Everything past is prologue... Our day to explore Monterey's history. Our first stop was the local library to check out the town's history. Along the way, we got a load of the wonderful architecture in the area. Streets are windy and most buildings around there date from the turn of the (20th) century and earlier. A lot of them have signs in front telling what they were originally used for. We intended our first stop to be the Stevensen House, where Robert Louis Stevenson stayed for a few months. Unfortunately the building was closed for renovations. Signs in front said it would be ready for tours in the Summer of 2001. That's right, last summer. We headed to the Larkin House, which had a free tour at 11:00. We were the only people there and got a lovely personalized tour by a friendly, strangely Diane Keaton-esque guide. The same woman also ended up guiding us on two other historic properties later that day (the Cooper Molera House, pictured above and below, and the Chart House) and was a terrific resouce.

Having completed several hours of history, we decided to trek all the way to Rappa's (below) at the end of Fisherman's Wharf for a fresh seafood lunch, where we watched sea lions frolick from our table. Having some extra time to kill at this point, we decided to go to a movie. Gosford Park was playing at one of the theatres on the main strip, a lovely cinema from the '20s with a teeny lobby and a gigantic screen. The film was great, the small crowd of doddery old folks kept quiet, and we had the entire balcony to ourselves. A neat way to spend three hours on a cloudy afternoon. After, hungry for dessert, we stopped at a wonderful little shop on the main drag that sold pie -- just pie. Naturally, me and Christopher made a beeline and gorged ourselves on slices of cherry and berry. Mmm.