Our home for the next month is going to be an Airbnb in Pacific Grove, Ca. We arrived on Sunday afternoon to a chilly, but very comfortable temperature in the low 60's. The home is in a quiet neighborhood nestled among tall pine and oak trees. There are numerous deer roaming the streets. Yesterday morning when Beth opened the curtains there were four deer casually strolling down the road, while another one was eating breakfast in the park across the street. Hummingbirds can be seen feeding on flowers outside our living room window. It is uniquely located on the Monterey Peninsula in such a way that we can walk around 15-20 minutes in three different directions and be standing on the shore of the Pacific Ocean. Once you reach the shoreline, there's over eighteen miles of trails to enjoy along the Monterey Bay Coastal Recreational Trail.
Monterey Bay Coastal Recreation Trail
Also, it's "baby season" around Pacific Grove. Harbor seal pups lay close to their moms at Lovers Point State Marine Reserve (about a 15 minute walk from the house). Shortly after we enjoyed watching the seal pups and moms the other day, we ran across a group of female deer who were munching on grass while their babies ran clumsily around the open field. I think we're going to like it here.
Pacific Grove, was founded in 1875 by a group of Methodists who were looking to build a retreat area similar to the one operating in Ocean Grove, New Jersey at that time. Today it is known for it's Victorian style houses, scenic shoreline, lighthouse and butterflies. Every year from around October to February around 100,000 migratory Monarch Butterflies call Pacific Grove home. Pretty smart butterflies in my opinion!
In addition to the butterflies, Pacific Grove has attracted numerous notable residents of the human kind over the years. According to Wikipedia, singers Janis Joplin and Frank Zappa, Johnny Miller, Greg Norman and Bill Walsh from the sports world, and a long list of authors have called Pacific Grove home. Of the writers, the most famous is probably John Steinbeck. It was while Steinbeck was living in Pacific Grove that he wrote the novel Cannery Row, which was based on his interactions with those who worked in the stinky, cold, wet and dangerous fish canning plants along what was known as, you guessed it, Cannery Row.
Cannery Row exists even today, but it transformed itself. The stinky, cold, wet and dangerous cannery plants are gone. Many of the historic building that housed them have survived. They have been transformed into shops, restaurants and boutique hotels that attract visitors from around the world.
At the west end of Cannery Row is the Monterey Bay Aquarium. The aquarium, which focuses its displays on the habitats of Monterey Bay, receives around two million visitors per year. It is not only famous for it's displays but it's conservation and sustainable seafood research as well.
We had visited the aquarium previously and were looking forward to seeing it again. Since we're going to be here for a while and it's an easy 20 minute walk from the house, it made sense for us to purchase annual memberships. We enjoyed a lengthy visit on Monday and are looking forward to popping in numerous times over the next month, and who knows.......we just might find ourselves back in this area before our membership expires next year. Those butterflies are onto something...........Pacific Grove is a nice place to spend some time!
