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Today is Wednesday, 27-Aug-2008 22:04:23 PDT
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October in Santa Cruz Hit the beach in October? Yes, if you travel to the Santa Cruz area, where their Indian summer is often warmer than their July. A cheap adventure is yours for the having since the off-season deals are jaw-dropping. At one hotel less than a block from the sandy shoreline, a double queen room with a sleeper sofa, two TVs, refrigerator and microwave costs only $59 a night for four people. That’s opposed to the high season rate of $180. And while you’re in the area, there are three mini-adventures (besides the burnt orange and rose ocean sunsets walks) which will be more than worth your while. Check out Steinbeck’s Spirit of Monterey Wax Museum, the Coastal Nature Cruise tour, and Roaring Camp Railroads in Felton. These activities, combined with absurdly low hotel prices, will provide you and your family with a great deal of stories and memories to bring home without the financial headaches. John Steinbeck loved Cannery Row. Several of his stories are populated with the colorful characters he encountered here during the 1920s and 1930s. In fact, Monterey was transformed from nearly a ghost town when the sardines were gone into the popular tourist destination it is today in large part because of Steinbeck’s books. Now the sardine canneries and flophouse are gone, replaced with toney restaurants and quaint giftshops. However, it is possible to revisit this slice of regional California history by taking a walk a block up from the Monterey Aquarium. You’ll find the museum on the lower floor of the 700 Cannery Row Building. Once inside, follow the lighted scenes of Ohlone Indians, Spanish explorers, and gold hungry immigrants while an audio of Steinbeck (an actor’s interpretation) narrates a timeline of over 400 hundred years of California’s bumpy history. The wax figures, over a hundred imported from London and Paris, often have eerily realistic expressions. In one scene a missionary is forcing an Ohlone boy to pray. The boy’s face is stony misery while the priest has a look of fanatical determination. Steinbeck as narrator does not gloss over the absolute decimation of the state’s indigenous tribes. “By the time the gold rush was over,” he intones, “three-quarters of the native population was gone.” The tone of the museum changes once you encounter the Cannery Row figures Steinbeck wrote about. There are several scenes of the misfits, drunks, drifters and eccentrics playing cards, drinking and carousing, or just trying to get by when this community depended on canning fish. A long day on the job as a fisherman or factory worker might be capped by an evening at the La Ida Cafe or the Palace Flophouse. In one humorous display at the end of the tour, a lady-of-the-night reclines on a bed while her rigged ample bosom rises and falls with each breath. After the museum tour, walk the row or rent a bicycle because you’ll have plenty of time to arrive at one of the hourly Coastal Nature Cruises. Hop in your car and drive to Old Fisherman’s wharf. Follow the line of seafood restaurants, candy stores, and shirt shops and you’ll find Baywatch Cruises at the end of the pier. Captain Carlito ( a dead ringer for a petite Morgan Freeman) will sell you tickets for the 45 minute cruise which, as advertised, is smooth and calm. If you’ve got the time, and the stomach, the company also offers a daily whale watching trips in the choppy waters of the outer bay. Captain Carlito clearly relishes his role as tour guide. He keeps his audience, even the children, engaged as he explains the difference between sea lions and seals, tells of the storm that sent waves crashing through the windows of a shoreline Mexican restaurant, and mesmerizes with the tale of four psychotic sea otters that once terrorized the sea lion population. You’ll see sea otters anchored in a wrapping of kelp, peacefully snoozing or calmly observing their surroundings. “They are cute but don’t get too close,” warns the captain. They’ve got six inch razor-sharp retractable claws. Some scientists associated with the Monterey Aquarium decided to mix an Alaskan sea otter with a local bay sea otter, producing a litter of four males. It was a recipe for disaster. Apparently, their mother died before they learned to recognize their own kind. When they matured, they tried to mate with several sea lions, killing them in the process as they attempted clinging to their backs with said claws. Three of the otters were captured but as Captain Carlito will inform you ,”there is one still out there.” No more attacks have been discovered. The effect of the reproductively challenged otters had little impact on the sea lion population, which is quite healthy. In fact, they’re everywhere. Their barking sounds like a big dog with a bad cold and the captain strains to speak above the din in the harbor as hundreds of sea lions join in a cacophonous chorus. Once beyond the moored boats, the noise lessens considerably. The sea lions crowd on rock outcroppings like giant rotund barnacles and unfortunately for boat owners, clump on unattended vessels in the harbor as well. “That guy went to Florida,” says Carlito, shaking his head as he points to a sailboat packed with sea lions basking in the sun. Evidently, these ocean behemoths weighing 600 to 900 pounds can jump six to ten feet in the air, so getting on the boats is no problem. The harbor seals can’t do that, and are much more reticent. You may only see one or two of these creatures poking their head shyly out of the water. After your time on the water, you’ll probably want to spend the rest of your day hanging out at local eateries and shops before heading back to the hotel for a night’s rest before your next destination at Roaring Camp Railroads in Felton. A ticket on the Steam Engine will get you a 75 minute ride through the historic redwoods. Round trip tickets for the Beach Train to Santa Cruz are also available. The conductor of the open car steam engine train narrates the history of this place while you pass under towering trees. According to the conductor, the camp was established by mountain man Isaac Graham in the 1830s. Soon, the settlement became notoriously known as a “wild and roaring camp.” Later in 1867, San Francisco businessman Joseph Welch bought 320 acres of redwoods and protected them from logging after his wife begged him not to cut down “all those beautiful trees.” Another tale involves former president Teddy Roosevelt. During a 1903 visit, he was so enamored with this place he decided to ditch his secret service agents and take a walk in the woods. He succeeded in giving the agents the slip, but then became lost. He fell asleep in a hollowed out tree and the agents found him by following the sonorous snores reverberating through the trees. You too will be entranced and amazed in this place. The giant trees with deep cinnamon colored bark blot out the sky enough that on a sunny day, a majority of the trip is in shadow (bring a jacket). A common width of these redwoods is that of a good sized motorcycle. About halfway into the trip, the train stops and you can get out to explore ‘cathedral grove.’ The grove got its name because of the way light reflects off the tops of the stand. During a lifting fog,, it is said to make a rainbow of colors reminding observers of stained glass. Beams of sunlight through the trees combined the earthy smell of redwood bark lend itself to a peaceful and relaxing experience. Too soon, the ride is over. Once off the train you can explore the 1880s logging camp, complete with a general sore, depot, steam-powered saw mill, one-room schoolhouse, covered bridge and opera house. There are also picnic grounds. Roaring camp has year round steam and beach train excursions. After that, it’s back at the hotel to play in the pool or jump some ocean waves. Come in October and spend a few days if at all possible. At these prices, it would be a shame to miss out on this frugal adventure.
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