Pacific Grove Certified Farmers’ Market
Mondays – 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM – Central and Grand Ave
The Pacific Grove Certified Farmers’ Market’s new location is Central and Grand Avenue, right in front of Jewell Park, the Natural History Museum, and the Pacific Grove Library, where parking is easy.
This is where you will find native Pagrovians on Monday afternoons! At the Pacific Grove Certified Farmers’ Market, you will find fresh quality fruits and vegetables (many certified organic) from small-scale family farmers who bring you the best from their fields, their gardens, and their orchards.
When you shop at California Certified Farmers Market, you are supporting California growers and your local community, as well as doing something great for yourself and your family!
Old Monterey Marketplace
Tuesdays – 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM –Alvarado Street between Del Monte and Pearl
The Old Monterey Farmers Market, established in 1991, covers an amazing 3.5 city blocks and runs every week of the year – rain or shine. During the summer, it’s the largest gathering of people in Monterey County, attracting more that 10,000 locals and tourists in one location.
You will most certainly run into someone you know! In fact, many attend just for the social experience! You will travel the world in just three blocks, finding not only a vast array of produce, but also local arts and crafts, handmade jewelry, furniture, clothing, international food, flowers, and pastries.
Are you visiting the Monterey area for Thanksgiving?
Wondering what’s for dinner?
Click Here for: Monterey County’s Best Thanksgiving Dinners for 2012
Nope, it was the Space Shuttle Endeavour!
Photo by Matt Collins
Our apologies if you tried to call our office Friday morning – we were all outside with our necks craned to the sky.
Because after orbiting the globe nearly 4,700 times and logging in more than 123 million miles, the Endeavour flew over the Monterey Aquarium and Cannery Row as part of a goodbye lap over California. What an awesome sight!
Any day of the week, Cannery Row feels like a party – but on June 3rd we make it official.
That’s when we’ll be celebrating the ninth annual Cannery Row Block party – and if you’re vacationing in the Monterey area, we sure hope you can stop on by the “Row” between 11am and 5pm.
Just look for the balloons and listen for the music: Michael Annotti & the Kings, the Chicano All-Stars Band, and Matt Masih & the Messengers.
There will be all kinds of food and family fun: live animal shows, balloon artists, games, crafts, contests and prizes. See you there!
Thinking about a wedding at Pebble Beach, a reunion, a corporate retreat—or any event you want to make super special?
The team at
Illusions of Grandeur does more than create illusions… they
transform stuff. Need a circus big top, or a pirate ship? No problem. For over 20 years, these trend-setting event planners have been transforming spaces (from airplane hangars to aquariums) into gala event venues. With two warehouses filled with props – and over 12,000 square feet of inventory – they can pretty much turn
any fantasy into reality.
Watch this short video to see how they transformed a plain vanilla hotel ballroom into a Superhero-themed event. (Guests came dressed as their favorite hero or villain… the original Batmobile even made an appearance!)
I mean, do squid around… cause there’s gonna be oceans of family fun at Monterey’s first annual Clam Chowder and Calamari Festival, May 26-28.
Clam Chowder and Calamari?
Yep. Let it never be said that the city of Monterey has trouble finding excuses to celebrate. This free festival at the Custom House Plaza at Fisherman’s Wharf will feature music and entertainment, arts and crafts, marine exhibits, cooking demos, and plenty of food and drink. (Besides soup and squid, there will be fish and chips, pasta, sandwiches, strawberry shortcake, caramel apples, cookies, ice cream and more.)
Beer, wine and margaritas will be available, and three live bands will play each day, including John “Broadway” Tucker, the Cachugua Playboys and Red Beans and Rice.
Hours are 11am – 7pm Saturday and Sunday and 11am – 6pm Monday.
Let’s Go Truckin’! Just in case you haven’t heard, Food Trucks are in.
In, in, in… yes, mobile munchies are the latest rage, and on May 12, the first ever “Monterey Street Food Fest” will take place at the Fairgrounds from noon to 6pm.
From cupcakes to Cuban cuisine, there’ll be something for every palate. But if the thought of yummy gourmet and international street food isn’t enough to get you to the Monterey Fairgrounds… go for the music.
Because “The Money Band” will play from noon to 2pm, followed by “Triple Threat” until 6pm. (The Money Band has a fair number of groupies at Monterey Bay Property Management, and they guarantee that from “Love Shack” to “What I Say?”—this band will get the crowd rocking.)
The Fairgrounds are located at 2004 Fairground Road, Monterey. Admission to the Street Food Fest is free.
Just doin' our job! Photo by Interface Visual
Like Woodstock, it was held in a field. And like Woodstock, there were rockstars.
But in this case, the rockers were the stars of the cooking world—and the attendees were a joyous throng of food and wine aficionados under a giant white tent at the Pebble Beach Food & Wine’s “Grand Tasting” on April 15th.
The culmination of the four-day epicurean extravaganza, the Sunday afternoon event featured the culinary creations of celebrity chefs along with wine, beer and spirits from over 200 purveyors.
And I will testify: a fine time was had by all.
Since we were in a brunch kind of mood, we started with spicy chicken hash and a perfectly poached egg atop a sweet corn cake courtesy of the godfather of Nuevo Latino cuisine, superchef Douglas Rodriquez.
From there on it was a delicious blur of tasty bites in a sea of champagne and Chardonnays… until we graduated to the Pinots and Cabernets, that is.
Photos courtesy of Interface Visual
Belvedere Vodka poured tempting summery cocktails, while in the Stella Artois corner, many raised the chalice in praise of their excellent brews (including our snap-and-sip photographer Wayne Capili of Interface Visual, who happily reported that Stella comes in not one, but THREE flavors).
The Patron lounge beckoned like a dangerous daydream—but knowing that someone had to drive—I resisted. (Friends reported sampling a silver tequila steeped in fresh cucumber that was to die for, though.)
Our last “main” course was fried arancini with lamb bolognese created by the chefs of REDD, the Yountville restaurant everyone’s talking about. No wonder.
And then we dove recklessly into as many mini-desserts as we could sample, like a dreamy chocolate mousse/coconut pudding/chewy almondy-roca concoction that made us want to wear disguises so we could grab a second one.
But the winner: a small-but-deadly square of exquisite chocolate ganache served on a thin cracker by Ethan Howard of Sausalito’s Murray Circle. Washed down with a velvety swish of 2006 Duckhorn Cabernet Sauvignon, I submit: does it get any better than this?
Guess we’ll have to wait till next year to find out.
It was wet and it was muddy.
In fact, it was extra wet and muddy. Because this year’s annual Big Sur Mud Run was held—appropriately enough—in the pouring rain.
Our intrepid reservationist Ashley Magallanes can attest to the fact: she was one of the 3,000 hearty (masochistic?) souls who showed up at Fort Ord March 24 for the five-mile gauntlet through wind and weather, mud pits, five foot-high climbing walls—and exercise stations manned by real life drill sergeants.
Individual runners showed up in tutus, tiaras, Hawaiian shirts (and in the case of one portly participant—a loin cloth over Speedos and a red cape), while teams wore tee shirts emblazoned with slogans like “Good Girls Like It Dirty” and “The Mud Studs.”
The winner made it through the crud and mud in just over 34 minutes.
Our Ashley clocked in at one hour and 19 minutes. And she cleaned up real good. The Presidio of Monterey fire truck provided cold showers after the race, and all proceeds went to support community athletic programs.
Another cool new exhibit is opening at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
The magical world of jellies—”graceful, dancing drifters that pulse and glow, flash colorful lights and often pack a powerful sting”—will come alive in a blaze of psychedelic glory when “The Jellies Experience” opens March 31.
The exhibit promises to envelop visitors in a sensory extravaganza: from a room that immerses you in a living moon jelly swarm to exhibits of jellies that pulse like living rainbows.
This 7,000 square foot, $3.5 million exhibit focuses on animals that have “no heads, hearts, brains, bones or true eyes”— yet have survived for hundreds of millions of years (and are considered among the ocean’s major predators).
“The Jellies Experience” is included with aquarium admission: $34.95 adult; $29.95 senior (over 65) and student (full-time college, with I.D.); $19.95 children and the disabled; under 3 free.
The Aquarium is open every day except Christmas, and it’s located on historic Cannery Row in Monterey, right behind our office. Stop by and say hi!
