Today instead of merely following Highway 1, I took a little detour to the west. It was well worth it. Leaving Santa Cruz early this morning, I headed towards the old mission town of San Juan Bautista. The town itself is old and quaint, resembling an "Old West Town" almost. The church and mission lie right near main street. I paid the small fee which enabled me to tour the mission museum and church. They also have a small gift shop where I purchased a pretty cross for my wall collection. The mission church was founded in 1797, the 15th of the many missions begun by the Franciscan monks and is the largest of all. Another interesting bit of trivia is that the mission and the town of San Juan Bautista lie right on the San Andreas Fault! I am not a fan of earthquakes AT ALL, but it was kind of cool to be standing on top of it! I talked to a couple of people in town about it, and they both unequivocally stated that they'd much rather live on the fault than in places that can be hit by hurricanes or tornados. I don't know that I'd agree.
*Recommendation Time -- If you ever make it to San Juan Bautista, you have to go to the San Juan Bakery! I ate the best bear claw and the most delectable chocolate croissant I've ever had! I got a brownie for the road but haven't eaten it yet; trying to show some self control.
The dirt road right behind this fence is part of the San Andreas Fault scarp line.
In my detour off of the Pacific Coast Highway today I saw tons of farms. For the first time ever I saw migrant workers. I have read books in which they played roles, but have never seen any at work. There were so many of them, and they seemed to be working so hard.
Something else I saw which was slightly disconcerting was a man spraying something on plants, and he was wearing a hazmat suit. It makes you wonder what is being sprayed if he is dressed head to toe in hazmat.
Funny thing: one town I drove through was Castroville, the artichoke center of the world! Below is the world's largest artichoke. 😊
I eventually made my way to my destination and "home" for the next two nights, Pacific Grove. This town is in close proximity to both Monterey and Carmel but is touted as being more reasonably priced, which is why I chose it as my homebase. I plan to visit the other two towns while I'm here. Today I focused on Pacific Grove.
While waiting for my room to be prepared, I walked to the Point Pinos Lighthouse less than a mile away. I had researched this lighthouse earlier so that I would be familiar with it when I got here. It has an interesting story, both in relating to the light itself and to its keepers. It was $5 to tour the house and grounds. I did not take pictures inside, but there were several interactive exhibits and many period pieces placed around the dwelling. I really enjoyed my visit.
Now, what you've all been waiting for, the beach! As soon as I checked in to my hotel, I made the short 1/2 mile walk to the nearest beach access. This was a much different beach than I have ever visited. It was amazing, from the color of the water to the gigantic rocks to the tide pools and their ebb and flow. I apologize now for the picture overload; I can't help it. I was overcome.
Look at the alien-like underwater plants left visible as the tide went out. WEIRD!!!
Finally, tonight for dinner I went Mexican. I ate at Michael's Grill & Taquiria. It is no-frills, order at the counter, fix your own drink hole-in-the-wall. As with many hole-in-the-wall establishments though, the food served was amazing. I had something like a burrito which they called a wrap, (They had burritos too.) which was delicious. I stole the picture below from online, but it looks just like mine. I may even return tomorrow; it was THAT good. Another good thing is that I only paid $6.62!
No comments:
Post a Comment