Track 23: Conversations

One of the great side effects of traveling alone is gaining confidence in talking to strangers (that thing that our parents warned us not to do when we were little). I feel like today has been all about talking to people I randomly encounter. It started this morning in the kitchen of the Point Montara hostel, where I ended up talking to Glen (from Salt Lake City) and Wynn (from Manchester, England) for over two hours about everything from traveling to No Child Left Behind (they're both teachers, and I didn't have much to contribute, but I enjoyed listening nonetheless). I had planned on leaving the hostel pretty early to get a good start to Monterey and Carmel, but I reminded myself that part of traveling (and life) involves connecting with people, and I am always rejuvenated by stimulating conversation, so I hung around and enjoyed the company. It's so refreshing to start talking to someone you don't even know and find yourself still talking (and listening) hours later.

Because of this welcome diversion, I decided to stray from Highway 1 and take the faster freeways to points south. I bypassed Monterey, where I knew I'd be staying, and headed right for Carmel. The only reason I wanted to go there was because of a documentary I'd seen (and subsequent reading I'd done) this summer about the photographer Edward Weston and his wife and artistic partner Charis Wilson, who lived there during the mid-1900's. I ended up visiting several galleries, gathering great advice from the curators, and I especially enjoyed my visit to the Weston Gallery. I also saw a great exhibition at the Center for Photographic Arts. It was a pretty inspiring afternoon, from a photographic point of view. Tomorrow I'm heading back down there to visit Point Lobos State Park (a favorite photo subject of Weston's) and Big Sur. I just hope the sun comes back out -- it's been cloudy, and although I'm a big fan of fog (it's so dreamy!), a nice sunset would make the coast that much more photogenic.

I headed back north to Monterey, where I checked into the hostel and got some great touring advice from the manager. I was walking down the block to Cannery Row when I stopped next to the Culinary Center of Monterey. Their cooking school has a restaurant that's open on weekends, and although I was planning to make my own dinner at the hostel, the beet and goat cheese salad caught my eye and made my mouth water. I'm a sucker for a good beet and goat cheese salad. Long story short -- the salad was scrumptious, as was the potato leek soup, and after asking the friendly server how the school/restaurant works, I learned that not only does the Center hold public cooking classes and a culinary school, it has a foundation (which is aided by the restaurant proceeds) that does wonderful things by teaching parents and kids all about healthy eating. I left twice the amount I owed for dinner and left with a happy belly and happy conscience.

I posted a bunch of photos to Flickr -- just click on any of the photos in the little collage on the right-hand side of the page. I went a bit crazy during the sunset in Mendocino (those that are posted represent a fraction of what I took). I hope you enjoy them -- I'll label them with details about location, etc. at some point in the near future.