Day 30: Monterey Bay Coastal Trail - Pacific Grove, CA

Eric Fredericks • Tuesday July 31, 2007

Whew! Finally, after 29 days of anticipation and waiting for the #1 photo, I bring to you this photo of Pacific Grove, California.

The bike path in the right side of the photo is the Monterey Bay Coastal Trail and you can tell from this photo that it’s probably one of the most beautiful paths in the world. Also pictured is Monterey Bay and either the Santa Cruz Mountains or the Gabilan Range in the background (or both). The rocks appearing in this photo are often covered by sea lions and many other aquatic species.

This photo made it to the top more for the surrounding beauty than the “bikability,” but nevertheless, it turned out to be my favorite of the pictures related to this website.

Pacific Grove is probably in my top five most picturesque places in America. It has a charming little downtown, beautiful views of the Bay and the Pacific, and is nicknamed Butterfly Town, U.S.A because of the Monarch butterfly wintering phenomenon. It’s downfalls—typical for the Monterey Bay Area—very expensive, not as much diversity, lack of larger city nightlife, and year-round moderate climate for those like me that like a change of seasons. Those downfalls aside, it’s still quite an amazing place. As I’ve said before numerous times in this photo series, you can view more photos of Pacific Grove in the photo gallery (Please excuse some of my bad photos, I need to remove them when I magically find the time!).

Well, this ends the photo series. Hope you enjoyed the tour! I plan to have a recap and links to all of the articles and photos soon.

This article is a part of the Exploring the Walkability of America in 30 Days photo series.

Day 27: A Pocket Park - Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA

Eric Fredericks • Saturday July 28, 2007

This photo is of a pocket park in central Carmel-by-the-Sea, California.

Unfortunately, I do not have time to post more today due to some prior obligations. Check back on this article, because there’s more to come tomorrow. Sorry!

This article is a part of the Exploring the Walkability of America in 30 Days photo series.

Day 12: Dolphin Fountain - Monterey, CA

Eric Fredericks • Friday July 13, 2007

Next stop, beautiful Monterey, California. I had a really tough time deciding which Monterey photo is my favorite. In fact, I changed my mind this morning and decided to go with this photo of the dolphin fountain at Monterey Plaza Hotel. I know it’s not the perfect example of walkability, but the fountain and the view is just so spectacular. The couple enjoying the views in the background of the photo is the icing on the cake. Oh, and I wasn’t lying when I said I love fountains—that’s three days in a row of selecting fountains!

Monterey is a fantastic place to visit, but not somewhere I would likely move. It’s very touristy, expensive, and I’m not a fan of the small change in temperature during the year—I like it hot in the summertime. I imagine that many people would disagree with me, because Monterey has an amazing coastal bike trail, very walkable neighborhoods, great restaurants, access to a variety of fauna and flora species, and a quaint, smaller-town feel. The Monterey Bay Aquarium and Cannery Row are world-class attractions as well. Luckily, I currently live about 3 hours from Monterey and can visit whenever I get the urge.

I have many photos of Monterey available in the photo gallery. I have also included my runner-up photo after the jump if you’d like to see a little taste of Downtown Monterey. >>Continue Reading This Article>>