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An often-overlooked event venue down by the entrance to Fisherman’s Wharf is the Custom’s House Plaza.  When Monterey was a trading seaport back in the 1800’s, this area housed the original Custom’s House, a warehouse, and several stores and trading businesses, as well as shipping companies taking goods to global markets and bringing in specialty items such as furniture and teas.  Today, the Custom’s House Plaza hosts weekend festivals of every type on most weekends.  There is the Greek Festival, art fairs and many more events to consider at different times of the year, such as outdoor ice-skating in the winter.  Some events sell food, others highlight painting, jewelry, sculpture and clothing.    Consider the Custom’s House Plaza as the starting point for a day of exploring Historic Monterey, as the Plaza offers tours of the original Custom’s House and the Plaza is surrounded by beautiful, manicured gardens with original adobes to investigate.  Have a lunch on Fisherman’s Wharf, peruse the gift shops for that special trip memento and buy a bottle of wine for later in your room. The weather is perfect for leisure days in Monterey.

Writer by the Sea

It’s Summer on the Monterey Peninsula and that means the summer shuttle service, is up and running until Labor Day in September.  What this means to a visitor at our hotel is added convenience of access to Cannery Row and the Monterey Bay Aquarium.   If you are planning a day of sightseeing along Cannery Row, and Fisherman’s Wharf, taking the Trolley is an easy way to make the trip.  And, it’s FREE too!   Ride along scenic spots and/or stop along the route  at Fisherman’s Wharf, Cannery Row, Monterey Bay Aquarium, Downtown Monterey.  So, park your car at Downtown Parking Garage on Tyler and Del Monte Street or Cannery Row Garage on Foam and Hoffman and let someone else drive you!   No hunting for parking spaces!  Parking is $7. Monterey Free Trolley rides

Scott, Writer by the Sea

don’t know where you are reading this from, but my guess is that it’s not as sunny and balmy as the Monterey Peninsula is right this moment. Here, we seem to have been enjoying a winter heat wave for the last month or so and the forecasts say that there are more warm days on the way. Maybe it’s time to escape the cold, snow or rain, and come for a little visit. Martin Luther King’s birthday comes on the twentieth and makes for a great long weekend getaway. Speaking of long weekends, one of the best ways to spend a vacation day would be to take your special someone on a long weekend over Valentine’s Day, which falls on a Friday this year. Nothing says “special” like one of our Romance Getaway packages complete with chocolate, wine and flowers to set the stage for presenting that someone with the perfect Valentine’s gift. Either way, enjoy the good weather while it lasts.

Had enough of the festive Thanksgiving hoopla at your house?  Is your significant other just plain tired of going through all of the pain and effort to put together a holiday feast?  Maybe this is the time to have a little Thanksgiving Getaway.  Think about it—take a day and night at our hotel on the Monterey Peninsula, maybe you have friends here or in one of the surrounding towns, if not, picture yourself and your companion in a romantic setting with one of our Romantic Getaway packages with flowers, chocolates and wine.  No more crush of people, no more harried turkey-baker and pie maker, just the warmth and relaxation of one of our cozy rooms for a night or two.  The best part is—you can show your significant other how much you appreciate all those home-baked Thanksgivings by taking them to a traditional Thanksgiving at one of the Peninsula’s fine restaurants.  There are so many Thanksgiving themes to choose from it boggles the senses.  Come to Monterey for Thanksgiving for a change of pace, enjoy our Fall colors and bring home some wine for Christmas.

Romantic Package Link:  http://www.stayatmonterey.com/special-pkg/monterey-romantic-getaway-pkg.aspx

October and November are the times when wineries up and down the Carmel and Salinas Valleys harvest their Fall crops and bring out their best seasonal wines.  Both the Carmel and Salinas Valleys are known for their varietals, especially Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs that rival anything that comes out of the Napa and Sonoma Valleys.  Our vineyards have come of age over the last twenty-five years and it really shows in the quality of wines offered by local wineries.  To celebrate the Fall wines of 2013, our hotel is offering Friday Night Wine Tasting with Cheese Parings to all of our guests through the month of November.  Tastings provided by Boutique Winery in Carmel Valley and Chateau Sinnet Winery and Vineyards.  Each event to be held between 3:00PM and 5:00PM, November 1, 8, 15, 29.  Come join us for these complimentary events and experience the comfort of our hotel.  Better yet, book a getaway starting on a Friday and get your weekend off to a great start.

Just a little ways up the coast is a favorite place for Monterey Peninsula locals to go on a daytime getaway.  Moss Landing is a tiny, picturesque fishing and antiquing village about 20-minutes North from central Monterey where a wide selection of activities and eateries can be found.  Moss Landing was originally called Moss.  The Moss post office opened in 1895, and changed its name to Moss Landing in 1917.  The name honors Charles Moss, who with a partner built a wharf there.  Moss Landing was an active, vibrant fishing port during the times of whaling and the sardine canneries.  Presently, Moss Landing is the province of artists, antique shops and a wide selection of fish and Mexican restaurants.  The “Landing” is the perfect place to spend a casual day probing the antique shops, visiting art galleries or going for an excursion on the bay.  Lunch can be had at any of the stylish restaurants to be found there.  Ask one of our Front Desk Associates for directions and literature.

Reference to Moss Landing:  http://www.mosslandingchamber.com

A little known jewel of the Monterey Peninsula is the area known as “Sand City.”  Sand City is a green conscious, artistic community of about 200 people who live, work and play by the sea.  There is something for everyone in Sand City.  Residents and tourists alike enjoy biking through town or spending the day shopping and visiting one of the local eateries, artists’ studios or magnificent coastal views.  Sand City used to be the “industrial” cul-de-sac of the Monterey Peninsula, but as industry struggled to survive the economic changes of the Peninsula, the large, vacant warehouse and production spaces of bygone industry became attractive to artists and independent designers who were being priced out of Carmel, Monterey and Pacific Grove.  The old industrial spaces were perfect for sculptors of large pieces, clothing designers, mural painters and many other creative types, and they were affordable to rent.  Take an afternoon and visit the studios and creative production spaces of Sand City, maybe taking in a lunch or dinner at one of Sand City’s excellent restaurants.  There is so much art to look at and ponder that you won’t forget your visit.  Ask one of our Front Desk Associates for directions.

Reference to Sand City:  http://www.sandcity.org/

Visiting the Monterey Peninsula is always a special occasion, you do exciting things throughout the day such as whale watching or wine tasting, activities that allow you to explore, sense and feel the essences of the Peninsula.  When evening starts to draw down it is our nature to seek out places of warmth, security and relaxation.  Certainly, your room at our hotel fits all of those requisites, but we need to eat and make a little merry at the end of the day in a warm place.  There are three out-of-the-way areas that locals frequent to get away from the mainstream and chill a bit.  If you are partial to ocean views and fresh fish, the Sandbar and Grill is easily accessible from the commercial fishing wharf and welcomes fish-lovers of all types with fresh fare.  On North Fremont St., Monterey Cookhouse represents one of the best places for wood-fired, smoked cuisine.  Close to the center of Downtown Monterey, the Cookhouse prides itself on steaks and fish cooked in their unique way.  For a taste of Old Monterey, Restaurant 1883 is your best bet; their menu is varied and offers fish, meat and vegetarian options.  Restaurant 1883’s wine cellar is storied to be one of the largest on the Peninsula.  The Monterey Peninsula sports over 250 eateries of all description and one is sure to fit your taste.

The Sandbar & Grill:  http://www.sandbarandgrillmonterey.com/

Monterey Cookhouse:  http://www.montereycookhouse.com/

Restaurant 1883:  http://www.restaurant1833.com/

Looking for a reason to stage an impromptu getaway to the Monterey Peninsula?  Have a penchant for old things that may be valuable?  Then come to the Monterey Peninsula for the antiques.  After all, Monterey is over 200-years old, and Pacific Grove and Carmel are at least a hundred years old.  That a lot of stuff in the antique malls and little out-of-the-way shops that clutter the Peninsula and Moss Landing.  From jewelry to buttons to clothing to furniture, the Peninsula has it all.  Spend a day visiting the antique malls and shops, then treat yourself to a splendid dinner on Fisherman’s Wharf or Cannery Row before retiring to admire your antiquing discoveries in one of our deluxe rooms in our centrally located hotel.  From our hotel you have easy access to the Cannery Row Antique Mall, the Holman Antique Plaza in Pacific Grove, Trotters Antiques on Lighthouse Boulevard and Orientations by Lake El Estero.  Come spend a day and night with us on the Monterey Peninsula antiquing.  The things you find may surprise you.

Cannery Row Antique Mall:  http://www.canneryrowantiquemall.com/

Trotters Antiques:  http://www.trottersantiques.com/

Orientations (Asian antiques):  http://www.orientations.us/