Monterey, California

Monterey, California is located just a few short minutes from Carmel and Pebble Beach. Alvarado Street is the main street of Downtown Monterey and has a mixture of restaurants, bakeries, coffee shops, theatres, smoke shops, and retail stores to stroll thru. In the middle of Alvarado Street, is the 15,000 square foot Golden State Theater. Originally built in 1926, it suffered decades of deterioration until new owners Eric and Lori Lochtefeld purchased it in 2014 and restored it to its glory. When it was first built,  the theater originally had 1,600 seats (now 1,000) and for a long time was the largest theater between San Francisco and Los Angeles. United Artist Theatres purchased the property in the late 1960s but fell on difficult times. In 1990, a non-profit corporation, State Theatre Preservation Group acquired and restored the building. In 2005, the theatre was purchased by a private investor, who undertook a partial restoration with new seating reduced to from 1600 to 1300 seats, and second and third-floor renovations.

We were lucky enough to get one of our bucket lists items achieved this month with a trip to see comedian Jerry Seinfeld’s live performance at the Golden State Theater in Monterey. What a performance!  He does not disappoint. Love this guy. His Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee show on Netflix is one of our favorite shows.  

Alvarado Street, is named after Juan Bautista Alvarado, the former governor of Alta California from 1836 to 1842. Monterey was established in July 7, 1826. It was the Mexican capital of California until the United States captured the town unopposed in the Battle of Monterey 1847 in the Mexican-American war.  Monterey was the first capital of the State of California and was admitted as the thirty-first state of the Union on September 9, 1850. 

These National Historic Landmarks can be toured daily on the marked yellow tiles embedded in the sidewalk “Path of History” throughout the downtown area. Monterey has the largest public collection of historic buildings west of Williamsburg. Here is a link to an informative map and cellphone tour.

Cooper Molera Barns site includes two adjacent adobe homes(dating back to 1827), a corner store, an adobe warehouse, and a barn complex, all on roughly 2.5 acres surrounded by a historic adobe wall. The entire project was renovated in 2018, now is being utilized by catering events by Events by Classic Catering, bakery and cafe, restaurant and museum. Read about the history and shared use partnership and revitalization project here.

Portola Hotel and Conference Center
Located at the end of Alvarado Street, is the Portola Hotel & Convention center. The hotel’s name was named after Gaspar de Portola, a soldier in the Spanish Army and later in 1768 Governor of Las Californias. Outside the main entrance of the hotel is a beautiful statue of Portola. Recently renovated, the hotel offers a variety of environmentally conscious amenities and features and was honored to be the first truly “green” hotel in Central California in the “Existing Building” category by the LEED® Certified by the U.S. Green Council. Located on the 2nd floor of the Convention Center is the Alvardo Gallery which showcases local artists and sculptures. I was lucky enough to be chosen to have a two-month art show there May thru July 2019.