California Central Coast
California, USA · Monterey · Carmel
2 places pinned — click any one for its story.
The place
California's Central Coast is the fog-wrapped stretch between the Bay Area and Santa Barbara — Monterey and its world-class aquarium, storybook Carmel-by-the-Sea, the surf town of Santa Cruz, and the wild cliffs of Big Sur. Otters in the kelp, cypress bent flat by the wind, and Highway 1 threading it all together. One of our most-visited getaways.
Places I visited
History & facts for each spot — with a “then & now” archival photo where one exists. Every one has its own page; open it for the full write-up and all the photos.
The old Spanish and Mexican capital of California, later a sardine port — Cannery Row went from stinking canneries to Steinbeck's novel to an aquarium built inside the last of them.
Full history & photos →Read more on Wikipedia →Archival photo: The city of Monterey, California 1842 (NYPL Hades-118665-54791) (cropped) — Wikimedia Commons
Carmel-by-the-Sea: a village of cottages with no street numbers, white sand under cypress, and the 1771 mission where Junípero Serra is buried.
Full history & photos →Archival photo: View of Carmel City — Wikimedia Commons