Leaving Paso Robles, the Beagle set course for the Monterey Peninsula on the California coast, passing through the Salinas Valley, including the town of Salinas itself, the home of the great American writer John Steinbeck. Second only to the great Central Valley, the Salinas Valley is home to the most intensive agriculture one can imagine.
The valley of the Salinas River runs for about 90 miles between two mountain ranges in a north westerly direction to the Pacific coast where the the river empties into the sea just north of the city of Monterey, California. One sees endless vistas of vegetables of all kinds being grown in the valley in heavily irrigated fields in an otherwise arid land. As usual, the Beagle found safe moorings in a more rural area to the north of the city where Mr. Darwin would have greater freedom to observe the local flora and fauna. The Beagle was close to the sea but separated from it by high hills along the coast. Even this area was dominated by intensive agriculture, seemingly exclusively devoted to strawberries. There were endless acres of strawberry fields with their neat rows of plastic film used to mulch the plants. Demonstrating her usual total ignorance of popular culture, the Captain inquired of Master Chaffers, quite sincerely, if the Beatles had seen this end of the Salinas Valley before composing Strawberry Fields Forever. Master Chaffers, demonstrating his usual mastery of all things popular music before 1990, soon set her straight on the origins of that particular tune.
The crew of the Beagle set out to explore the coastal area in the Captain’s yacht, first heading south on the coast to an area called Big Sur. This is a wild area (reminiscent in fact of the west coast of Ireland) where mountains meet the sea with beautiful views of crashing waves over monumental rock formations on the coast. The weather was good for sight seeing which was fortunate because it can often be foggy on this stretch of highway. Of course the road is a winding hilly way with precipitous cliffs on each side, one side rising up and the other falling away to the sea. The crew travelled south for about 30 miles to a small village within the Big Sur area, then returned north to Carmel-by-the-Sea.
The Town of Carmel-by-the-Sea, simply known as Carmel, is located immediately to south of the Monterey Peninsula while the City of Monterey is on the coast immediately to the north of the peninsula. In the past Carmel was known as a haven for artists and poets and has several mayors who were poets or actors, including Clint Eastwood. It can now be described as more of a tourist town with art galleries and (very expensive) specialty shops everywhere. The sidewalks are crowded with visitors having a look but very few buying, including, again unusually, the Captain. The architecture is an odd combination of Old English cottage and west coast modern. Perhaps the most notable feature of Carmel is that the Town has a large beach at the foot of the main street and is currently undergoing environmental restoration of its dunes and dune flora.
The crew then took a drive around the outside of the Monterey Peninsula which, as far as can be ascertained, appears to be owned entirely by the Pebble Beach Corporation. The roads are private and one has to pay a $10:00 fee to take the 17 mile drive. There are several golf courses on the Peninsula, including the famous Pebble Beach Golf Course. There are also many large homes tucked here and there among the hills and cliffs. In parts the road goes down to the wind swept sand dunes by the sea and in other parts it clings to cliffs above the sea and there are many viewing spots located along the way.
Leaving the Monterey Peninsula, the crew drove through the City of Monterey and took a short drive through Cannery Row, made famous by the novelist John Steinbeck. The look of the old fish cannery buildings has been preserved with the connections between the buildings over the street, but the buildings are now hotels, restaurants and shops for the tourist.
At a little town called Moss Landing, the crew found one of the most enjoyable places to eat great sea food and be close to the beach so Mr. Darwin could find some friends with whom to exercise at a little. Moss Landing is a very small sea side community just north of Watsonville, the self proclaimed strawberry capital of the world. It is home to three incredible institutions: the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Phil’s Fish Market and Eatery and the New Shakespeare Sanctuary of the Shakespeare Society of America (who knew!). The crew stopped by on two occasions to enjoy the ambiance at Phil’s and to enjoy the beach which is directly behind Phil’s. A great place to go for canine friendly outdoor dining and fun on the sand.
As usual, the visit is recorded in the montage below.