Perhaps a thousand people walked through the dark streets of Old Monterey, stepped across the thresholds of the oldest structures in town, between rows of luminarias and were greeted by costumed docents within. The 26th Annual Christmas in the Adobes Tour was conducted under a pale half moon tilted on its side and shrouded in a soft hazy mist.
We started by buying our tickets at the Cooper Molera Adobe and then walked east to the Stevenson House, so called because Robert Luis Stevenson boarded there for almost four months one year at the turn of the last century. There, a bagpiper stood in a darkened courtyard and played stirring marches and tunes on his pipes. Inside, the house was festooned in plaid with fresh green swags of juniper. Tea and shortbread cookies were served.
Onward to the Casa Abrego and then Casa Pacheco, which was originally built by a wealthy landowner on a prime piece of property in the heart of the town then with striking views of the bay. In his day, Senior Pacheco had a clear vista from there across the harbor and near bay because fewer trees grew in town back then compared to now. It's a mens' social club and sports a rich and comfortable interior, usually only available to members. It had served as a hospital upstairs. Babies were delivered there, and it is said that three current members of the men's club (Pacheco Club) were born in the building.
The San Carlos Cathedral was next on our list, the very first cathedral built in the state. It has recently undergone a much-needed overhaul and refurbishment. Redwood tree roots and water wicking into its walls were destroying the 300-year-old structure. It has been functioning continuously ever since it was built in about 1730 and is luminous inside, its masterfully done remodel now complete. Panels in its current walls show original portions of the walls uncovered during restoration.
Other stops on our list were Colton Hall, the first capitol building in the new state of California where the state's constitution was written; The First Theater that's rarely open to the public; and Casa del Oro, also known as the Boston Store. This little store was perfumed with the old-fashioned fragrance of sarsparilla and anise-seed candies that they sell there. It is quaint and pretty. It also holds the first secure safe ever shipped to the west coast. Gold miners would bring feather quills with hollow nibs filled with gold dust and store their bounty in the safe. Thus the name of the building - House of Gold (casa del oro). There were such tidbits to be learned about each of the 22 stops on the tour. Only the most determined tour goers would stop at each place, possible if you use the full four available hours, but we only hit the high spots this year. Even so, we walked two miles on our modified route.
Last of all we hurried over to The Custom House to see its interior where docents dressed in period finery danced quadrilles and waltzes to the quaint sounds of Heartstrings, a group of musicians who play stringed instruments. The dancing, music and atmosphere held the audience spellbound. Warm applause afterward filled the room and spilled out into the plaza nearby where mist blurred distant streetlights and an ice skating rink whirling with revelers.
What makes the evening so special - and this was probably one of the most pleasant versions of the tour I've seen because the weather was so balmy - is that the lighting, the costumes, the fragrances of fresh boughs and baked goods all signal a gentle nostalgia and charm. All the adobes were decorated for the holidays, using a style typical of the early 1800s to 1880s - well, except for strings of lights here and there.
Monterey is a fine small town whose history stretches back to the times of the Rumsen people, an indigenous nation established in the area for perhaps 10,000 years before the Spanish settlers sailed into the bay in the 1600s. Their culture and society is exhibited at the Pacific House and is well worth a visit. Most of the structures open for tour tonight are part of Monterey State Historic Park Association or the California State Park system. The thousand or so people who did the walking tour gave the Park a well-deserved shot in the arm for funding. And we all were treated to a very fine experience indeed.
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