45
floppyhats bust out their binoculars andoffer
them tome.I takeaquickpeek,onlybecause I
don’twant tomake them feelbad.Imean,only
a couple of hours ago I was chilling next to a
wholepodof otters in theFastRaft.
Two birders have set up inWhalers Cove.
“I just saw a heron eating an eel!”saysChuck
Bancroft,who, it turns out,was aPointLobos
ranger for 31 years.“One of the coolest things
I’ve ever seen,”he says, flipping the screen of
his camera to show us footage of the kill.We
hikeoutof theparkandkeepdriving,observing
more animal life along theway: cows,horses,
zebras.(Descendantsof animals fromWilliam
RandolphHearst’s now-shutteredprivate zoo,
perhaps?)Aboutanhour laterwearrive:BigSur.
Theedgeof theworld,as they say—andhands
downoneof themost beautiful places in it.
Soon I’m swaddled in a fluffy white robe,
sippingaglassof localSauvignonBlancbeside
a fire pit. It’s wine hour at the Ventana Inn,
where we’ll be spending the night, and folks
mill about assembling cheese plates as the sun
starts itsdescent.Besideme
is local artistChelseaBelle
Davey,whosegrandmother
movedtoBigSur inthe’60s
towork as a tai chi teacher
atEsalen,thehippieutopia
revered for its hot springs
and spiritual scene. “I
carry this place with me
wherever I go,”saysDavey,
whonow lives inMonterey
but as artist-in-residence
paints here. “Everyone has
their Big Sur heroes: Jack
Kerouac, Henry Miller.
But, for me, it’s the amazing local women
artists I grew upwatching paint.They’remy
inspiration.”
AfterIgetkneadedwithanaromaticpoultice,
it’sdinnertime.The inn’s rustic-luxe restaurant
is locatedmaybeahalf-miledownagravelpath.
The concierge offers us a ride,butwe decline.
It’s not every day you get to hike through the
dark toamulticourseseafoodsupper:yellowfin
tuna,grilledSpanish octopuswith fava beans,
smoked sturgeon in red cabbage puree.You
couldn’t hope for amore fittingmeal for the
timeandplace—exceptpossibly that eel,if the
heronhadn’t gotten to it first.
Primedby local Pinot and a little brandy,we
finish ourmeal and toddle off along the dark
trail back to our room, stopping for a dip in
the Japanese soaking tubs.After all,when in
BigSur….
day
2
bigsurtopasorobles:
InwhichRachel beginsher
Taleof TwoBobcats, plays
Frisbeegolf, andhasa
glassofwine—or five.
Whoneedscoffee?Istart thedaywithamorn-
ing run, joinedbyMichelleRizzolo, chef and
co-ownerofBigSurBakery,who is training for
the“crazyhard”BigSurMarathon inApriland
wants to showme one of her favorite spots—
Bluff Trail,overlookingAndrewMolerabeach.
After splashing through a shallow stream
and swooning over the ocean view, I notice a
kittycatblocking theway.Or,actually,abobcat.
Or,um, is that amountain lion?Help?
Rizzolokeepshercool,and,tomysurprise,we
make itpastthepredator inonepiece.Fiveorsix
miles later,wearebackatherbakery,apopular
little spotwithanapplesauce spicemuffin that
alone isworth thewindingdrive.“Youhave to
beacertaintypeofpersonto live inBigSur,”she
says.“Fearless.Thisplacemakesyourealizehow
insignificant we are, how
vulnerablewe are tonature
everyday.”
Rizzoloencouragesme to
join her sometime on one
of her 12-mile midnight
runs to Esalen, which
endwith a starry soak in a
cliffsidemineral spring.I’d
love to, providedwewon’t
encounter a rhinoceros or
Bengal tigeralong theway.
I say goodbye toRizzolo
and grab a few pastries for
the road.They don’tmake
it out of the lot. Josh and I are heading three
hours southeast toPasoRobles,awinecountry
thatoffersa refreshingalternative toNapa: top
wineswithout thepretension.
Exhibit A: a Frisbee golf course that runs
through the vineyards atCastoroCellars.The
nice lady presiding over the tasting counter
pours us some crispPinotGrigio and tells us
with a wink that we can borrow their discs
(sincewe failed to bring our own) to play the
course,which features baskets set up between
oak barrels.Eye-hand coordination andwine
aren’t an obviousmatch, andwhatever com-
petitive spiritwe had at the start of the round
devolves into slapstickby its end.
We order a couple of basil, avocado, lettuce,
and tomato sandwiches from the nearbyRed
ScooterDeli, then poke aroundPasoRobles’
tinydowntown,stopping foraquickparkpicnic
“Ancestor, a
coast liveoak,
has stoodon
ahilltop for
maybehalf a
millennium.”
California
Coast
By thenumbers
1849
Year California’s
first constitution
was signed
inMonterey,
the state’s
first capital
1.2million
Gallons ofwater
in theMonterey
BayAquarium’s
largest tank
1million
Number of hairs
per square inch
on a seaotter,
giving it the
densest fur of
any animal
1
PasoRobles’ rank
amongCalifornia’s
fastest-growing
wine regions
655.8
Length, inmiles,
ofHighway1
1969
Year of the Santa
Barbaraoil spill
(the third-largest
inU.S. history),
whichdirectly led
to the creationof
EarthDay
$495
Greens fee at
PebbleBeachGolf
Links, among the
most expensive
in theworld
(cart fees are an
additional $40
per person)
45,000
Sacks of cement
that had tobe
hauledup the
260-foot-tall
frameworkof Big
Sur’s iconicBixby
Bridge—without
thehelpof heavy
machinery
