Carmel Dec. 25 -- Dec. 28, 2001 [Carmel Gallery] [Back to Photo Page]

We have been to the Monterey/Carmel region so many times during the past few years, but most time we made them as one-day trips and never had time to explore the area in depth. We decided to go to Carmel and stayed there for a few days, so we didn't have to travel too far for this Christmas. With a few days, we can go around places with much slower pace and do not have to worry about driving home before dinner.

The First Day ...

• Pacific Grove [Gallery]
  Pacific Grove is a small town located at the northwestern tip of the Monterey Peninsula. Millions of Monarch butterflies migrate south from Canada, generally traveling 80 miles a day, and arrive in mid-October to cover the pine, eucalyptus and willow trees in and around Pacific Grove, and they will overwinter until Feburary. The special thing is that migrating Monarchs have never been to their destination before. In fact, several generations of Monarchs have lived and died since last year's butterflies departed. We went to the butterfly sanctuary located on Ridge Road. It's a very small area just like a backyard in someone's home. Although we didn't see impressive number of butterflies, we did see a few dense clusters of butterflies on some trees.

Point Pinos Lighthouse, the west coast's oldest working lighthouse, is on the rocky coast of Pacific Grove. Unfortunately, it was not open when we visited this time.

 

• 17-Mile Drive [Gallery]
  

  The 17-Mile Drive is a twisting, turning road which encompasses much of the natural and man-made beauty of the southwestern Monterey Peninsula. The 17-Mile Drive is also close to the home of some of America's rich and famous, and we can see many big mansions along the way. There are many golf courses on the Monterey Peninsula, including Pebble Beach Golf Links. Although the 17-Mile Drive offers many nice vistas along the ruggy coast, I still feel that the $8.00 entrance fee is too expensive. In my opinion, High way 1 around Big Sur and Point Lobos offer even better views of the coastline.

• Carmel-by-the-Sea
  The exit of the 17-Mile Drive is leading right into Carmel-by-the-Sea, a small town founded at the turn of the century (or should I say the last century) as an artists' and writers' colony. Art galleries, antique stores, gift shops, and fine restaurants are everywhere in the downtown. Our hotel was right in the downtown area so we can just walked around for dinner and window-shopping at night.

The Second Day ...

• Highway 1 [Gallery]
  

  We all got up early because we planned to go to Hearst Castle today and it'll be a long drive on Highway 1 (it took at least 2.5 hours to drive). We started driving at about 7:15 AM, and just in time to catch the light before dawn. The 90-mile section of Highway 1 between Carmel and San Simeon, often called "Big Sur", is considered the most dramatic coastal road in the US. There are many turnouts that I could not resist to stop at a few turnouts to take some photos although it was too cloudy for most of the time (I wish it was foggy instead of cloudy).

• Hearst Castle [Gallery]
  Hearst Castle was bulit in 1919 by WR Hearst (1863-1951), creator of the largest publishing empire the world had ever known (at it's peak in 1935, he controlled 26 newspapers, 13 magazines, 8 radio stations, 2 news services, and a film company), and Julia Morgan, a famed San Francisco architect and the first woman to graduate from Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. By 1947, Hearst and Morgan had created an estate of 165 rooms and 127 acres of gardens, terraces, pools, and walkways. The castle is full of Hearst's European and Mediterranean art collection. Hearst Castle was donated to the people of the State of California in 1957 and became a State Historic Monument. We took the Experience Tour at 10:10AM, and the tour last about 1 hour 45 min with the round-trip bus from the visitor center to the castle. Although the tour itself was not strenuous at all, we found it was quite a challenge to keep Iris in the group without running away and touching all those art collections. The Experince Tour also includes tickets to a 40-minute large format National Geographic Movie about WR Hearst and his castle.

• Piedras Blancas
  From Hearst Castle take Highway 1 North 4.4 miles, there is one of the elephant seals' breeding sites at Piedras Blancas. Most elephant seals were lying still during the day, which makes them not a very interesting photo subject. There were quite a few people visiting here, in fact, I think there were more people than elephant seals on the beach.

• Highway 1 / McWay Cove Waterfall
  It's another long way to drive back on Highway 1. On the way back, we stopped at the Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, and took an easy 1/4 mile trail to the hidden McWay Cove Waterfall. It is the one of two waterfalls in California that flow into the ocean (the other one is in Point Reyes). Since it is not very visible from Highway 1, it remains as a secret for most people.

The Third Day ...

• Sunrise
  I went to the Fisherman's Wharf in Monterey for sunrise. Unfortunately, it was a cloudy day and no good light at all.

• Point Lobos State Reserve [Gallery]
  

  Point Lobos is claimed to be "the greatest meeting of land and water in the world", an extravagant comparison but remains unchallenged. We took the Cypress Grove Trail and Sea Lion Point Trail, passing through costal scrub and woods to cliffs with dramatic and spectacular ocean views. At Sea Lion Point, we spent a lot of time there just to see the waves tumbling around the rocks.

• Carmel Mission [Gallery]
  

  Established in 1770, Mission Carlos Borromeo Del Rio Carmelo is one of the best restored California's Missions. Carmel Mission stands today as a monument to the great missionary of Padre Junipero Serra who left his home to the Western wilderness to teach California's Native Americans. The mission and the gardens are not big, but Linus liked to read the visitor's map and lead the way, so we circled around the mission many many times until we have covered all the grounds on the map.

The Last Day ...

• Monterey Aquarium [Gallery]
  We are the member of the Monterey Aquarium this year, so we have been to the Aquarium at least 4 times this year already. One advantage of the membership is that you can enter the aquarium one hour earlier than the general public on certain days. It is important to avoid crowds for some exhibitions (for example, the seahorses). As usual, we were impressed by many exhibitions (Jellyfish, the Outer Bay, etc.), then we had an early lunch at the cafe (my favorite clam chowder), and then spent the rest of the time at the kid's favorite: Splash Zone.

Going Home ...

We were lucky that there was only one rainy day during our entire trip, and we spent the day indoors (in the Aquarium) most of the time. The weather in the Monterey Peninsula was mild in winter and the atmosphere for Christmas in Carmel was certainly warm. Taking vacation at places near home was not a bad idea at all.

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