Top Things to Do Near Our Monterey Bay Hotel

Ever wonder where great novels come from?  Think community.  Monterey and its surrounding environs, especially Big Sur, are well known as a highly literary, audacious community of productive writers.  Not just novelists reside here, but poets and columnists too.  The Monterey Peninsula’s history is well populated with writers as well.  Ever wonder where Robert Lewis Stevenson got his idea for Treasure Island?  It was the time he spent sitting and writing at Lover’s Point in Pacific Grove.  Of course, there is John Steinbeck (“Cannery Row”), probably the most well-known writer this area has produced.  Visit the John Steinbeck Center in Salinas to learn about his history and have dinner at the house he was born in, now a museum and restaurant.  Touring through Carmel and its wealth of restaurants, there are many writers’ hangouts to be found, such as the Hogs Breath Inn, a classic example of a place where writers used to congregate.  Next time you plan a getaway, make a little time to pursue the environs of writers and don’t forget to book a room at our hotel early, the weather is warming up and walking tours are a must, or take a driving tour of Hunter Thompson’s (“Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas”) Big Sur.

The Steinbeck House:  http://www.steinbeckhouse.com/

National Steinbeck Center:  http://www.steinbeck.org/

More about Historic Monterey:  http://www.historicmonterey.org/literature.html

The nation’s largest protected marine sanctuary exists just off Monterey Bay. Explore the more than 276 miles of waters of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.

The area once known as the center for California’s sardine canning is today a two-mile stretch of renovated factories turned into shops, restaurants and more.