10 reasons to visit Monterey County now
Though less famous than nearby Esalen Institute and even the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, the hermitage offers unique lodging and enlightenment for as little as $125 a night, robust vegetarian meals included.
Three new private retreats are being built among the other personal and group accommodations and monk housing, with their own beds, kitchens, bathrooms and decks, with South Coast views to match those of spendier Big Sur resorts.
Don’t leave without packing home a bag of their popular Holy Granola. 4 p.m. check-in.
The aerial team at Skydive Monterey Bay prides itself on jumping with fellow adventurers from the highest tandem drop point in the world (18,000 feet up), allowing them to reach 120 mph — and as many as 90 seconds of free fall — while generally smiling their faces off, screaming at the top of their lungs and soaking up the heavenly views of Monterey Bay, as pros take pictures and shoot video.
The divers are a most exclusive tribe, but they are also among the most welcoming, and expertly qualified to safely baptize neophytes in the bucket-list ritual. 8:30 a.m. or 10:30 a.m. by appointment and depending on conditions. 721 Neeson Road, Suite 1, Marina Municipal Airport, Marina.
The 36th annual edition of the world’s deepest conference for organic farming digs into everything from specialty fruits to zero waste management to farmland conservation to urban farming.
The thick grid of activities also includes plenary speakers, wine and cider tastings, artisanal beer and cheese lunches, dances on the beach and at the Asilomar Conference Grounds. 8 p.m. Jan. 20; 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Jan. 21; 8:15 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Jan. 22; 8:30 a.m.-10:30 p.m. Jan. 23.
Docents talk of history and art, holiday beverages pop up in character-rich adobes, re-enactors in costume take on time-honored roles, and one of Monterey Bay’s greatest assets — California history — stars.
If you can’t make the special weekend engagement, there’s also the popular Path of History that visits many of the same places (more at www.mtycounty.com/pgs-path/apath.html).
First Night
The state’s most dynamic and alcohol-free family-friendly New Year’s Eve festival stirs up a walkable citywide celebration with dozens of performers (everything from Aztec dancers to film festival programming to hip hop to jazz) filling a wide range of venues (streetscapes, buildings, theaters, churches and concert halls).
There are craft and entertainment options for kids, including face painting, henna tattoo artists, puppet art theater, folk music and magic shows.
A parade packed with stilt walkers, dancers and giant puppets rolls at 5:30 p.m.; grand finale concert starts at 11:15 p.m. 3 p.m.-midnight Dec. 31.
Local foragers pluck chanterelles, seaweeds, shellfish, herbs and all sorts of other edibles from the surrounding wilds.
Add in world-class beer and wine, hikes and cook-offs, and it’s a tasty party, set in some spellbinding locations, like Ventana Inn’s wide patio decks above the Pacific.
Suzette Gresham of Chronicle Top 100 restaurant Acquerello in San Francisco anchors the Grand Chef dinner; other highlights include a foraging hike-lunch with Sierra Mar star chef John Cox and the Fungus Faceoff, with more than a dozen chefs fighting for “people’s choice” honors with their best wild mushroom recipes.
Stories & Song (Feb. 18), Classic Albums Live Performs Jimi Hendrix (Feb. 19), and Second City (Feb. 24) — lead a monster month at this Monterey County performance space. 8 p.m. typical show time.
Pebble Beach Golf Links, Spyglass Hill and Monterey Peninsula Country Club Shore Course. 7 a.m.-4 p.m. Feb. 8-10 (practice rounds and charity shootout); 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Feb. 11-13; 7:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Feb. 14.
Pebble Beach Golf Links, Spyglass Hill Golf Course, Monterey Peninsula Country Club Shore Course. $60/day; $150/pass.
On the Gourmetfest website, a countdown clock whittles down the time remaining until the third annual event by the second.
The lavish, small-scale events run from $160 to a $5,000 Rarities Dinner with Aubert de Villaine, Véronique Drouhin and Olivier Krug.
Carmel Valley and Carmel-by-the-Sea each now enjoy more than 20 wine tasting rooms but it’s out in Salinas Valley where the tasting rooms adjoin working wineries and offer sweeping views to fill up the imagination and an excellent afternoon.
With high-quality and time-honored family wineries like Manzoni, Paraiso, Pessagno and Puma Road among the 11 destinations, this is wine terrain that merits a deep and attentive drink.
Feb. 13, when each of the River Road spots offer special food pairings and deals on tastings.