The Polite Traveler

Probably best known for its connection to Cannery Row, made famous by John Steinbeck’s novel of the same name, Monterey is a delightful blend of funky, sublime, and an ode to the working class.  Funkiness abounds on Cannery Row with its quaint, stuck-in-time business facades simmering in a cannery atmosphere.  There’s no escaping it nor would anyone wish to.  It’s just downright fun. Of course, there’s much more to Monterey than that one street with the cannery influence and that is why we chose this area of Monterey, and more specifically, Pacific Grove.  We chose Pacific Grove for its quiet and focus on nature , which excelled excellently.  As for this small portion of Monterey, well... Recently while watching Obama’s new docuseries, Our  Great National Parks , we learned that the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary is the largest in the continental U.S.  It’s a mind-blowing 6,094 square miles with 276 miles of shoreline.  As a native C...

Dear Polite Traveler, The initial indication that this museum would be first-class was outside its doors.  Fenced and crawling in front of the museum are ten world-famous David Černý's " Babies " created to draw our collective attention toward how we dehumanize ourselves.  Within the same area is The Fault Line Meditation by Everette Solomon aka JEVPIC .  Ingeniously, his installation reflects CA’s San Andreas Fault while also helping us understand that “the fault is just a fault” and not to dwell on our mistakes, but to understand them, learn from them, and move forward.  Beautifully lit up at night, this brilliant art installation spoke to me as none has in quite some time.  Is that a car resting on its front bumper? A car balanced on a pool of water, Gonzalo Lebrija’s  History of Suspended Time (A monument for the impossible) is a wonder.  It’s a must-see, if just for the fun of it.  Whoa!  Marilyn is Ginormous! Forever ...

The Tale of Our Trip to Palm Springs Dear Polite Travelers, At least 5000 years, the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians inhabited Palm Springs before white people came to claim large portions of it for themselves.   Due to presidential decree, they are—again—considered the largest landholder of the land they previously roamed unincumbered.   This back and forth of the land, people, and culture are just three of the unique qualities of this majestic, dramatic site.   And I couldn’t resist a visit, especially since tourist information boasted its measures to curb Covid.   For me, this was a let’s-travel-slam-dunk.   Information Stop Our first stop was the visitors center right off highway 111.   It’s a small historic building with a dramatic San Jacinto Mountains backdrop.   I was looking for information about the Rat Pack I grew up with from the early ‘60s.   Yes, I’m that old.   We learned their influence was everywhere, es...