On a trip to California in November 2017, we chose to make a stop in Monterey because of the exotic name and its position on the map between two destinations on the Amtrak train line between San Fransisco and Oxnard.

Plimoth and Massachusetts are about the pilgrim settlers searching for freedom to exercise their faith on the East coast. This place on the west coast is connected with Spanish adventurers or missionaries about the same time in the 1600s.

Downtown Monterey

Downtown Monterey

The area belonged initially to Native Americans then came under Spanish rule, Mexican and at last American in 1846. From Wikipedia

Monterey was the site of the Battle of Monterey on July 7, 1846, during the Mexican–American War. It was on this date that John D. Sloat, Commodore in the United States Navy, raised the U.S. flag over the Monterey Custom House and claimed California for the United States.

I enjoyed the two days stay as you can reach everything on foot. The nearest train station is Salinas, and from there you get an Amtrak bus to Monterey. I will never forget that the driver called us by our names to check that we had booked.

I liked the thought that Scottish author Roberts Louis Stevenson had walked in these streets and stayed in a hotel which is still there today. He benefitted from the climate as he had suffered since his childhood from severe health problems. The town has several signs about him in the area where he stayed. The coast and history was the background for his children’s story, The Treasure Island.

Information of the house where Robert Stevenson stayed in Monterey in 1879

The house where Robert Stevenson stayed in 1879

The house where Robert Stevenson stayed in 1879

Historical sights in Monterey

The Old Whaling Station built with adobe bricks by Scottish David Wright as his family home before he deserted the town due to the Gold Rush in 1849. In 1855 it became the Whaling Station and restored back to a family residence in 1903. Today it’s a museum and a place for hosting events. At the front entrance is a rare whalebone vertebra sidewalk. Inside the house, the staircase has a burglar step. The second step from the bottom is taller than the rest. An intruder would fall down and alert the residents by the noise.

The Pacific House’s Memory Gardens

The old adobe was built in 1847 by David Wight. Later Whale House

The old adobe was built in 1847 by David Wight. Later Whale House

The old adobe was built in 1847 by David Wight. Later Whale House

Old Town Monterey

A blurred picture of the staircase with the burglar step

The State park outside The Pacific House, Monterey, California

From a postcard. First Brick House in California, 1847, Monterey, Cal.

The first Brick House from 1847. From now on the buildings in Monterey would last. The builder Gallant Dickinson never finished his construction but left for the Gold Rush.

The Old Custom House built by the Mexicans in 1829. It is the oldest government building in California, and a historic landmark and the area around is a State Historic Park. In the building, volunteers explain the things on display like tea and building materials and fur. The photos below also show some from the Pacific House Museum in the same area.

From a postcard. Old Custom House, Monterey, California

Custom House Plaza. Monterey State Historic Park

Pacific House Museum in Monterey

Custom House in old town Monterey

Old Town Monterey

The Custom House at Monterey. The oldest government building in California

The Pacific House Museum at Monterey Historic Park

A poster on The Custom House at Monterey. The oldest government building in California

The historic sights were close at hand in the small old town a more serious matter for us was to go to a grocery store to get something to eat in their deli. In Denmark, we are spoiled to be able to go by public transportation. We found a bus stop where it said that the bus ran on Thanksgiving and Christmas. With my husband’s hip replacement done two months earlier, the trip uphill to the shopping centre was a challenge. At that time we didn’t know about Uber or Lyft. One day more and we would have walked to Carmel, another pearl on the coast nearby.

Roses flowering in November in Monterey

Street flowers in November in Monterey

A rose at Custom House in old town Monterey

An exotic flower at Custom House in old town Monterey

From the harbour and coast of Monterey

A poster at the coast on the first Spanish adventurers at Monterey

A view from the pier at Monterey

The coast at Monterey

Pelicans at the coast at Monterey