The Deuce Club, 5.28

By Heidi Kim, TW Contributing Writer

Devoted TWers, take a break from worrying about the weather at Roland Garros and go off-topic here, as always.  As you can see from the photo at right, I was lucky with the weather on my recent trip to California.  I went for work but was able to enjoy a great deal of pleasure as well, when my kind friends drove me down to John Steinbeck country.  This photo was taken at Pacific Grove, next to Monterey, where I waded the tidepools that Steinbeck must once have waded himself.

Very little in Monterey is as Steinbeck wrote about it in Cannery Row and other novels (no canneries, no bums), but it is nevertheless a pleasant place to visit. Steinbeck fans will eagerly hunt out the few original structures hidden amid the Bubba Gumps and souvenir shops.  Nearby Salinas boasts the Steinbeck Center, one of, if not the best literary museum in the United States.  It has highly interactive exhibits great for kids, lots of detail for grownups, and multiple screens showing clips from films and theater performances of his work.  Down the street is Steinbeck's childhood home, now a restaurant.

After I finished worshipping at the shrines, we drove the famous 17-Mile Drive around Pebble Beach and finished up the day with dinner at the Hog's Breath Inn in Carmel, a restaurant formerly owned by Clint Eastwood.  It was one of the best vacation days I've ever had.  I highly recommend the Bay area coast to everyone and can't wait explore more of the West coast.

Don't forget to send me your photos and stories; remember, they can be anything ranging from pets to people to photos out your window.