The pearl is still intact. John Steinbeck would be pleased.
That’s how the famed American author characterized Monterey at dawn in his 1945 classic “Cannery Row.” “Early morning is a time of magic,” he wrote, “when the Row seems to hang suspended out of time in a silvery light. The corrugated iron of the canneries glows with the pearly lucence of platinum or old pewter. . . . It is a time of great peace.”
You can still find the pearl today. Now, as then, however, you just have to get up real early.
The hubbub of Steinbeck’s day, generated by a mammoth canning operation that nearly obliterated the sardine fishery along the central California coast, has been replaced by a tourism enterprise that is nearly as vast. Travelers can’t seem to resist this charming coastal village 120-some miles south of San Francisco, and for good reason.
It combines a cool, gentle climate with the wonders of a protected bay that now teems with marine life. Along its shores, photo ops — worthy of postcards — abound, with Monterey’s trademark cypress trees and jumbles of offshore rocks accenting nearly every vista. The understated architecture of downtown, which features numerous adobe buildings dating to Mexican rule in the early 1800s, complements the entire scene.
As a direct result, shops sell everything from shell necklaces to fudge. Waterfront restaurants do brisk business. Rental outlets hawk kayaks, surreys, in-line skates and scuba tanks. Tours of both land and sea are kept busy. But somehow, none of this seems to undermine the attractiveness of Monterey as a destination.
It’s in the early morning, before the hordes of visitors descend, that you can really gain a measure and an appreciation of the place — and understand why it proved to be so beguiling to Steinbeck.
Aside from the occasional delivery truck, the streets are deserted. The water laps at the ruins of canning operations abandoned 40 years ago. The air is filled with the screeching of gulls (it almost sounds like laughter sometimes), mixed with the barking of sea lions and the noisy cries of crows.
Look out on just about any cluster of rocks offshore, and you’re sure to spy sea lions sprawled listlessly — they’re clearly not morning types. Take a walk along the Coast Guard pier, and you might see, as I did, a gull wrestling with a starfish it had plucked from a submerged rock. Or an entire convention of pelicans using the rocks at the end of the pier as their private base of airborne operations. Or an otter suddenly appearing from the kelp beds and chomping on breakfast as it glided through the water on its back.
“A deserted time,” Steinbeck wrote, “a little era of rest.”
Monterey’s appeal does not vanish with the sunrise, though.
Savor it by renting a bike and riding along an abandoned rail bed out toward the lighthouse on Point Pinos, or around the bend and down to Asilomar Beach. Rent a kayak for a paddle-power trip out onto the bay — which is mercifully tranquil in summer. Take a self-guided walking tour of the adobes downtown.
One of the best — and most obvious — places to begin an exploration of Monterey is at its aquarium, which is considered without peer on this coast.
It is housed on the grounds of the old Hovden Cannery. And therein lies a terrific irony: An operation that once treated the sea as a boundless supermarket, wresting as much commercial fish product from it as humanly possible, has given way to an institution that strives to protect the marine ecosystem and educate visitors as to its fragility. A significant stretch of these offshore waters, in fact, is a National Marine Sanctuary.
Best advice: After entering the main doors, pass by the gift shop and an information desk, turn slightly right and cross the hallway to the base of a stairway. Here, next to an enormous wall of glass, is a sign announcing the times of the day’s sea otter feedings in this tank.
It’s an attraction not to be missed. A biologist stands on a rocky ledge and tosses squid, clams and other morsels into the water. The otters plunge into the depths to retrieve them, then surface to spin onto their backs and chomp on them, cracking shells with their strong front teeth, if necessary.
Understandably, the aquarium is an enormously popular stop for visitors to Monterey, and when they’re finished examining the various creatures of the deep, they pour out onto Cannery Row. The Row stands ready for them.
It’s been thoroughly restored since its days of dilapidation in the 1960s. During its commercial heyday, this was a hectic, noisy, frightfully smelly place. Sardines were unloaded from fishing boats, then beheaded, cleaned, stuffed into cans, doused with tomato sauce or oil and steam-cooked through the tin.
Covered walkways over the street linked the waterfront canning operations with upslope warehouses. A railway ran alongside the rear doors of the warehouses, and the canned sardines — some 250,000 tons a year during the peak operations in the ’30s and ’40s — were loaded into boxcars for shipment.
Today, the stink of rotting fish is long gone, and fresh paint covers buildings that were constructed in the style of the canneries of old. This might be the only place in America, though, where a massive restoration project created a demand for corrugated tin.
In some places, remnants of the former canning operations still stand. Next to the waterfront Spindrift Inn, for example, are crumbling concrete bins that were once used to store sardines fresh from the catch.
The establishments along the Row sell just about everything: chocolates, socks, pizza by the slice, kites, cinnamon rolls, sunglasses, seascape oil paintings, sweat shirts, Christmas ornaments, ice cream, magnets, Thai food, jewelry, sea otter penny souvenirs . . . everything, it seems, but canned fish.
Monterey offers many delights for the explorer.
The Path of History self-guided walking tour follows a 2-mile route downtown and takes in important historic sites and gardens. Free map/brochures can be picked up at several locations, including the visitors’ bureau desk at the Maritime Museum, 5 Custom House Plaza (831-649-1770).
In the days of Mexican rule, one-story structures were favored, but that all changed when American consul Thomas O. Larkin began building a home for himself in 1835. He threw up a second story, with a veranda all the way around, and Monterey Colonial architecture was born.
The house, at the corner of Calle Principal and Jefferson, is included on the walking tour. Its grounds also include a building that served as the quarters of William Tecumseh Sherman on a visit in the mid-19th Century. It is devoid of exterior plaster, so every detail of the intricate adobe construction is visible. Its walls are two feet thick — essential for cooling in the days before air conditioning.
Also not to be missed are the gardens in the courtyard of the Cooper-Molera Adobe complex (corner of Alvarado and Pearl).
Lush gardens, in fact, are one of the unexpected highlights of the walk. They are found at most homes and many businesses along the route, and it’s obvious great care goes into maintaining them. There are bursts of roses, hydrangea, Matilija poppies and agapanthus, as well as mature, gnarled olive and pepper trees that enhance the sense of stepping back in time.
Flowers that reside at the edge of the sea are another Monterey feature. Tide pools can be found at San Carlos Beach, between the Coast Guard Pier and Cannery Row, and, particularly if you have youngsters along, this educational opportunity should not be missed.
At low tide, you can wade out among the rocks just offshore and observe the life that thrives in the tide pools. There is an entire colony of anemones here, some of them as big as salad plates. Yes, they do look just like flowers, but many a tiny fish has made the mistake of attempting to rest for a moment amid those soft petals, only to sense their stickiness, too late, as the anemone folds inward on its meal.
Have your kids gently run a finger along the center of this creature to trigger the effect.
Another excellent way to explore Monterey and its neighboring coastal communities is to rent a bike. Most of the peninsula is flat, so you don’t have to worry about any uphill surprises on the ride back.
The rail bed for the line that once served the canneries is now concreted over, creating a wide pathway for bicyclists, walkers, roller-skaters and people pushing strollers. It spans seven miles, including a one-mile stretch south of Cannery Row through Pacific Grove.
Pause to enjoy the park at Lovers Point, then continue south along Ocean View Boulevard and Sunset Drive (the latter has a striped bike path in each direction) for spectacular views of this serene stretch of coastline. At various points, wood benches have been constructed, many beneath Monterey’s trademark cypress trees, for unhurried contemplation of the rocks, kelp beds and creatures of the bay.
On the ride back into town, it’s natural to reflect on the colorful characters Steinbeck portrayed in “Cannery Row” and its sequel, “Sweet Thursday”: Dora Flood, Doc, Lee Chong, Mack and the boys. They moved on when Steinbeck’s imagination did, along with the immigrants and Depression-era drifters who once performed the cold, wet, smelly work of canning fish before the operations shut down for good.
In their place are tourists from points just as far-flung, speaking in many accents and languages as they peer at protected marine life at the aquarium, pick through souvenirs on the Row and leisurely enjoy the many charms of Monterey.
Maybe the visitors of today can’t resist the pearl either.
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IF YOU GO
– GETTING THERE
Monterey is about 115 miles south of San Francisco or 325 miles north of Los Angeles. Several airlines fly into Monterey.
– AQUARIUM
It sits at the south end of Cannery Row. Between Labor Day and Memorial Day, it is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; closed Christmas. During the summer and on all other holidays, it is open 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. Admission is $15.95 for adults, $12.95 for seniors (ages 65 and up) and students, $6.95 for children (ages 3-12) and the disabled. Splash Zone, a kids-oriented area featuring numerous hands-on exhibits, is scheduled to open April 8, 2000. 831-648-4888; www.mbayaq.org.
– LODGING
Inns of Monterey operates four small, tasteful hotels in the area, with nightly rates generally ranging from $179 to $429 (continental breakfast included) and package rates available. The oceanfront Spindrift Inn, situated in the heart of Cannery Row, was found to be a delightful property, with fireplaces, featherbeds, window seats — and no extra charge for the ocean breezes that waft through the rooms. Street-side rooms can be a bit noisy, however, especially with dance clubs and nighttime construction projects directly across the street, but the hotel staff promptly provided a box fan to help muffle the intrusion. Information on all four hotels: 800-232-4141. www.innsofmonterey.com.
– DINING
On the oceanfront at Cannery Row, Paradiso Trattoria (654 Cannery Row) was a pleasant lunchtime option, serving up an extensive array of seafood. A short distance away, in downtown Monterey, excellent dinners were found at both Montrio (414 Calle Principal) and Stokes Adobe (500 Hartnell St.). Tarpy’s Roadhouse, on the outskirts of Monterey (2999 Monterey-Salinas Highway), combined some intriguing lunch choices with a comprehensive wine list.
– INFORMATION
The Monterey County Visitors & Convention Bureau will mail out a 120-page brochure that includes information on attractions, lodging and dining. 831-649-1770. www.monterey.com.
