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Monterey, California

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Golden Gate Bridge

So, here I am, attempting to fulfil a lifelong ambition. The ultimate Road Trip on the ultimate Road Trip road.

Where’s that? You know all those Hollywood movies with a car chase along a rocky, cliff coastline on a winding road precariously hugging the contours of rolling hills? Think Clint Eastwood in ‘Play Misty For Me’. That’s California’s Highway 1.

I wanted to go all the way from San Francisco to Los Angeles along the Pacific coast highway. A distance of 437 miles of Two-Lane Blacktop - just like that which James Dean raced down.

It’s been a while since I just took off and followed my nose. I was over in the US attending trade shows with a week to kill between Frisco and Orlando. I jumped at the chance. I’d take it slow - just drive, stopping at Motels when I felt like it, and shooting some travel photography on the way.

Hollywood freeway (route 66) with downtown LA behind

So, thundering along with the Beach Boys blasting out surf music from the CD player of my hired Chevy I’m feeling good. I’m thinking - it’s a nice car (nicer than mine anyway!) and definitely does not belong to a little old lady from Pasadena (Alamo rent-a-car actually).

In January I was hoping for, but not expecting sunshine. I was in luck and had the windows wound down. It doesn’t get any better than that at this time of year for someone like me, who comes from chilly old England!

The anticipated highpoint of my Road Trip would be Monterey, California with the surrounding area including the Carmel valley, Pacific Grove, and the legendary Big Sur farther south.

It was a couple of hours out of San Francisco, down Silicon Valley that I cruised into Monterey.

Monterey has a world class golf course at Pebble Beach and was unseasonably crowded due to being the week of it’s famous golf tournament. This fact unfortunately meant that the famous 21-mile drive was closed to all but Tiger Woods. It was disappointing but prime coastline seems never-ending here, and rich in the variety of scenery.

First stop in Monterey, find a room. There is a very excellent tourist information centre in a very obvious position off Lake Street (close to the lake). From here you can book accommodation and events.

Despite the golfing circus I had no trouble finding a Motel (but sadly not one on the seafront). I unpacked itching to be in my walking boots and exploring the hotspots.

But first a trip into the shopping part of the town. Usually on Road Trips I suffer an equipment failure but this time I was lucky. The worst thing to happen was my sunglasses disintegrated. It is a mark of friendly local attitudes that the Optometrist fixed them for free! You don’t get better value than that.

Mind you locals can afford to be generous. They are smug in their little secret. This is God’s little green acre.

There is a temperate climate here - never too hot, never too cold. I asked a local about the sign I saw on a pontoon in the Marina that said ‘Beware, slippery Ice’. He laughed. The only negative weather occurs, for a month or two late in the year when the bay can be fog-bound.

If you, like me, are a photographer there are plenty of quality photoprocessors in the town (two of which are Kodak Q-Lab certified).

If you are a photographer there are plenty of must-see’s. A good starting point is a trip around the harbour. This will yield some good subjects including the Boston Whaler fishing boats so typical of the area - and a vast Armada of pleasure boats.

Cannery Wharf, made famous by John Steinbeck's 1945 novel "Cannery Row," is here along with shops, pubs and the Monterey Bay aquarium.

Fisherman’s wharf is another hotspot for the photographers amongst you. It has all the quaintness of a working wharf and some great fish restaurants. There are Whale watching trips from here (I missed that one).

Marine Monterey

Fishermans Wharf, Monterey harbor

With all the excellent weather there are some disgustingly healthy folks indulging in all manner of outdoors activities here. Of course this is the home of surfing. But another secret is that Monterey also has some excellent scuba diving.

If you’re a photographer and a diver then you have just got to explore the Californian Kelp forest. As I had no intention of diving on this trip I didn’t have any equipment (or even my diver certification with me) and I raised a few eyebrows trying to hire equipment. Fellow divers take note. Anyway I begged, borrowed and stole some gear. Berkley lent me a camera housing (many thanks) and I had my initiation to California diving.

From the beach I took the scenic route along the harbour wall, being buzzed by sealions as I went! The underwater scenery reminded me of my native England - but with a twist. Many temperate water species found in the UK occur here but look totally different.

For example kelp, which where I come from is a rooted seaweed with a frond never more than a couple of metres long, forms great canopies to the surface here buoyed by air filled bladders. There are massive forests where the marine life can hide or hunt.

Sea Otter, Monterey Bay, California

The visibility was 10 metres and plenty of marine life kept me amused (and shooting film). I had a macro lens on my camera, which meant I could only photograph small subjects. This was frustrating when the sealions appeared!

For the non-divers the marine life can still be appreciated by walk along the harbour wall where you will find a colony of sea lions, who are noisy (and smelly), basking in the sun. Ungainly on land they are like mermaids in the water, darting through the pier legs.

If you’re lucky you will see sea otters just off the breakwater indulging in their favourite pastime; diving down into the kelp to return with Abalone that they crack open using stones on their stomachs whilst floating on their backs. Clever little guys.

The indigenous underwater life can also be appreciated without getting wet by a trip to the World class Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Carmel and South

Just South of Monterey is a little seaside town called Carmel that is famous for being quaint and for its Mayor, Clint Eastwood.

Carmel street

Carmel street with art galleries

Carmel street store

The feel is rural and the pace leisurely. It appears to be entirely inhabited by artists judging by the number of art stores.

Further south is the coastline of Big Sur where the coastline gives way to Redwood forest. I gave the Beach Boys a rest. The scenery required no accompaniment. This area is also subliminally recognisable from hundreds of movies.

Sadly, Big Sur was as far as I got on my Road Trip but I felt that I did fulfil the dream.

The problem was Alamo rent-a-car wanted a couple of hundred bucks to allow me to return the car in L.A. I had dallied so long in Monterey it would have been a mad dash – and I was too chilled out by now! So, I returned to San Francisco and flew on to the next trade show.

I was not disappointed though, far from it. I saw everything I had wanted to – and more beside. In fact I think the area holds plenty more to discover and warrants a return trip to do just that!

Sidebars

Related road distances from San Francisco

Napa/Sonoma

1 hour - 44 miles

Sacramento

1.75 hours - 103 miles

Carmel/Monterey

2 hours - 133 miles

South Lake Tahoe

3 hours - 182 miles

Mendocino

4 hours - 156 miles

Yosemite

4 hours - 210 miles

Los Angeles/inland route

8 hours - 389 miles

Los Angeles/coastal route

11 hours - 437 miles

Try http://www.mapblast.com for a map of the area