Monday, March 1. Clouds roiled but no raindrops were falling, so after a nice breakfast, I left Phil in the midst of his teleconference meeting for my first solo trip. I drove over to Capitola, a tiny beach town cuddled between the coast and steep hills with an artistic flair. It's not so upscale or precious as Carmel, and especially on such a gray, chilly day, the brightly painted clapboard buildings seem like a bit of manmade sunshine. The shopkeepers are also very warm, brightening each time a rare rainy day customer appears. It's easy too imagine how crowded these streets must be on a sunny weekend, so I feel thankful that this pretirement excursion has given me the opportunity to linger in the shops and stroll along the beach as if I owned the place.
I also decided to do a little grocery shopping on the way home and unfortunately Highway 1 was not as idyllic as Capitola-by-the-Sea. I was shut out of the exit ramp I wanted to take so I had to take the next one and bushwhack back, getting a closer look at a few office parks than I wanted. Finally, I got there and Trader Joe's was as busy as ever. It felt good to get home and have a quiet lunch with Phil.
While I showered and changed clothes for our Valentine dinner, Phil had his second Monday teleconference. Then we headed off to Pacific Grove again. It was still chilly and cloudy but the sky had brightened a little, and Phil was excited about finally golfing at the Pacific Grove Municipal Golf Links and I looked forward to strolling around sleepy Pacific Grove. It's one of the first places I ever visited in California and way back then, it seemed a special forgotten place.
Now, it's not so forgotten. The shops along Lighthouse Avenue have been gussied up and many of the charming turn of the century residences have been refurbished. I couldn't help nosing around a few with "For Sale" signs and it seems there are still some reasonable (by California standards) prices as long as there is no ocean view. The Hart Mansion is going for $900,000 and a two bedroom a few blocks away was selling for $400,000.
The high point of my excursion was visiting the Point Pinos Lighthouse, conveniently located across the street from the golf course. The volunteer there had grown up in Long Beach and went to Lowell and Wilson. She told me about a lady lighthouse keeper, a wealthy widow who entertained Pacific Grove's finest families in her cozy quarters and I noticed a display about Robert Louis Stevenson's visit to the place. Outside again, I encountered a deer only about ten feet from me but unfortunately I did not get my camera out in time to capture the moment. There were also a gaggle of Canadian geese making life miserable for a frustrated golfer on the 10th hole.
I continued walking back towards town and stopped by the monarch butterfly grove, but the butterflies appear to have flown for the year. Along the way, I was impressed by the clever use of paint and other accents to make the vintage homes distinct. Not so flamboyant as Capitola, but still colorful and bright. I checked out the menus of several restaurants, including Fandango and Passionfish. Making a choice for dinner was not easy. There were even some tempting open air booths at the farmer's market. Finally, I decided on the Victorian Corner Restaurant, lots of variety in the menu and good mid-range prices for the entrees. I started to walk back toward the golf course when Phil called to let me know he was done and coming to pick me up.
I had eggplant parmagiana and he had butternut squash ravioli at the Victorian Corner. Our waitress was very attentive and suggested cheesecake for dessert. It was excellent. Phil told me about his round of golf. The marshall had escorted him past a party of slow golfers so he could play a few holes along the ocean. He said the views were spectacular, but the wind off the ocean was freezing. Both of us are pretty amazed at how much the rain and cold weather have affected us. We've gotten spoiled by the mild winters in Southern California, I guess. By the time we left at about 7 pm, Pacific Grove had practically shut down for the night.
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