Ghosts along the seaside

Pruneland, CA – The day was quite overcast today, but it didn’t rain, which may have disap-pointed some, but not us.  We headed south on State Highway 101, to have a closer look at Monterey, passing huge fields of vegetables growing in lush green rows. Castroville, along our route, is the Artichoke Capital of the World, and we saw enormous crops of the exotic plants, with their long spiky leaves.

We turned in to Monterey and kept the shore to our right. First, we passed the wharves, with scores of sailboats bobbing in the water.  Soon after, we were on Cannery Row, an upscale part of town named by author John Steinbeck, who lived in this area.  In his time, it really was a cannery row where sardines were brought in from the sea and crammed into little square cans with keys on the bottom.

The market for sardines dropped precipitously after the war, and the rundown, crumbling buildings were abandoned. The area has been transformed by boutiques, gourmet restaurants and hotels now.

Further south along the coast are craggy rocks where the waves crash in and seagulls congregate.  We got out and sat on a small stone bench to watch the sea for a while.  I noticed black things clustered in the water at some distance out, probably dolphins.  A local woman came by and she said they could be orcas, as they’d been spotted in the bay in the last few days.  A whale watching boat was out, she said, and they only went out when the orcas and whales are migrating.  We were glad not to be aboard, given the rough state of the water and the height of the waves.

We continued around the shoreline, and then stopped at the entry gate of the scenic 17-Mile Drive. It’s a toll road, and they give you a map outlining the special sites, such as Pebble Beach Golf Course, the Del Monte Forest, and the site of the Monterey Peninsula Country Club where the 11^th Cavalry held riding and saber practice sessions in the 1920s. There were also lots of very expensive and lovely homes.

By this time, the cloud cover had become outright fog, so the tall native pines and cypress trees took on a ghostly appearance as we drove through the forested parts of the circular route.  Closer to the shore, some of the cypress trees were so weathered, they appeared to be bleached, and one of them is called The Ghost Tree. 

With sea-food on our minds, we returned to Cannery Row for a delicious lunch at The Fish Hopper, seated on the verandah with whooshing waves crashing below us.  Our home-made tri-coloured pasta was mixed with shrimp, lobster and crab and topped with fresh Parmesan cheese. Yum.

And, since today is Pancake Day, we also went out for dinner, at the International House of Pancakes, known here as IHOP.  The place really was hopping and we found out why when we finally got our seats: the pancakes were free, and they were raising funds for the Children’s Wish Foundation hospitals across the country. The flapjacks were so big and fluffy I could only eat half my serving!