Within a few hours, you can be at the ocean

It’s been a selling point for the Central Valley for years: live here and you’re only a couple of hours from the ocean.

There’s more than eight-hundred miles of Pacific Ocean coastline in California. I’m been fortunate to have spent time at five locations along this span.

My first view of the Pacific was from a car crossing the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco. I had only been in the state a few weeks when a friend decided to take me on a poor man’s tour of the state.

That day included lunch at a Sausalito restaurant, a drive to a residential neighborhood where we thought exteriors from the Robin Williams movie Mrs. Doubtfire were filmed, and a drive-by past the Transamerica building.

All of it was exciting, although too brief to appreciate the beauty of the ocean and the thrilling prospects of the city by the Bay. In subsequent visits for work and pleasure, I had the opportunity to visit Alcatraz, see Major League Baseball games for both the Giants and the A’s, go on a scavenger hunt at the Oakland Zoo, and stay at the Fairmount Hotel where Tony Bennett first sang his signature song I Left My Heart in San Francisco.

The Bay Area of California opened up so many opportunities for me in the thirteen years I worked for a company whose home base was in San Francisco. For most of that period of time, work required me to travel there at least once a month.

A daughter lived in the Bay Area throughout those years, and she still does.

What I enjoyed most about those trips to San Francisco were the occasional lunches she and I would have in a little pocket park just off Market Street. Both of us were on tight schedules, so the time was precious and we made the most of it.

About an hour south of San Francisco, the Monterey area brings back a lot of fond memories on a number of levels.

The public beaches speak for themselves with the din of ocean waves washing up on shore.

There is something ephemeral about the nightly sunsets as I take in the limited time I have before the sun disappears from view.

Nearby in the pier region of Monterey, Cannery Row captures some of the imagery from John Steinbeck’s novels. I lost myself for what must have been the better part of an afternoon browsing in an antique store in Cannery Row. Surely other visitors to this or other stores in that neighborhood have done the same.

The Monterey Peninsula may be best-known for the Seventeen Mile Drive, the roadway that circles this patch of California.

Pebble Beach tops the list of world-renown courses on the Peninsula. While I have been on the grounds of Pebble Beach, I haven’t had the pleasure of playing a round on this iconic course. However, I have played the one course many of the locals play.

Pacific Grove Municipal Golf Links is unique for a number of reasons. The front nine holes are in a residential section of the City of Pacific Grove.

The back nine holes are along the coastline of the ocean. The front nine plays very much like a public course with the added benefit of deer near many of the greens.

You’ll see deer on the back nine as well, but the ocean view is the attraction here.

Throughout the back nine, here are areas of plant life that are marked with signs asking that golfers not tread into the vegetation due to the protective status.

A lost golf ball in these areas remains lost. The price is also a distinction. Green fees at Pebble Beach top over six-hundred dollars before cart and caddie fees. Green fees at Pacific Grove run in the fifty-dollar range with some breaks for twilight and junior players.

Pacific Grove is the poor man’s Pebble Beach. While not speaking for all golfers, my view of golf courses centers on how I feel about being on the landscape.

The views are important, but the people I meet, their stories from their experiences, the unique weather features such as ocean breezes or even an unexpected rain shower, are among the characteristics of a California coast golf outing.

About an hour north of Los Angeles, Pismo Beach is churning out California Dreamin’ memories.

The beach town holds a distinction of being the second venue where I experienced the Pacific Ocean. My wife and I were in the area returning from a trip to Solvang in the Santa Ynez Valley.

We got off the highway 101 freeway and made our way to highway 1, better known as the Pacific Coast Highway.

As you probably know, the Pacific Coast Highway runs north and south along most of the California coastline. It shares the name with portions of other highways and is known as State Route One.

We were not sure where the beach entrance was, but we saw a cluster of cars at a public park.

We decided to park there, ask around, and see what would happen. We found ourselves in The Pismo Beach Monarch Butterfly Grove. Thousands of Monarch Butterflies flock to Pismo State Beach as it is considered a place that’s essential to successful migration.

From late October to February, the butterflies cluster to the Eucalyptus trees throughout the Grove.

We were overwhelmed by the hundreds upon hundreds of Monarchs that seemed to cover every inch of the Eucalyptus trees.

According to the ExperiencePismoBeach.com website, there were an estimated twenty-two thousand Monarchs in the Grove during the Spring 2022 count.

Yes, they actually do something that looks like a count of the number of butterflies.

Tracking the numbers can provide information on how the species is doing from year to year. Grade school students from several districts made their way to the Grove to take in this true marvel of nature. We just happened to stumble onto it.

Thank goodness for serendipity.

We eventually found the beach and enjoyed a great day in the southern California sun. I have been fortunate to have returned to Pismo Beach several times in the nearly two decades I have lived in California.

As breathtaking as the beach view of the ocean can be, the experience of watching hundreds of butterflies flutter among the trees in the Pismo Beach Monarch Butterfly Grove is something that I will never forget.