In the first part of our exploration of Monterey, Calif., we had just started delving into the early history, historic sites and attractions found in this beautiful region located along California’s beautiful Central Coast region just 120 miles south of San Francisco, 70 miles south of San Jose and 345 miles north of Los Angeles.
Whether one decides to visit for a weekend or a longer vacation stay, one will find a wealth of hotels, motels, bed-and-breakfasts and other lodging options in the area to suit their needs and budget.
Among them are the Lighthouse Lodge & Cottages, Comfort Inn Monterey by the Sea, El Adobe Inn, Carmel Inn and Suites, Lone Oak Lodge, Aloha Motel, Seven Gables Inn, Andril Cottages, Coachman’s Inn and Merritt House Inn, Among others.
The larger hotels and resort properties include the Hotel Pacific, Monterey Bay Inn, Courtyard Salinas Monterey, Holiday Inn Express Monterey-Cannery Row, Embassy Suites Monterey Bay-Seaside, Casa Munras Hotel & Spa and Carmel Valley Ranch.
For our stay, we chose the Portola Plaza Hotel and Spa at Monterey Bay, a beautiful full-service resort encompassing 379 spacious, nautical-themed guestrooms and suites with all the amenities you would expect to find in an upscale accommodation of this size.
Among them are custom-made beds and Euro bedding, 42-inch Energy Star flat-screen televisions, eco-friendly bath products, in-room refrigerators and nightly turndown service. Some of the rooms are also designated as pet friendly.
Amenities around the property include a 24-hour fitness center, several wine lounges, galleries and shops, a 24-hour business center and the Spa on the Plaza, which offers a wide array of therapeutic treatments, massages and salon services for both men and women, and is within just a few steps of the hotel’s heated pool, Jacuzzi and cabanas.
Normally, I prefer smaller hotel properties that provide an intimate feel. However, it’s obvious that the staff here at the Portola take great pride in providing their own unique flavor and flair and close attention to detail and personal service so that guests—whether here for leisure or business—enjoy all the benefits of a boutique environment. Despite its size, it really did feel quaint, like we were among only a handful of guests.
One of the greatest benefits of the hotel is that it is within walking distance of several of the city’s popular tourist attractions, including the Monterey Bay Aquarium and Cannery Row, as well as restaurants, shops and historical sites.
The Portola also offers dining options at Jacks Restaurant & Lounge, an upscale yet relaxed restaurant serving excellent fresh, locally and internationally inspired breakfasts, lunches and dinners, with the lounge serving specialty cocktails and premier wines in a Hearth Room-fashioned ambiance.
For delicious casual fare, there’s the immensely popular Peter B’s Brewpub. More than just a bar, Peter B’s, Monterey’s only craft brewery, offers a very casual but more refined brewpub ambience with menu options that go far beyond your typical pub fare, such as Pacific Cod ceviche, a roasted salmon Nicoise salad, a Southern-style barbecue sandwich, house-made sausages and seafood linguini, among other delicious options.
Whether you are a staunch beer aficionado or just a passing sipper, I highly recommend getting a beer flight, which beautifully highlights their unique offerings, tastes and brewing styles. They also offer special Brewer’s Dinners with the Brewer and Executive Chef.
If wine is more your style, you’re in luck because the Monterey Wine Country here features more than 50 wineries and 40 wine tasting rooms, which aptly showcase the region’s diverse grape varietals and vineyards that have played a major role in the agri-tourism industry here for generations.
THE FINER SIDE OF LIFE
The artistic and performing arts are integral parts of Monterey’s cultural landscape and among the top reasons visitors come here so often. From paintings to sculptures, photography, woodwork, blown glass, watercolor drawings, textiles and beadwork, you will find it and more at more than 125 galleries and art spaces, which exhibit the works of hundreds of local regional and national artists. You will also find several art and gallery associations and art walks that do a great job of highlighting the wealth of talent around the county.
World-class museums here include the Monterey Museum of Art, which has two locations—the downtown museum, which is devoted to exhibitions of American and early California painting, photography and contemporary art, and the La Mirada location, focusing on more contemporary works of art.
The National Steinbeck Center, located in nearby Salinas, is actually the birthplace of Nobel Prize-winning author John Steinbeck and features several themed galleries of artifacts, interactive and traveling exhibits, photographs, film clips, special art programs and events, and educational resources.
Opened in 1883 as one of America’s first natural history museums, the Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History offers several permanent and annual exhibitions and collections focusing on geology, native plant gardens, biodiversity, wildlife and other aspects of the natural Monterey County environment.
On the performance side of things there’s the Pacific Repertory Theatre in Carmel, the Central Coast region’s only year-round professional theater; the Monterey Symphony, celebrating its 69th season of presenting “the vibrant spectrum of classical music with a brilliant range of performances and guest artists from all over the world”; and the Sunset Cultural Center in Carmel-by-the-Sea, featuring chamber music, dance, opera, symphony, ballet and other performances.
The Monterey area is also widely known for its annual Monterey Jazz Festival (celebrating 58 years in 2015), Monterey Bay Blues Festival and Carmel Bach Festival, among other music events.
We’ve got one last look at the Monterey area to visit two unique and quite unexpected yet delightful finds that add to what makes this destination so special.
Lysa Allman Baldwin is a freelance writer and the publisher and editor of Amazing Escapades, offering “Adventures for the Mind, Bod and Belly” (www.amazingescapades.com).