Pacific Grove is known as ‘Butterfly Town’ as Monarch Butterflies return there each year to over-winter in the mild Californian climate. Saturday morning saw a parade of school children, dressed as butterflies, welcoming back the Monarchs. Another snatch of song came into my head as we watched the marching bands, the school soccer teams and the home-coming queen.
“Sleepy Jean, oh what can it mean to a daydream believer and a home coming queen”

I’d wanted to visit the Carmel Mission which we’d passed earlier. When we arrived a wedding ceremony was taking place so we were able to watch the bride & groom and their guests as they left the mission church. It was a lovely spot, an atmospheric old church surrounded by a pretty garden and a small graveyard where Christian Indians and Spaniards are buried, their graves outlined with abalone shells.

It was still misty and murky but we decided to drive out to Point Lobos, 3 miles south of Carmel, described as ‘the greatest meeting of land and water in the world’. It may well be but you could see little because of the fog!! The sounds of the ‘sea wolves’ or sea lions echoing from the rocks offshore, the dire warnings about poison oak and the wind-carved Monterey pines festooned with lace lichen made it an atmospheric visit.

With still a few hours of somewhat murky daylight left and, because it was our last day in the area, we ‘did’ the 17 Mile Drive from Pacific Grove to Pebble Beach. It costs $9.50 to enter at any of the ‘gates’. The road winds along the coast past some of the most expensive (though not necessarily tasteful) real estate in California and through Pebble Beach Golf course. I know that poor weather does colour one’s impressions of a place but I was distinctly underwhelmed. The various viewpoints just gave a slightly different skew on pounding waves and rocky beaches. As for the ‘Lone Cypress Tree’ listed in the ’10 most magnificent trees in the world’……well, it was SMALL and would not have been noticed amongst other similar trees. It just happens to be on its own on a rocky promontory. There’s a horse chestnut tree opposite my house that I’d describe as more magnificent.

Next morning we joined Highway One under grey skies. We turned off the Highway at Moss Landing, described as a “lively fishing port” in ‘The Rough Guide to California” and a ‘good place to stop for seafood’. Well, the single dirt road was lined with Mexican eateries, the place was dominated by a giant power station and there was no-one around at 11am Sunday morning.
Then we noticed the Shakespeare Society of America museum and gift shop in a building that wouldn’t have looked out of place in a John Wayne western.
As we’re from Shakespeare country ourselves we had to stop to take a photo. As I returned to the car a guy came out to offer me his card. Apparently the Society moved from West Hollywood where Shakespeare’s plays had been performed in a replica of the Globe Theatre, London. As the nephew of the original founder, Terry Taylor now runs the Museum in sleepy Moss Landing. He was interested to hear we came from Stratford and told us they owned a chair made from a pew from Holy Trinity Church, Stratford which is where Shakespeare is buried.

Described as “the city of Capitola”, with a population of just over 10,000, this would only be a small village in the UK. However, it turned out to be a pleasant little place to while away a few hours, now under blue skies and sunshine, watching boys fishing off the old wooden pier, wandering around craft shops and enjoying an excellent cappuccino at the Capitola Coffee Roasting company by Stockton Bridge.
Tired of Emily Sat-Nav’s cultured ‘English’ tones we changed our allegiance and now Daniel was in charge. He found our next lodging “Adobe on Green” in
Santa Cruz easily. It was a short walk to the main street lined with shops and restaurants. Between the town and the beach, Beach Hill rises, its slopes are lined with fine wooden houses, many in Queen Anne style with fanciful turrets and towers and one on Third St made out of the remains of a shipwreck. We carried on down to the Beach Boardwalk which stretches for half a mile along the sands. It has a retro feel of the 1950s with its old wooden roller coaster that’s listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The 100 year old Municipal Pier is crammed with seafood restaurants, shops selling sailing and fishing gear. On a sunny Sunday afternoon it was buzzing with activity from a salsa dancing group. A couple of men were displaying their beautiful vintage cars, a Hudson and a Ford to interested passers-by. R’s eyes lit up when he saw the Hudson Hornet, its chrome glinting in the afternoon sunshine. He used to have one as a dinky toy!
Dinner at the Gabriella Café on Cedar. I had beets with ricotta, honey and thyme followed by risotto with butternut squash.

The last day of our Californian odyssey. “All the leaves are brown and the skies are grey, California dreamin’ “ was playing in my head as we walked out of town, heading west looking down on large Pacific Ocean waves. Some brave souls were surfing!!
We stopped at the Surfing Museum which was surprisingly engaging with stories of shark attacks and ghosts of surfers past, including early examples of surf boards, some were just large redwood planks, the more modern hi-tech, lightweight and multi-finned.

Back on the pier we ate lunch at “Riva” for excellent clam chowder. A spot of light shopping back in town at the excellent independent Bookshop Santa Cruz. There were comfy armchairs and, in the children’s section, a giant rocking chair and rocking horse. The Bookstore had defied the City Council who wanted to ban buskers. The Bookstore supported the street musicians by producing bumper stickers
“Keep Santa Cruz weird”.



Across the street we visited the most well stocked shoe shop I have ever seen….. ‘Sock Shop and Shoe store’ on Pacific Ave. We needed some caffeine so sat outside the Santa Cruz coffee roasting company drinking excellent cappuccinos when we could hear a rather tinny sound of piano music. It seemed to be emanating from a flowery beaten up old CD player carried by an elderly man. We began talking to him and he told us he was 85 year old and started to learn to play the piano when he was 67. Over a 10 month period he had composed 18 songs which his son had recorded for him. He apologised for disturbing us but I was full of admiration for him, being a late returner myself to piano playing I know how hard it can be.

We’d been recommended to try the ice-cream at Marianne’s (1020 Ocean St). The shop is in very unprepossessing surroundings, next to a grungy record shop and DIY store, who display dire warnings if Marianne’s customers leave their cars in their parking lot. Marianne’s has been in business for 50 years and the décor cannot have changed much in that time! They are reputed to have over 70 flavours. Coffee, almond fudge and blueberry cheesecake or pistachio, cardamom and fresh banana anyone?

Only Santa Cruz could have a restaurant with two names. The ‘Asian Rose’ is sometimes known as “The Malabar Café” (5146 Front St)
All veggie Sri Lankan fare, we ate a warm spinach salad with a salt lassi to drink for me and eggplant and pea curry and raspberry lemonade for R.

Back at Adobe on Green we relaxed in our very stylish room, enjoyed watching ‘The Truman Show’ again on DVD and had an early night ready for our return home the next day.

total mileage 1,377 miles

I rarely wax lyrical about accommodation when travelling but ‘Adobe on Green’ is just about perfect. Why can’t all B & Bs be like this? Stylish surroundings, unobtrusive (that’s to say, invisible hosts); comfortable rooms, a room full of books with selection of DVDs to borrow, free Wi-Fi and, like elves in the night, the hosts have laid out a buffet breakfast for when you rise.