44 PUNCHMAGAZINE.COM {due west} street. In better weather, Phill would be riffing on his electric guitar amid the barber chairs and salon mirrors. When I’m ready to call it a night, my hotel is only a twominute drive from downtown. Seven Gables Inn, a sprawling Victorian painted a cheery yellow, greets me like a ray of sunshine. My room has a chandelier with a shower of crystals above big bay windows. In the morning light, I find a stunning view of Lovers Point outside. Brewing a cup of coffee, I station myself right beside it and watch the colorful dots of people moving across the cliffs and beach, while surfers bob in the bay. Every so often, a sleek seal skims along the surf. But it’s time to go exploring. During a sunny patch in the day, I pop across the street to the Monterey Bay Coastal Trail, following it to the Harbor Seal Observation Area right beside the Monterey Bay Aquarium. On previous trips, I’ve hung out with the aquarium’s aquatic cast of 35,000-plus sea creatures, but today I’m content to watch these blubbery beauties as they galumph across the sand. Retracing my steps along the trail, I lunch at the California Seltzer Company beside Lovers Point, enjoying seaside views and a pizza topped with pesto, peppery arugula, fluffy dollops of burrata and generous chunks of tangy marinated artichokes from nearby Castroville (a town so closely associated with the crop that it boasts a 20-foot artichoke sculpture). Dinner finds me at Mezzaluna Pasteria, an upscale Italian restaurant with red brick and candle-style chandeliers. Right from my first bite of focaccia with olive tapenade, I know it’s going to be hard to pace myself. Everything from the refreshing elderflower spritz to the plethora of pasta PHOTOGRAPHY: COURTESY OF MATT WEIR - KIRKWOOD COLLECTION
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