Don't miss your workout when vacationing in Monterey!
There are so many things to be thankful for this time of year (like just living on the glorious Monterey Peninsula, for instance).
But whenever we count our blessings, we always include the Monterey Sports Center.
How do we love thee? Let us count the ways:
Sparkling clean, flooded with natural light from pyramid skylights and clerestory windows, the 72,000 square foot facility has a cafe and a pro shop, huge rooms full of exercise machines and weights, enormous workout spaces with polished floors, a gigantic natatorium (two pools, a 112′ water slide and a sun deck), and a humungous three court gymnasium.
(Sorry, we have to use a lot of superlatives when describing this place: it takes up a whole city block.)
Reasonable fees make it accessible to everyone, and there are over 100 classes scheduled each week—from bosu ball to ballet barre. They offer childcare in the “Kids Zone”—and they’ve just added “ZumbaAtomics” for kids 4-7 and 7-12.
You can put the Sports Center up head to head with any private workout facility in the country. Built by the city of Monterey, with help from many generous benefactors, it’s a shining example of the the public sector doing something right.
With its authentic Victorians and fairytale-lit main street, it’s hard not to get into the holiday spirit in Pacific Grove.
On November 28, head to Jewell Park for a Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony at 5:30 pm. Festivities include entertainment by local school bands and choruses, followed by caroling, refreshments, and Santa’s first visit.
Next up: “Christmas at the Inns.” On November 29 & 30 from 6-9 pm, you can visit ten inns decked out for the holidays in Victorian era splendor. Entertainment and light refreshments are included in the ticket price, $20 per person.
On December 1 at 6 pm, bundle up and head downtown for the 10th Annual Holiday Parade of Lights featuring marching bands, floats, dancers, equestrians and Santa. Stores will stay open late, and there will be wagon rides, carolers, and a chance to take photos with Mr. Klaus.
Taxi into Del Monte Aviation’s executive hangar Saturday, November 12th for “Best of the Blue,” a new food and wine event featuring gourmet food trucks, live music, and the latest releases from 50 area wineries.
Participating wineries include the “Who’s Who” of Monterey County winemaking (such as Figge Cellars, Talbott Vineyards and the Bernardus Winery). Local food purveyors—Babaloo, A Piece of Cake, The Pizza Gypsy, Treatbot, Me and the Hound Memphis BBQ, and Lugano’s Swiss Bistro—will serve up the cuisine, ranging from Cuban dishes to cupcakes.
You’ll have a chance to taste seasonal farm-to-table dishes (and get holiday food and wine tips from Williams-Sonoma) while enjoying music by the Cachagua Playboys. The party starts at 1 pm at 100 Sky Park Drive in Monterey. Admission is $60.
(In case you’re wondering, “The Big Blue” is an enormous submarine canyon (sixty miles long and two miles deep) that connects the deep blue sea to the wine growing regions of Monterey, manifesting in fog, wind, moderate temperatures, and lack of rain during the growing season.)
Local improv actors and visiting players from the Central Coast and the Bay Area will get together for some family friendly fun on Saturday night, Nov. 5, for a “Mix’n’Match iMPRoV Show” at the Christian Church of Pacific Grove.
Located at 442 Central Ave., the sanctuary of this historic church is both a beautiful and intimate setting for theater and musical performances.
The show starts at 7:30pm, and general admission is $10. For more info call 831-372-0363.
Here’s a Place to Have Even More Fun (for $999/week)
This two bedroom/one bath Pacific Grove apartment is a hop and a skip to the coastal recreational trail, where you can enjoy the improv antics of local sea otters.
And it’s just around the corner from the Monarch Grove Butterfly Sanctuary, where thousands of fluttering beauties are spending their winter in a lovely, protected eucalyptus grove.
Contact debra@montereyrentals.com
Presented by the Monterey Bay Chapter of the United Nations Association, this three day festival features films from countries as diverse as Iraq and Indonesia, and includes numerous Academy Award nominees.
The festival closes with “Gasland,” a film about the controversial practice of natural gas and oil extraction called “franking.” All screenings are at the historic Golden State theater in downtown Monterey at 417 Alvarado St. Admission to each session is only $5, and students with I.D. are free.
Street parking is available evenings, and the city of Monterey is offering free parking in the garage behind Wells Fargo (at Franklin and Tyler) on Saturday afternoon (take a ticket when you enter, and say you attended the International Film Festival when you exit).
Thursday evening, November 3rd • 7 pm
Humanity Explored – 7 min
The Warriors of Qiugang – 39 min – China
Benghazi Rising – 53 min – Libya
Triangle Returns – 9 min – US, Bangladesh
The Price of Sex – 73 min – Moldova, Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece, Dubai
Friday evening, November 4th • 7 pm
Poster Girl – 38 min – US, Iraq
Which Way Home – 63 min – Mexico, US, Guatemala, Honduras
Blood in the Mobile – 82 min – Congo, Finland
Saturday, November 5th • 1 pm
The 10 Conditions of Love – 54 min – China, US
Strangers No More– 40 min – Israel
Killing in the Name – 39 min – Jordan, Indonesia
Sarabah – 60 min – Senegal, Germany
Saturday evening, November 5th • 7 pm
The Dark Side of Chocolate – 46 min – Ivory Coast, Mali
Sun City Picture House – 27 min – Haiti
Gasland – 106 min – US
The Monterey chapter of the United Nations Association is dedicated to the same concerns that led to the creation of the parent body: human rights for all, combating world poverty, resolving conflicts through peaceful means, and protecting the world’s environment.
The town of Pacific Grove is straight out of a Norman Rockwell painting, and so are these upcoming baking and home-canning workshops at the Happy Girl Kitchen Company.
Happy Girl—purveyor of organic “food that feeds your soul”—is our source for all things wonderful in the world of jams and preserves: from pickled vegetables to luscious fruit preserves (and summertime strawberry lemonade). It’s a great place to pick up a gift, or a light breakfast/lunch.
These hands-on sessions will teach you home-canning techniques so you can preserve and eat local foods year round.
They each include an organic lunch made from local produce—and of course you’ll get to take home an assortment of each recipe.
Each workshop runs from 10 am to 3 pm at at Happy Girl’s store/cafe/kitchen (173 Central Avenue, Pacific Grove), and the fees run from $110-$135 per person.
