W
Special Of The Day — Fresh
Grilled Black Cod at Fishwife
94
ith the busy lives we all lead,
we often forget just how lucky
we are to live just a stone’s
throw away (or should I say, a few miles
away) from places that people from
around the world come to see and experi-
ence. One of those places is the Monterey
Penninsula. Commonly called PG, Pacific
Grove is only 53 miles from Morgan Hill
and 42 miles from
Gilroy — a very
reasonable distance
for a weekend
getaway. I like to
think of it as the
Cinderella sister
to the better-
known tourist cit-
ies of Monterey
and Carmel. It
is a charming,
G M H T O D A Y M A G A Z I N E
MAY / JUNE 2015
welcoming, unique town of about 15,000.
It has remained this size since the ‘70s.
Pacific Grove has a very interesting
history and is home to many restored
Victorians — with over 35 homes on the
historic walking tour — and a charming
downtown. Its heritage includes coastal
Indians, Chinese and Japanese immigrants.
In 1875 it became a Methodist Church
retreat, and it remained the last “dry” (non-
alcoholic) city in California until 1969.
PG is known as “Butterfly Town
U.S.A.” for its monarch butterfly sanctuary.
In fact, the local weekly newspaper, the
Pacific Grove Cedar Times, tracks the local
butterfly count from mid-October to mid-
February. Other attractions include: Point
Pines Lighthouse; a municipal golf course
that has been dubbed the most beautiful
public course in America; Asilomar beach;
the Monterey Bay Coastal Recreation Trail
that ends in PG but extends all the
way north to Castroville; and
Lovers Point, a truly extraor-
dinary community venue. PG
also claims part of the Monterey
Bay Aquarium that sits on the
dividing line between PG and
Monterey. Other points of
interest include: the Hopkins
Marine Station (Stanford
University), the Museum of
Natural History, the Pacific
gmhtoday.com