Summer residence in Pacific Grove

I thought I should write a blog posting to explain where I am this summer. I am spending three months in Pacific Grove which is a small coastal town in Monterey County, California, USA. The population is just over 15,000. The town has an interesting history.

Pink ice plant in flower on the ocean front of Pacific Grove.

 
Pacific Grove is located adjacent to the much larger city of Monterey and is located between Carmel-by-the-Sea and Monterey on the Monterey Peninsula about 100 miles south of San Francisco.

 Photo taken as I flew over Monterey Peninsula: Pacific Grove in foreground, 

City of Monterey top left and Pebble Beach top right.

Car license plate spotted outside the Pacific Grove Post Office.

Pacific Grove (called PG by the locals) is well known for its Victorian homes, having more Victorian houses (built between 1837 and 1901) per capita than anywhere else in America. Pacific Grove is equally well-known for Asilomar (where Jane works), its artistic legacy, and the annual migration of the Monarch butterflies.

In prehistoric times the Native America Rumsen people lived around Monterey Bay including the area now known as Pacific Grove. They lived a subsistence life of hunting, fishing and gathering. The most prominent archaeological remainders are shell middens, the garbage dumps of these early inhabitants. Scientist can infer from the contents that mussels and abalone were consumed by the Rumsen as their chief food source. The Rumsen were one of one of eight language divisions of the Ohlone (Costanoan) Native American people of Northern California.

  Map showing the sub-tribes of the Ohlone Native America peoples, 
including the Rumsen of Monterey Bay.

In 1542 the Spanish arrived with Juan Rodrigues Cabrillo discovering Monterey Bay and landing at what is now called Cabrillo Point in Pacific Grove. In 1770 a joint religious and military expedition headed by Father Junípero Serra and Gaspar de Portolà (Army Officer and Governor of Baja and Alta California Territories) established a permanent settlement in Monterey. Together they are known as the founders of both San Diego and Monterey. Monterey served as the capital of California from 1777 to 1849 as a province of firstly Spain and then Mexico before the admittance of California to the United States.


Neighboring Pacific Grove was founded in 1875 by a group of Methodists from San Francisco who modeled the town after Ocean Grove, New Jersey. The location was deemed the perfect location for city people to rest, relax, and meditate. The ocean front land was divided into small plots with tents erected for people to spend a portion or the entire summer engaged in religious education and restoration of the spirit. The initial meeting of the Pacific Coast branch of the Chautauqua Movement was held in Pacific Grove in June 1879. Modeled after the Methodist Sunday school teachers' training camp established in 1874 at Lake Chautauqua, N.Y., this location became part of a nationwide educational network. The city grew with the tents were replaced (often on the very same tiny plot of land) by charming cottages and soon stately Victorian homes.

The Stevenson House in Monterey - Robert Louis Stevenson lived here.

In November 1879, after the summer campers returned home, Robert Louis Stevenson wandered into the deserted campgrounds: "I have never been in any place so dreamlike. Indeed, it was not so much like a deserted town as like a scene upon the stage by daylight, and with no one on the boards." Some suggest that the idea for Treasure Island were based on his experiences in Pacific Grove and Monterey.

Pacific Grove, like Carmel-by-the-Sea and Monterey, became an artists' haven in the 1890s and has remained so since. Artists of the En plein air school in both Europe and the United States were seeking an outdoor venue which had natural beauty, so that Pacific Grove was a magnet for this movement. William Adam was an English painter who first moved to Monterey and then decided on Pacific Grove for his home in 1906. At about the same time Eugen Neuhaus, a German painter, arrived in Pacific Grove . Charles B. Judson was an artist of aristocratic lineage who painted in Pacific Grove over a long period of time beginning in 1907. For a number of years, author John Steinbeck lived in a cottage in Pacific Grove owned by his father, Ernest, who was Monterey County Treasurer. The cottage still stands on a quiet side street, without any plaque or special sign, virtually overlooked by most Steinbeck fans. On October 12, 1997, John Denver died when he crashed into the Pacific Ocean off Pacific Grove in his personal plane.

Pacific Grove is a famous wintering location for tens of thousands of monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus). Pacific Grove is nicknamed "Butterfly Town, U.S.A." In 1937 citizens of Pacific Grove voted to create an additional tax to create the Monarch Grove Sanctuary. The Pacific Grove Police Department continues to enforce strict regulations that prohibit the "molestation of butterflies' and City Ordinance No. 352 makes it a misdemeanor to kill or threaten a butterfly, punishable by a $1,000 fine.

The following is from the Pacific Grove Natural History Museum website:  
The Monarch Butterfly is a widespread tropical insect that ranges as far north as Canada. It cannot withstand freezing winter temperatures. To survive, the Monarch migrates to safe overwintering sites that are neither cold enough to kill it, nor so warm that it wastes precious energy flying too much. Monarchs east of the Rocky Mountains spend the winters in high mountains in central Mexico. Monarchs west of the Rockies migrate to Pacific Grove and two additional locations on the central California coast. En route, they may travel as far as 2,000 miles, covering 100 miles per day, and flying as high as 10,000 feet. A mighty achievement for such a seemingly fragile insect!

Why is this migration so unique? In many migrating species, such as birds and whales, the same individuals travel the migration route year after year. In contrast, migrating Monarchs have never been to their destination before. In fact, several generations of Monarchs have lived and died since last year's butterflies departed.  In late summer and early fall, a special generation of Monarchs is born. These Monarchs live much longer, up to eight months. Triggered by the decreasing daylight and angle of the sun, these butterflies delay sexual maturity and begin flying south toward the overwintering grounds, up to 2,000 miles away. The Monarchs feed on flower nectar during the journey, attempting to build up fat reserves which will enable them to survive the winter months. At night they may cluster together in small groups, but as winter approaches, they move on to more permanent overwintering sites.   

 After arriving at their destination, the monarchs cluster in large masses to conserve heat. Their flight muscles do not function well unless the temperature is above 55 degrees. They rest quietly on the trees, resembling dead leaves, until sunlight warms them enough to fly. On warm days, the butterflies will leave the trees entirely, seeking out nectar sources with which to replenish their energy reserves, but always returning well before evening to once again cluster in the trees.  The overwintering Monarchs do not mate until the increasing temperatures and daylight hours in February trigger the development of their sexual organs. By March, most of the butterflies have departed on the spring migration. With the coming of spring, the Monarchs join the western migration, spreading out through the Central Valley, into the Sierras, and northeast to the Rocky Mountains, laying eggs as they go. Monarchs born in the spring and summer move rapidly through their life cycle, flying further north and east with each succeeding generation. As many as 5 generations of Monarchs may continue northward, until the shortening daylight once again reverses the direction of the migration.

 Butterfly chair in the butterfly sanctuary Pacific Grove.

 


Pacific Grove's climate is mild throughout the year regulated by its proximity to the Pacific Ocean, culminating in a Mediterranean type climate. As a result, Pacific Grove's average high temperature ranges from around 16° Celsius (60° Fahrenheit) in winter to 22° Celsius (72° Fahrenheit) during the summer months. Average annual precipitation is around 19.5 inches (495 mm), with most rainfall occurring during California's wet season between November and April, while little or no precipitation falls during the summer months. The cool coastal temperatures with much hotter inland temperatures means that fog is common, especially in the late night and early morning during the summer.

 

 Fog rolling in along the Big Sur coast just south of Pacific Grove.

It is a beautiful place to live and work.  I'm thankfully to be here.  In my future posts I'll report a little more on what I am doing as well as show highlights from some of the weekend trip throughout California that Jane and I are enjoying.  Until then.