Monday

Monterey Beer Festival

Monterey Beer Festival
     The Monterey Beer Festival is coming to The Monterey Fairgrounds on June 9 so mark your calendars. The Monterey Beer Festival will feature beer from over 80 different breweries coming from around the world. So their will be a little something for everyone. They are also going to have live music during the Beer Fest. Local Monterey Chefs will be preparing the food for the event. Also the Portola Hotel and Spa at Monterey Bay are having a Beer Fest Deal so you can save a little money on your room.


                Portola Hotel and Spa at Monterey Beer Fest

This will be the eleventh year for the beer fest in Monterey and it's really a great time for everyone involved. One of the great things about this is it seems to be growing every year. This year you will have the chance to taste over 100 different beers from over 80 different breweries from around the wold. Just another great event in Monterey. 
Beer Fest Tickets 
There are two levels of tickets for the beer fest.
 There is the Main Event Ticket for $40.00 which includes all your beer for the main event which is from 12:30 - 5:00 PM

Then there is the $60.00 V.I.P. Event Ticket which includes early admission into the main event from 11:30 - 5:00PM so basically you get to show up a little earlier and beat the crowd. Sounds like a pretty good deal.
Tickets are available online at Beer Fest Tickets or you can go to the following locations to purchase tickets in person. 

Post No Bills Craft Beer House Sand City
Compagnos Deli Monterey
Monterey Fairgrounds Monterey
English Ales Brewery Marina
Wild Thyme Deli Marina
Zephs One Stop Salinas
So get your tickets and some out and have a beer with your friends or make some new ones.
 

Saturday

Spreckels First Annual Chalk In The Park

Spreckels Chalk In The Park
IMG_0333 by trigeek1
Spreckels+Chalk+in+the+Park+Dog+Jumping+for+a+ball+Chalk+art     Spreckels Chalk in The Park is a chalk art contest held in Spreckels Memorial Park. It is just one of the many events held in Spreckels community park that is simple, family friendly and fun. Basically you enter get a square or two to draw your masterpiece and have at it. I have to say it was a beautiful day to be out in Spreckels enjoying the weather and all the art. There was a little bit of everything represented in the chalk art from the basic all the way to some very professional designs. There were people simply doing their chalk art from a picture in their head all the way to some artists recreating things they had drawn or painted on paper or on an iPad. You can tell the professional from the amateurs the pros come with a big wooden box full of different chalks and brushes and spray bottles. The amateurs come with a free box of chalk and a lot of enthusiasm. But they all have one thing in common they all started the same way with a love of art. This was the first annual event so I look forward to coming back again next year. All around the park they had the chalk art then in the park in the grassy area they had food vendors and arts and craft vendors so there was a little something for everyone.
Your Not a Professional Chalk Artist.
IMG_0339 by trigeek1IMG_0338 by trigeek1     That's okay because there is a whole area of the park just for free chalk art that's not a contest for kids and adults alike. So just come out and draw what you want or let your kids color some rainbows and sea monsters or whatever they like. This is a very family friendly event. So bring everyone.
Spreckels a Family Friendly Town
IMG_0340 by trigeek1     Chalk in The Park is just one of the many annual family friendly events in the town of Spreckels. They just seem to celebrate families and mostly kids so if you have kids you should check this event out or the next event will be the Fourth of July Celebration starting out with a kids footrace around town.

Monterey Beaches

Monterey Beaches
Monterey -street art californien by momotosaur     One of the great attributes of the Monterey Beaches is that like California itself Monterey Beaches have so many differences about them that there is something for everyone. Much like California where there is snow capped mountains, deserts, to inland valleys the differences you will find in Monterey bay beaches is dramatic. There is everything from open sand beaches of Marina to the rocky coastline of Big Sur and everything in between. So, if you want to go kayaking, scuba diving, surfing, hang gliding, rock climbing, or camping there is a beach in Monterey for you.
 
Zmudowski State Beach
 The northern Monterey County Beaches like Zmudowski State Beach are wide long strands of sand that are exposed to the open ocean. This is a good place to go Surfing or skim boarding. This is also a great beach for surf fisherman or fisher women as it were. You can catch many species of fish perch halibut, ling cod, and stripers during their respective seasons from the shore at this beach. This is also a great place to go and just be by yourself or with a few friends because you can go to Zmudowski and enter the beach and walk a few hundred yards north or south and find yourself or your group virtually alone and I love that. Keep walking and you will see things that have washed up in the last few days that no one else has except maybe the state park ranger.
Marina State Beach
DSCN9874 by Yosemite James     Marina State Beach is known for one main thing wind. Here the wind is a great thing. If you are a para sailor, or para glider, or hang glider then the Monterey Bay beach for you is Marina State Beach. They even have a wooden platform to launch off of. Not to mention a steady flow of traffic on Hwy 1 to be your audience as you float in the air looking out to sea. This is also a great place to go if you are an R/C glider pilot many brands are represented but especially the Zaggy is well represented. Watch out though those planes don't mix well with the ocean but they are sure fun to fly.
Ft. Ord Dunes State Park
     Ft. Ord Dunes State Park has four miles of coastline that is largely unused at this time. Currently you can go out there and see a few cyclists and a few hikers but largely you will be alone in a very beautiful place. Ft. Ord Dunes State Park has some of my favorite beaches largely due to the fact that their arent' any people around. The things to do here are cycling, hiking, bird watching. Other things are watching the Sea Lions and Seals on the shore and in the surf. Not to mention their are some great sand dunes like the one in Sand City to write things on that can be seen from Hwy 1 So get out there and leave a Happy Birthday Mom next time she's driving bye. She will love it.
McAbee Beach 
McAbee Beach is the tiniest beach in Monterey County that is actually named. But it's also a very busy beach it's right next to Cannery Row, Several Hotels, and the very popular El Torito Mexican Restaurant. So if you are staying at one of the Cannery Row Hotels and want to do some people watching or just get your feet in some sand McAbee beach is the place for you. So get off the sidewalk and come on down the water's fine. Not really it's actually pretty cold but that's what we tell people anyway.
Monterey State Beach and Window on The Bay Park
Generations by Vicki & Chuck RogersMonterey State Beach is a great flat sand beach that runs from Fisherman's Wharf all the way almost to Seaside. Monterey State Beach is part of the Window on The Bay Park. An ambitious plan by the city leaders of Monterey to buy parcels of land facing the beach to create this window on the bay park to open up the land around the bay where before you couldn't see the bay because it's was hidden behind old abandoned buildings. I think it was a great idea that came at great expense to the city.  It's a great beach for beachcombing and just bringing your kids out and flying kites or checking out all the tide pools. It's also a great spot for surfing or kayaking. occasionally you will see divers coming out of the surf here as well. I can't recommend this beach enough especially to families. Not to mention all the sand volleyball courts and the huge grass areas they have with barbecue pits.
Carmel Beach
     Carmel Beach is one of the most beautiful beaches in Monterey County. The sand is just powdery and warmer somehow and the water a little bluer if that's possible. Not to mention Carmel Beach is a do beach so that makes it funner automatically. So if you come expect to see lots of pups running and swimming and just having a great time. Carmel is a very dog friendly town so bring your dog as well trust me they won't mind.

 Generations, a photo by Vicki & Chuck Rogers on Flickr.
 Monterey -street art californien, a photo by momotosaur on Flickr.
  DSCN9874, a photo by Yosemite James on Flickr.