Day 20 –San Luis Obispo and the road to Monterey
I always feel somewhat privileged to arrive in a location at a time when I can attend Mass at a historically significant sight. It happened in Portugal when I arrived at the Basilica at Fatima just as Mass was starting. And, I was at San Luis Obispo, California (SLO) for Sunday Mass at the famous 18th century Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa church. The plan was to attend Mass and then join a guided tour of the mission. At the last minute, however, the tour guide was unable to make it and there was no tour. I spent some time walking around the peaceful gardens in the mission courtyard and visiting the on-site museum. It contained a collection of artifacts from the period but little to describe the history of the mission or even to indicate that these items or even the buildings were authentically part of the original mission.
Historically, in a nutshell, the SLO Mission was part of a chain of missions established by Spain starting in the 1700’s to build their territories in the new world. SLO was established by Franciscan Father Junipero Serro in 1772 and was named after St. Louis, Bishop of Toulouse, France. It has functioned as a parish church since the second half of the 19th century.
Although, the mission itself was a bit disappointing, the acoustics in the church were great, the soprano’s voice was excellent, and they had a large gift shop that is open 7 days a week from 9 to 5.
Back on the road again, we stopped near San Simeon, probably best known for Hearst Castle, the 165 room, 3 guest house, 127 acre former estate of publishing magnate William Randall Hearst perched high on Cuesta Encantada (Enchanted Hill) overlooking the town. We saw the “castle” from the highway but didn’t take the usual tour that most tourists passing through the area wouldn’t miss. Instead we were treated to the beautiful vista that was Moonstone Beach and one other spectacle that this tourist wouldn’t have missed: hundreds of elephant seals sunning themselves on the beach. There was the occasional flip of sand, a sudden burst of song, and the entertaining neck dance which is called sparring and is nature’s way of strengthen their neck muscles so as adults, they can fight off the other males to win the female. But most of them were just lying there, resting, preparing for their long sea migration. I felt I was intruding on a private moment when one seal raised her head and looked in my direction. Her partner lying next to her raised his flipper and gently pushed her back down beside him. His flipper reminded draped across her. There, there, dear.
The rest of the drive was along a winding road that climbed high along the side of the mountain and then fell again toward the sea, then again up the side of the mountain. Intermittent construction delays enabled us to enjoy the ocean vistas and the pampas grass that sprung up in the mountain crevices in some areas and covered the mountain sides in others.
The temperature had dropped significantly by the time we reach Monterey, so the perfect end to a perfect day was the fireplace at the foot of our king sized bed.
Day 21 – Monterey Peninsula
Our tour of Monterey started with a walk around Cannery Row a former hub of sardine canneries of the early twentieth century and now a collection shops, galleries, eateries, and inns. Cannery Row was probably put on the map by John Steinbeck’s novel of the same name.
We then embarked on the “17 Mile Drive”, a self-guided road trip around the Monterey Peninsula which took us past 14 golf courses, including Pebble Beach, home of the US Open, picturesque overlooks that featured the huge Monterey Cypress trees and the Ghost Tree and delivered us to Carmel-by-the-Sea. Carmel is a very quaint, European influenced town with unique gift shops and galleries, and high end restaurants and coffee shops. If you’re looking for the typical souvenir shop in Carmel, it’s probably tucked away on a side street not really wanting to be discovered. Like small old town Europe, there is very little parking and the street signs are subtle posts on the corner near the buildings. Unique plant combinations of succulents and florals in the many border gardens add fragrance and colour to the fairytale ambience.
The temperature is even colder tonight than it was last night, around 60F. Considering that most of our trip so far has been over 90 and many days over 100, it’s a bit of a shock to be more than 30 degrees below our average. San Francisco should be slightly warmer.
Until tomorrow. . . .
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