ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, May 12, 1996 TAG: 9605140069
SECTION: TRAVEL PAGE: 6 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: MONTEREY PENINSULA, CALIF.
SOURCE: SUSANNE HOPKINS LOS ANGELES DAILY NEWS
The sun is just about to fall into the ocean - or so it seems - when I reach the Sloat Monument perched on a hill in the center of the Presidio of Monterey.
Standing here at the statue honoring Commodore John Drake Sloat and the American takeover of California nearly 150 years ago, I look out on a spectacular scene. The sunset is throwing a veil tinged in coral over Monterey Bay. Boats bob at the harbor in a pearly light, and I can see the graceful curve of the shoreline with its stretch of Del Monte State Beach to the right and the Victorian homes of Pacific Grove to the left.
It's a beautiful sight, and one few tourists to this area 300 miles or so north of the San Fernando Valley probably ever see. I might have missed it myself had it not been for Jean de la Paz, a docent at Monterey's historic Cooper-Molera House.
My mission on this trip is to find the oft-overlooked tourist gems of the three key cities of the Monterey Peninsula - to go beyond Carmel's art galleries and the 17-mile-drive, the Monterey Bay Aquarium and Fisherman's Wharf and Pacific Grove's quaint bed-and-breakfast inns.
And as with the view from the Presidio, I am discovering there is a wealth of treasures to be found here.
Monterey: There are so many historical sites in Monterey I nearly wore out a pair of walking shoes seeing them. But this is one of the pleasures of this town that was once the capital of California - you can see all of them in a walking tour that takes you from one end of the downtown area to the other, from Church Street to just beyond Del Monte Avenue.
You can walk on a path of whale bones at the Old Whaling Station; tour adobes of the 1800s, with their carriage houses and outdoor ovens; see San Carlos Cathedral, the last remaining presidio chapel in California (it dates to 1770); view the 1827 Customs House with its 1830s-style cargo (crates of dishes, coffee, almonds, saws and tin tubs apparently were popular); and visit the house Robert Louis Stevenson called home in 1879, when the idea for ``Treasure Island'' was just starting to percolate.
Many of the buildings are private businesses and not open to the public; several of the houses are open on alternate days, so you're sure to miss some. There are fees for some, others are free. Guided walking tours are available from the Monterey State Historic Park Visitor Center at Custom House Plaza (also called Stanton Center) at Fisherman's Wharf.
If you decide to hoof it alone, arm yourself with a $2 booklet, ``Historic Monterey: Path of History Walking Tour.'' Available at many of the sites, it is filled with pictures and a wealth of information about 44 places of note. There's also a free map available from a variety of merchants.
At Custom House Plaza, you'll also find the Maritime Museum of Monterey. This is a good place to start the walk even if you go on your own because a short documentary on Monterey's history is shown in the same building, free of charge.
The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday, with extended summer hours. Admission is $5 adults, $4 for senior citizens and active-duty military, $3 for youth aged 13 to 18, $2 children aged 6 to 12. Information: (408) 373-2469.
And don't forget the Presidio (and the view, of course). Developed as a temporary billet for troops returning in 1902 from the Philippine Insurrection, the Presidio is now home to the Defense Language Institute. But the public is invited to visit - for free - the dozen historical sights (including the monument to Sloat and another to the Rev. Serra) scattered throughout the facility. There's even a small U.S. Army-run museum that contains artifacts and dioramas spanning the Ohlone Indian, Spanish, Mexican and American eras. Admission is free; hours vary.
Carmel-by-the-Sea: It is early morning, cool with a touch of fog, and the mile-square town of Carmel is still asleep. It's a perfect time to walk the Mission Trail.
Stretching from the juncture of Mountain View and Crespi avenues above the village to Rio Road and the Carmel Mission, this is a 35-acre wonderland of trails, redwood and toyon groves, wildflowers and scenic vistas.
There are benches along the five miles of trails where one can sit and enjoy the views, and there is the Lester Rowntree Native Plant Garden, where trees, shrubs and plants indigenous to California are grown for exhibition and study.
You can reach the trail via Crespi Avenue, Rio Road, Hatton Road or 11th Avenue off Junipero Avenue. Limited parking is available at the Rio entrance. One caution: Poison oak is prevalent. Stay on the trails.
Once, it towered over a windswept, barren hill called Carmel Point, overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Now, Tor House is crowded by multistory houses rising between Stewart Way and Ocean View Avenue just off Scenic Avenue.
But once I have located it, I am enchanted. This is poet-playwright Robinson Jeffer's house, a handmade haven of stone.
Tours are only on Fridays and Saturdays between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., and reservations are required (call 408-624-1813). Cost is $5 for adults, $3.50 for college students and $1.50 for other students. No children under 12 are allowed.
Mission San Carlos Borremeo Del Rio Carmelo, or Carmel Mission, has a secret.
``The mission has a wonderful museum that most people don't know about,'' Toni Jepson, executive director of the Carmel Business Association, tells me.
Actually, there are two museums. The Museum of Father (Junipero) Serra, founder of California's chain of missions, displays religious relics, such as handsome altar bells, tabernacles, candle stands, even a vestment worn by Pope John Paul II when he visited nearby Laguna Seca in 1987.
The little museum displays fragments of the founding cross, a vestment legend says Serra wore at the founding Mass, bells and tools, as well as photos of the restoration work.
The mission, at 3080 Rio Road, is open from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday; 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Sundays. Donation is $2.
Pacific Grove: This former tent city squeezed in between Carmel and Monterey has been called ``the best-kept secret of the Monterey Peninsula'' by more than one writer. It's a pleasant place filled with ice cream-colored Victorian homes, nationally known bed-and-breakfast inns and an inviting promenade that stretches along the beach all the way to Monterey and affords glimpses of playful otters and other creatures.
Most years, it also plays host to millions of black and orange monarch butterflies (Pacific Grove calls itself ``Butterfly Town U.S.A.''). They usually hang out at the Monarch Grove Sanctuary near Lighthouse Avenue and Ridge Road from October through March. But for the last two years, for some unknown reason, only a few thousand have wintered here. (If you see any, don't bug them - Pacific Grove will slap a $500 fine on anyone found molesting butterflies). There's no charge, but the sanctuary can be a little tough to find. The entrance is a narrow path squished in between a hotel and a row of new homes.
And if your passion is John Steinbeck or Victorian homes and cottages, you can take advantage of two tours.
Hop in your car for the Steinbeck tour, which takes you past the famed author's own cottage, as well as places that appeared in his books.
The architectural tour is best done on foot, so you can drink in the details of these oft-storybooklike abodes that range from stately Victorians and Queen Annes to Mediterranean mansions and clapboard cottages.
For information on the tours, check with the Chamber of Commerce across from the natural history museum at the corner of Forest and Central avenues. Or call the office at (408) 373-3304.
LENGTH: Long : 137 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: SANDRA BROWN KELLY. 1. Bixby Bridge in Big Sur (topby CNBphoto) is one of world's most photographed. 2. Windswept cypress
trees are a trademark of the drive along Highway 2. One of the
sculptures in the gardens at the Henry Miller Library in Big Sur, 40
minutes from Monterey. 4. Sailboats are as plentiful as birds and
seals in Monterey Bay. There is a wealth of oft-overlooked tourist
gems of the three key cities of the Monterey Peninsula. color.