Corral de Tierra (Spanish for Wall of Earth) describes the enveloping arms of the Santa Lucia Mountains that isolate this valley from the flatlands and cooler climate close to Monterey Bay. Steinbeck called this bucolic setting of his first California novel (1932) Las Pasturas del Cielo (The Pastures of Heaven). This book tells the story of the Monroe family whose...
Marine scientist Ed Ricketts explored tide pools from Alaska to Mexico searching for specimens for his Pacific Biological Laboratories business and for insight into the relationships between all living things. Eric Enno Tamm wrote in Beyond the Outer Shores: “Arguably more than any scientist of his time, Ed Ricketts saw the tide pool as the place where celestial and worldly...
Point Pinos Lighthouse beacon has flashed a warning to shipping at the dangerous southern entrance to Monterey Bay since February 1855. It is the oldest continuously operating lighthouse on the West Coast and is on the National Register of Historic Places. Steinbeck used the lighthouse and its setting overlooking rugged Point Pinos (Point of the Pines) in several novels and...
As a boy Steinbeck swam in swimming holes near Spreckels and hunted rabbits near the Davis Road ford of the Salinas River. He featured its seasonal moods in many of his California stories; “The Salinas was only a part-time river”. Devastating winter floods followed by extended summer drought are vividly described in East of Eden. The river also appears in...
Who wouldn’t want to golf on bluffs at ocean’s edge? That’s probably what the Del Monte Properties Company (run by by a distant cousin of telegraph inventor Samuel F.B. Morse) had in mind when they acquired much the Del Monte Forest back in 1919. They soon opened Pebble Beach Golf Links and The Lodge at Pebble Beach, and they’ve been...
The Lone Cypress® is so iconic, the Pebble Beach Company registered it as its official trademark emblem. More than 250 years old, the tree stands as a symbol of survival — it sprouts from rocks (go figure) and has weathered many a storm. It’s anchored by steel cables to a rock to keep it from falling over. You can see...
For around $10 you can drive along one of the world’s most scenic roads. It winds through private Pebble Beach, an 8,400-acre complex of nature preserves, world-class golf courses, resorts and stately residences. Pick up a map at the gate and stop at the numbered destinations with interpretive info. Stops you won’t want to miss: Crocker Marble Palace, The Lone...