#lonecypress

When I was in Secondary school, I read Cannery Row by John Steinbeck. The setting for the novel was Cannery Row, located in Monterey. I loved the book and was grateful to be able to put this location on our itinerary. Whilst the fog did hide some of the spectacular views on our first day, Cannery Row was completely visible and we were able to immerse ourselves in the real setting. Cannery Row is actually the name of the street which is now lined with restaurants, hotels and boutique shops. However, it used to be a hub for sardine fishing and canning, hence the name.

We stayed in Pacific Heights in an Airbnb over a restaurant. The location was great- on the main street and within walking distance of great restaurants and the beach. It was an easy walk along the front to get to Cannery Row, where we were able to hire bikes. One of the best things about this area is the great sea life. I found myself just wanting to stop continually to photograph seals, pelicans and other sea life.

Our second day took us to the beautiful town of Carmel on Sea located a short fifteen minute away. It was busier than I expected, but worth the time and effort it took us to park. After a walk around the picturesque shops, we walked down to the beach. Unfortunately the mist was present again and the views were non existent. Good job the buildings were so pretty!

After coffee, we headed off on our scenic drive along Highway 1 - the coast road to Buxby Bridge and Big Sur. I had been looking forward to the drive, but unfortunately part of the road was shut and this restricted our journey and then to add to it, the mist clung tightly to the coast and definitely affected the view. However, the mist did give an atmosphere and it cleared sufficiently for us to see the actual bridge and occasionally I even managed to taker an okay photo on this route. Buxby Bridge was built in 1932 and remains the tallest single span concrete bridge in the world.

We didn't manage to get down to the Big Sur but were able to view from above. The coast is certainly beautiful.

Our last day in this fantastic area saw us hire bikes and cycle the 17 mile drive from Pebble Drive and enjoy the spectacular scenery and fresh sea breeze. This was a great cycle and allowed us to stop and enjoy so much of the beauty of this area, including the Lone Cyprus Tree standing alone on a granite headland. Once again the sea life was great, the open space of the coast road beautiful and the opportunities to use my camera plentiful.