The tour was great! This is a spectacular place to visit and we had great weather. Our guide, Max, said it was the nicest day he had ever seen there and he had been a volunteer for five years. We were told that on really windy days, the walk would not have been as enjoyable. Here's a good description of the tour and the lightstation from a blog I found on the web:
http://back40feet.blogspot.com/2010/11/point-sur-light-station.html
One thing not mentioned in the above is the displays about the Macon disaster in the museum. This was very interesting especially to anyone that enjoys learning about the history of American aviation:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Macon_%28ZRS-5%29
After our wonderful tour, we drove out the long driveway back to Highway 1 and drove north to Garrapata State Beach after stopping at the Bixby Bridge.
We had bought sandwiches in Carmel on our way down to Point Sur and we had some cold drinks. It's funny that the air was completely still up at Point Sur but once we got to Garrapata (just a few miles away), the wind had picked up considerably. So, for the second day in a row, we had to find shelter behind a cliff to enjoy our picnic on the beach. Garrapata, by the way, is another beautiful beach and very easy to access since it's right along the highway.
Being well fed, we headed back to Pacific Grove. There was still another lighthouse to visit. Point Pinos Lighthouse was built in 1855 and is the oldest continuously operating lighthouse on the West Coast. The City of Pacific Grove and the Heritage Society have done a fantastic job of preserving and maintaining the building. Several rooms have been restored to resemble what they looked like at various times in the lighthouse's history. In the basement is an excellent collection of various lighthouse apparatus and displays explaining the function of the equipment. There was also a very knowledgeable volunteer on hand to describe the history and answer questions.
Next, we drove over to the Monarch Grove Sanctuary to see the butterflies. This is a popular tourist destination and the grove is surrounded by a number of motels. While there were a good number of butterflies clustering in the Monterey pines and eucalyptus trees and fluttering about, we were told that the major migration was still a month or so away. We'd like to come back and see that.
It was still just late afternoon and it was sunny and warm so we drove over to Lover's Point to search for sea otters. It was hard to find parking because the park was packed. There were people all over the place and there was a wedding ceremony under way. It is a special place though and we were successful in spotting some otters.
We then drove out on Ocean View Blvd back towards Point Pinos and then around the point on Sunset Drive until we reached Asilomar State Beach. We walked around for a bit and then got back in the car to wait for the sunset. Although it wasn't windy anymore, the air was getting chilly. And besides, I wanted to listen to Jon Miller et al. In fact, the Giants did all of their scoring in game 3 in the 20 minutes before sunset. They were up 2-0 by the time we walked out onto the headland to catch yet another green flash. That was all the runs the Giants needed that night.
We ate at Rosines that night in downtown Monterey. The food was very good and the portions huge. There's something about the Central Coast that makes every eatery we've tried turn out large portions whether it's a deli or a regular restaurant.
We could keep up with the game by listening to the screaming from the Bulldog British Pub across the street.
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