Around the Presidio

Today I had Eggs Valdes burritos for breakfast at the Old Monterey Cafe. Glenda had an upset stomach and returned to the Colton Inn to rest. I took that opportunity to walk to the Presidio, and back, along the route I used to walk to work. Up Franklin Street. Straight up Franklin Street. Steep Franklin Street. Nearly vertical Franklin Street. Every day. I dreaded that daily walk back then. Today it was a trip UP memory lane. Again I was surprised to see the Presidio gate locked up tighter than a tick. The last time we were here I contacted the chaplains office, and the chaplain’s assistant met us at the Franklin Street gate to let us in. Once we were on the Presidio, he told us that there were no restrictions regarding the taking of photographs. DLI is less like an army base than a college campus, so I was a little bit surprised to see how tight security has remained since 9/11/2001. I had to turn around to recapture the view to the east. I remember the view from my desk in the Asian Language classroom building (Nisei Hall) when I was a language student here. I could see the airport with its arrivals and departures flying right over the Presidio. The view still looks exactly the same. We drove to Pacific Grove to watch the otters and to take photographs. We had such a large breakfast that we really did not need lunch. A mother and her little girl were at the beach. It looked as though the mother had been going through some difficult times, but she watched as her little girl, fully decked out in a princess gown, played on the sand. I wonder what their story is. Dropping by the Monterey Plaza Hotel I photographed Glenda in front of the Porpoise Fountain we enjoyed the last time we checked in here on a previous visit. Though much of Cannery Row is very touristy now thanks to John Steinbeck, I took some shots of a couple of old canneries that have not yet been restored. At 4 PM we went for the sunset dinner at the Beach House Restaurant at Lovers Point in Pacific Grove. When we lived here the first time, this building was actually a beach house with little shacks in which bathers changed clothes. We went back to the beach after supper to take photographs of the sunset and then came back to the hotel.Read more