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Destination: Monterey, CA

Travel With Family Series

By Story and photos by Deborah Stone October 8, 2015
The central California coast is a veritable playground for families, many who have made it their annual vacation destination for years. With its numerous parks, beaches and reserves, this area has been called the “greatest meeting of land, sea and sky.” The natural beauty of the Monterey Peninsula draws visitors, but it is also the endless activities that keep them coming back.

For families, Monterey serves as an ideal base to explore not only the city, but its surrounding environs. Within this charming seaside town, there are several must-dos. Start exploring historic Monterey by visiting John Steinbeck’s Cannery Row. Follow the yellow tiles on the Old Monterey sidewalks for a self-guided walking tour past sites of architectural, artistic and historical interest. This waterfront street once used to be a mecca for sardine canning factories. Today, it’s a family-friendly locale with restaurants, shops (plenty of pirate stores which the kids love!) and the famed Monterey Bay Aquarium. Rated the nation’s top aquarium, this aquarium is chockfull of mesmerizing displays of fascinating sea creatures. The Ocean’s Edge galleries, for example, will amaze you with its three-story living kelp forest, above and below the surface views of playful sea otters and a walk-through wave crash experience. The Outer Bay galleries provide a nose-to-nose experience with giant tunas, sea turtles and sharks, as well as the always mysterious living jellies. You can also visit a coral reef kingdom, check out the giant Pacific octopus and watch the comedic penguins get fed. As the aquarium is perched on the edge of Monterey Bay, it makes the perfect vantage point to spot wildlife cavorting in the water below.

To get an even closer, more personal experience with the sea life, join a guided kayak trip. Paddling in the waters around Monterey Bay is great fun, not to mention good exercise, for the entire clan. You’ll be in the company of a host of ocean wildlife as you explore one of the nation’s largest marine sanctuaries. Kids will delight in seeing the seals sunning themselves and the sea otters feeding, while finding themselves accompanied by frolicking sea lions swimming under and around their boat. It’s like paddling through a marine biology textbook!

After all that exercise, head to Ghirardelli Ice Cream & Chocolate Shop in Cannery Row, where you can sit on the patio and enjoy the ocean views. Or stop by at the Nestle Toll House Cafe for some piping hot chocolate cookies. Either way, you’re in for a decadent treat!

Whale watching is another popular activity in Monterey, as are the bay cruises. You can find companies that offer both down at Old Fisherman’s Wharf, along with a myriad of eateries, each boasting the best fresh seafood and clam chowder. And of course, there are the proverbial kitschy souvenir stores and sketch artists, who will ply you with offers to get your caricature drawn.

If you need a place for the kids to expend some more energy, take them to Dennis the Menace Playground. Developed and partially funded by Hank Ketcham, the creator of the well-known comic strip, this beloved municipal playground is a winner. Plan on spending a few hours here, as play structures of every kind abound, including a climbing wall, a maze made of hedges with a lookout tower, old steam engine, suspension bridge, tunnels and slides. There’s even a statue of Dennis himself.

For the ultimate outdoors experience, make a beeline for Big Sur (roughly 30 miles from Monterey along spectacular Highway 1) and its wild and beautiful beaches. Many are located within the various state parks that dot the coastline and require at least a short hike to reach. Andrew Molera State Park is the largest state park in the area with a wide, scenic, mile-long path leading to a sandy beach that’s sheltered from the windy by a large bluff. The path takes you through a meadow filled with wildflowers and sycamore trees, offering nice views of the coastal mountain range to the east. It also parallels the Big Sur River, which enters the sea next to the beach.

Pfeiffer Beach is Big Sur’s most popular coastal access point. A short, well-marked path takes to you to a breathtaking stretch of sand with towering cliffs and a large arch shaped rock formation just off shore. Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, not to be confused with the above locale, is a hiker’s paradise with its stately redwood groves, river walks and picturesque views of McWay Falls. The widest expanse of sand can be found at Sand Dollar Beach, reached by a well-built stairway. This crescent-shaped stretch is well-protected from the wind by bluffs and has possibly the mildest weather. Two miles south is Jade Cove, a favorite of beachcombers and rockhounds for its jade reserves.

Though Highway 1 is the granddaddy of them all when it comes to California’s scenic coastal highways, the 17-Mile Drive is also worth mentioning. This route takes you through an exclusive neighborhood amid the majestic Del Monte Forest and along the ocean. Some of the highpoints include Spanish Bay, where Spanish explorer Don Gaspar de Portola and his crew camped in 1769 while searching for Monterey Bay; Bird Rock, the home to countless shorebirds and groups of harbor seals and sea lions; the Lone Cyprus, one of California’s most enduring landmarks which has prevailed on its rocky perch for more than 250 years; and the Ghost Tree, a unique Monterey cypress with its trunk bleached white from the wind giving it an eerie silhouette. The road also passes by several noted golf courses, most prominent being legendary Pebble Beach. For kids, the 17-Mile Drive provides an opportunity to play “eye-spy” with the various points of interest that are detailed in the map provided at the start of the route.

Your family will never lack for things to see and do in Monterey. The iconic California experiences they’ll have are guaranteed to provide a host of memorable vacation moments.

For all things Monterey: www.seemonterey.com