Monterey, CA Trip Report

**macnut** · 11-28-2020, 09:37 PM

Before Thanksgiving we took a little trip to the Monterey Bay coast for some kayaking and biking. We hope you enjoy reading our trip report about it!
Al & Deb

https://mobilemosers.com/2020/11/28/monterey-ca-113/

**Eagle5** · 11-28-2020, 10:10 PM

Hi Al & Deb,
The colors of the water are stunning. So often in South Bend, the color of the water just isn't that blue, but if you look off in the distance, maybe just a little?
We never had Pelicans when I was growing up, but about 30 years ago, they started to show-up out in the Willapa Bay. Don't they look like Pterodactyls?
Thank you for another great report.
Eagle5

**macnut** · 11-28-2020, 11:20 PM

Still, what a beautiful area. I look forward to visiting someday. I wonder what attracted the pelicans? I assume the fish. :-)

Elkman · 12-05-2020, 07:20 PM

I grew up in southern California and spent a good deal of my time at Malibu or Laguna Beach but I was in my twneties before I saw my first flock of brown pelicans. The DDT ban that took place in 1972 by the EPA that was created under President Richard Nixon. In terms of protecting the environment he was the best president in US history.

**macnut** · 12-05-2020, 10:19 PM

Interesting. I didn’t know that bit of history, but I do love the coast of California and the pelicans! Thanks!

**Eagle5** · 12-05-2020, 10:34 PM

A wonderful bird is the pelican.
His bill can hold more than his belican.
He can hold in his beak
Enough food for a week,
But I’m damned if I see how the helican.

akeagle · 12-06-2020, 02:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eagle5

A wonderful bird is the pelican.
His bill can hold more than his belican.
He can hold in his beak
Enough food for a week,
But I’m damned if I see how the helican.

I learned that limerick way back when I was a Boy Scout in the 1960s!

**macnut** · 12-06-2020, 05:26 PM

Ok, Eagle5, That made me laugh! :-)

puttin · 12-10-2020, 12:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by macnut

Before Thanksgiving we took a little trip to the Monterey Bay coast for some kayaking and biking. We hope you enjoy reading our trip report about it!
Al & Deb

https://mobilemosers.com/2020/11/28/monterey-ca-113/

I was born there and lived in the area for around 15 years. The pictures are great- thanks. I miss everything that has disappeared over the years. All the great canneries that still remained after the fires there. The old San Carlos Hotel and many more shops and businesses along Alvarado St. Monterey Hospital was torn down many decades ago after the Community Hospital complex was built. The Lover's Point Inn, Borg's Motel and the like have seen a revolving door of businesses coming and going. I guess all this is like many other places over time. Again, thanks for posting this!

Drew
Merry Christmas!

Elkman · 12-11-2020, 02:02 PM

The opening of the Monterey Bay Aquarium in 1984 had a huge impact on the community with the large number of visitors it brought to the area and these were year round tourists for the first time. It was David Packard's money that funded the aquarium that his two daughters wanted to create. It was also Packard's money that enabled many groups to buy up land and protect it from development. No one has done more to protect open space and the redwoods and beaches from development than David Packard but he did it behind the scenes without fanfare.

Having seen the disappearance fo the California coast from Malibu to San Diego to where when I bicycled down Highway 1 all I could see was houses and hotels blocking the view of the ocean, I could appreciate how the creation of the Coastal Commission and Packard's money served to protect the coast around Monterey. The city of Monterey has been taking land east of the harbor and removing the buildings and turning it into more park land for the locals and the tourists. Quite the opposite of what has taken place in Southern California over the past 40 years.

**macnut** · 12-11-2020, 03:16 PM

The area has really improved over the years, from my perspective as a regular visitor. While I hate to see some of the old charm disappear, the new development has been well done. It would be hard to imagine the area without the aquarium! Still, I empathize with the old-timers that loved there many years ago.

Wayne M · 12-11-2020, 05:32 PM

Has the Hwy 1 (BIg Sur) road been repaired all the way down now?

Elkman · 12-11-2020, 06:37 PM

I have been traveling through Big Sur on Hwy 1 since 1968 and it is always in need of repair so best to phone when planning to travel. With the winter rains there will be more landslides as Caltrans work has greatly destabilized the hillsides over the years.

There is a very expensive plan to build a new section of road to the east and hopefully Caltrans will not screw it up as they have so much of the state.

**macnut** · 12-12-2020, 12:20 AM

Highway 1 appears open right now between Big Sur and Cambria!
It’s a beautiful drive, but very curvy.
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