Hansel and Gretel and the Dog

Once upon a time, there was a happily married couple who spent a long weekend in a far-off magical land known as the Monterey Bay Peninsula... 

But seriously, I love to travel and I live for weekend trips! I also prefer to do it on a budget. Since we moved to the Bay Area, my husband and I hadn't taken one of our token (and beloved!) weekend trips. The triumverate of my birthday/Inauguration Day/M.L.K. Day was enough reason to celebrate!

Our Trip Requirements:

1.) Reasonable driving distance from home so as not to waste valuable time driving. (2-3 hrs)

2.) Something to do/see. A lighthouse, for instance...

3.) DOG-FRIENDLY. Always a blessing and a curse.

Off we go!! says Maggie

So, we chose to stay in Pacific Grove while also visiting Monterey and Carmel-by-the-Sea. The weather was gorgeous, there was a plethora of Cinderella-friendly wildlife as well as some surprisingly good thrifting! The entire peninsula is dog-friendly. I also think of this area as a pretty spot-on West Coast equivalent to the quaint towns of coastal New England.

(Map copied from HERE)

And we got our lighthouse! The Point Pinos Lighthouse in Pacific Grove - the oldest continuously operating lighthouse on the West Coast. We missed the opening hours, sadly. 

OPEN 1-4 PM Thurs - Mon

The Monterey County Convention and Visitors Bureau has a pretty fantastic informational website, I must say. We found a list of pet-friendly lodging options here.

We chose to stay at the Butterfly Grove Inn in Pacific Grove because:

1.) it's dog-friendly

2.) continental breakfast is included

3.) it's affordable

4.) FIREPLACE INCLUDED - BONUS!!

The Inn also happens to be home to a Monarch Butterfly habitat. The best time to view the butterflies in the green-orange trees is October to March. They were a beautiful sight to see, although the zoom on my camera wasn't able to adequately capture it.

Along with the normal Inn-style layout, there is a vintage, two-story Victorian House with suites on the property - perfect for a family reunion or wedding. Although the Inn keepers seemed slightly disorganized (they tried and failed three times before giving us a room that had been cleaned), they also were kind enough to not evict us for causing a dog barking complaint. (It was brief, I promise!)

Our first order of business was to walk to Lovers' Point Park. As a clarification, Pacific Grove used to be a Methodist retreat camp, and according to local legend, the park was originally "Lovers of Jesus Point"- not referring to teenagers' nocturnal activities. We had barely stepped outside when we came across a small pack of coastal black-tailed deer, grazing on someone's prized roses by a street corner stop sign! What a funny sight to see this local resident in full comfort cohabitational mode. Again, my camera (and the deers' fright from seeing Maggie) did not allow for a proper picture. 

G snapped a pic of me snapping a pic of the coastline. Artsy!

After a reasonable stroll, we decided on a place for dinner. I had done some reading through Yelp.com, the New York Times' 36 Hours In... column, Frommers.com, and came upon The Forge in the Forest in Carmel-by-the-Sea. It serves American cuisine, with a California-only wine list. They have the distinction of being the only employee-owned restaurant on the Monterey Bay Peninsula (I'm a huge fan of that). They also have three fire pits and extensive outdoor patio heating, plus a special patio for patrons who bring their dogs to dinner, dog menu included. Maggie missed out on the 8-oz. grilled and sliced new york steak for $12.95, but instead she got a handful of Milk Bone treats, which she enjoyed with equal enthusiasm, I'm sure.

At the Forge, I had lobster tacos with polenta and a sangria and G had a delicious arroz con mariscos/paella dish and a dark n stormy. We could have split the paella - the portion size was huge! - and I liked his dish best. 

The next morning, we pulled out our walking shoes again, this time to discover Monterey's Path of History, a two-mile self-guided walking tour of 55 historic sites in Monterey. This is where Hansel and Gretel come to play. The path is marked by little yellow tiles in the sidewalk, allowing you to know your way to the next site. (This reminded me of Boston's Freedom Trail, where red tiles mark the path.) I LOVE DIY!! So, we dutifully followed an abridged version of the trail, because the two miles were probably too much for the puppy. We had our own robo-guide by using this free (carrier charges apply) cell phone tour of ten sites. The part that I found really fascinating was that, despite the hoards of visitors to Fisherman's Wharf and Cannery Row, we were the ONLY ONES on the walking tour! (Although we did take a detour to Fisherman's Wharf, where we saw a floating dock's worth of sleeping Maggies-of-the-sea/sea lions, schools of jellyfish, and our fair share of sea gulls.) We were walking in the footsteps of California's forefathers, seeing and learning lots of new things, FOR FREE, and we seemed to be the only ones who had discovered this hidden gem! Lucky us!

The cell phone walking tour brought us to California's First Theater, the Custom House, the Pacific House, the First Brick House, the Old Whaling Station, Casa Soberanes, the Larkin House, the Cooper-Molera Adobe, the Robert Louis Stevenson House, and the Casa de Oro (Joseph Boston Store).

Call me a geek, but one of the coolest facts I learned on the walking tour was that the Custom House in Monterey is recognized as the oldest government building in California and it is State Historic Landmark #1 !! California started counting historic landmarks here in Monterey!

California's First Theater also served as an ale house at one point. The plaque on the door reads:

"Many a miner passed through the door, 

Who swore he would never come in any more.

T'was here they eased him of nuggets of gold,

For this was the place where the booze was sold. 

One drink was enough to make him want more, 

and pretty damsoon he was flat on the floor.

On sobering up he would always swear off, 

Then come the next day for a drink for his cough."

 


On the left, the adorable Mayo Hayes O'Donnell Library, originally the Saint James Episcopal Church, built in 1876.
On the right, the front walkway of the Old Whaling Station, made entirely of whale vertebrae! The bone was cut into diamond patterns, which gave the sidewalk a unique look.

One of the secret gardens of Old Monterey, with lemon trees.

Keeping an eye out for "dad" at the Cooper Molera gift shop.

Towards the end of our walk, we found the Cooper Molera gift shop, which ranks pretty high on my list of all-time favorite gift shops. It has the ambience of a 19th-century general store complete with a volunteer behind the desk wearing a period costume. There was a large vintage-style whale print on the wall and they sold TREASURES, such as books, greeting cards, games from the past, with an extensive inventory of locally created gift items. My favorites were the childrens' books and historical garb and the Mexican crafts, including silver dancing skeleton earrings (thank you G!). I could have spent hours in there.

Soon, it was time for dinner again, and we had a reservation at the Monterey Fish House, a GREAT, casual, budget-friendly seafood joint in Monterey. This was our culinary highlight on the Peninsula! Reservations are essential, because even on a Sunday night, with a reservation, there was a long line outside the door and we had to wait. The restaurant is basically an older wooden home, and there isn't a ton of seating.
We started with their specialty appetizer:

1/2 dozen oak grilled oysters - YUM!

We then split an order of their house-made pasta with wood-fired artichokes (a local specialty!), clams, mussels, and shrimp. It was pretty heavenly and the portions were huge, so I'm glad we decided to split the meal. We also had the most adorable trilingual 2-year-old sitting next to us, with mommy and daddy singing to her in Spanish and German.

Apart from eating and walking, we found these great thrift/benefit shops:

MONTEREY:
St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store
AFRP Treasure Shop
American Cancer Society Discovery Shop
Second Chance Thrift Store
Spirals Alliance on Aging
St. Mary's Thrift Shop

CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA (all on the same street):
Yellow Brick Benefit Shop
S.P.C.A. Benefit Shop
Deja Vu
Joining Hands

And THESE were our finds!

A COOL 1940's-1950's Revere Model P-90 8mm projector for cheap! Not working at the moment, but we hope to fix it up. Did you know that this guy holds a 750 watt bulb? WHOA!

For $1.00, we found an authentic Royal Copenhagen decorative plate of the Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen. It has a tiny chip at the top, but since we've been there, we decided to add it to our great wall of plate art! 

We also found a $5.00 clean hunter green tackle box with "Sue '54 '55" etched on the bottom. How cute! It also will come in handy as a storage solution. 

 We picked up some great fabric fat quarters from a fabric shop (which G spotted!) and some patterned 1850's-style fabrics from the great Cooper Molera gift shop.

Other recommended to-dos in the area. Maybe next time for us!

1.) Biking the 17 Mile Drive - free and athletic. 

2.) Not missing the lighthouse hours. Not missing some of the thrift store hours.

3.) Wine tasting - either in downtown Monterey at A Taste of Montery or at the local wineries' tasting rooms.

4.) Visit the free Monterey Maritime and History Museum

5.) Complete the rest of the Path of History Tour

The hardy VW Passat reached a new milestone during this trip!

Finally, Hansel and Gretel and the dog followed their trail of crumbs back home, 

after another successful weekend trip.

Do you have any off-the-beaten path, hidden-gem, hole-in-the-wall finds in the Monterey Bay Peninsula? If so, please share!