since lunch was fairly late and larger than we had hoped, we decided that dinner was going to be bar nibblies. Because this weekend was the annual Monterey Jazz Festival, the reception staff told us that there was going to be live jazz in the lobby that night, so we got there early and listened to the band for a bit before finally turning in.

It had been a long day full of twists and turns, and ups and downs - all literally, not figuratively - and we needed a good rest. We'd been going non-stop since we arrived and were looking forward to a bit of down time. The guys would have to wait a little longer for that, though. They had a 9:30 a.m. tee-off at the Del Monte Golf Course, adjacent to the hotel.

Los Angeles and Drive, Part 1

Los Angeles and Drive, Part 1

Thursday we were up bright and early to catch our pickup for the Los Angeles city tour. But first, the moon-set over the Pacific was a beautiful sight just before it became full.

Being in a city this size, it certainly doesn't make sense trying to find your way from one point of interest to the next on your own, and then not knowing much about them once you get there. So we booked a tour through the hotel.

Once we got going, our driver started us off in mid-town LA at the Staples Centre. Known as the home of many Los Angeles sports teams, it is also right next door to the Ricoh Theatre, where the Emmy Awards will be handed out at the end of next week. So, of course, part of the roadway was blocked off for red carpet and viewing stand preparations. We did, however, get to the main entrance of the centre and looked at the statues of a number of well-known LA sports figures, including the 'Great One'.

               

     

Wayne Gretzky, whose presence in LA helped
'build' the Staples Centre.

             

Back in the bus, we continued our drive around - in surprisingly light traffic - and saw the following sights:

The Walt Disney Concert Hall, designed by Frank Gheary

Olvera Street, the oldest part of LA

               Paramount Studios, and across the street, Raleigh Studios, where shows like 'Castle' are shot

 

               La Brea Tar Pits

Since this was a 6 hour tour, there was an hour's lunch stop included. This was at the Los Angeles Farmers' Market and the Grove Shopping Plaza. The farmers' market has vendors selling fresh fruit, vegetables, meats and fish, and has others specializing in baked goods, salads, ice cream, and whatever kind of prepared food you can imagine. Norm had a beef brisket sandwich from a local BBQ place, and the rest of us bought our lunches at the local seafood spot. The tuna salad was excellent!

After lunch we continued on up into the Hollywood Hills to a sushi restaurant overlooking the city - and the Hollywood sign.

        

    

              

And then it was back down to The Chinese Theatre (formerly Grauman's Chinese) to take a look at the Hollywood Walk of Fame - or a small part of it at least - and the handprints in the sidewalk in front of the theatre entrance.

         

              And of course, since the Dolby (formerly the Kodak) Theatre is right around the block, we all got to walk down, and up, the fancy staircase that the stars use to get to the theatre on Oscar night!! Too bad Monica didn't bring the velvet skirt with the short train, or she could have checked out the guide's story that the steps were made wider than normal to accommodate the long dresses the ladies wear for the Academy Awards Ceremony.

        Then it was off to Rodeo Drive and the final stop on the tour. Once more, just like the first time, we didn't even go into any stores. If you don't normally shop in the high end boutique-y type places at home, they're just that much more expensive in the high rent district of Beverly Hills. We were wondering how some of the stores manage to stay in business - opulent windows, sales staff dressed to the hilt, security staff at the door, and NO customers inside. Maybe they all come out after hours when there aren't any tourists to goggle at them....

               

              

A small 'plaza' of shops just off Rodeo Drive itself

Once we were ready for dinner, we went back to the Sonoma Wine Garden for a pre-dinner drink, and then wandered over to The Lobster for our meal. This is the restaurant we had been to on our first trip to Santa Monica in 2005, right at the top of the Santa Monica Pier. The food and the service were every bit as good as we remembered!

               
              

Larry and Norm both started with clam chowder -
thick and delicious!!

              

Barb and her lobster ravioli

              

And for a really decadent dessert -  warm chocolate pudding
with caramel corn!

To top the evening off, we followed the advice of the waitress at the wine bar and walked up to the Shangri La Hotel. It has a rooftop bar that overlooks the ocean and the pier and has a very nice view and ambiance. We were getting tired by this point and didn't stay long, but here's a picture of the view:

On Friday morning, we started our day with breakfast at a French crepe restaurant at 3rd Street, then loaded up the van and started on our way. And from our first sightseeing stop:

We got our own 'Malibu Barbie'!!!

We drove from the Pacific Coast Highway up through Malibu Canyon to reconnect with Highway 101, the main highway route to San Francisco. The really interesting part of the coastal highway trip is from San Luis Obispo north to Monterey, which we will be doing tomorrow, so we decided to take the quicker route for this stretch of the drive.

It was quite funny; we started the day driving in overcast conditions with a high mist so thick that you couldn't see the tops of the hills; we turned away from the coast, drove through a short tunnel, and we thought we'd been teleported to another place altogether! There wasn't a cloud in the sky and the temperature went up about 10 degrees. And it stayed that way for the rest of the drive.

We stopped in Santa Barbara for lunch - imagine that, Santa Monica and Santa Barbara in the same day!! - and drove through miles and miles of vineyards before finally reaching the Apple Farm Inn at about 4:00.

 

 

 

The Water Wheel at the Apple Farm Inn

 

 

Covered verandah walkway between some of the rooms.
Flowers everywhere!

The inn's lobby. Quaint and homey.

  

Our room - gas fireplace, big bathroom and sitting area. Too bad
we weren't staying more than one night!

For dinner, we found a very good restaurant in town called Chiopinot, a play on chioppino, an Italian style fish and seafood soup, and, obviously, pinot grapes. The place wasn't very busy when we got there at 6:00, but by the time we left at 8:30 it was really hopping! Not an open table and the bar was full, too! It seemed like a place with a huge local following, especially since their wine corkage policy was: your first 4 bottles are free, then they charged $10 a bottle for more than that. And a lot of people were bringing their own wines with them!

Part of our oyster appetizer; the rest was Oysters Rockefeller.
Yummy!

              
    

Fresh - really fresh - salmon entree. The restaurant owner's
brother is a fisherman in the Pismo Beach area
and sends part of his daily catch to the restaurant.

  

 And once we were finished with that, we headed back to the barn, or should we say farm, to relax a bit and get the blog post up. Looking forward to tomorrow's drive! Keep your fingers crossed that we get clear weather and not the foggy coastline we started today with...