Trolley Coming! (Posted originally 2/19/10)

It’s cold and windy out today. A storm’s coming, whipping itself through the trees and around the flagpoles, snapping the pennants and flags, cracking them like whips.  Far out on the bay you can see the telltale footprints of the rough air scuffing the surface, darkening it.

I was amused to read in the paper yesterday that many people come to the Monterey Peninsula and have no idea that Pacific Grove exists, even when they’re standing right in the middle of it.  “Wow, really?” said the town leaders.  A couple of years ago, a decision was made, either by the Chamber of Commerce or The City, to opt out of paying a fee to the Monterey Visitors Bureau to promote Pacific Grove.  The idea was that the fee was too much for the city to afford.  So, maps of the Monterey area were printed for tourists that did not include Pacific Grove.  In the space where the city actually exists, the map shows a vague, undefined green area.  Tourists since then, clutching the maps in hand as they drove, made a mildly logical assumption that buildings they encountered west of the Aquarium -- the roads, the signs, everything -- were all simply an extension of Monterey. 

Now Pacific Grove, blinking in surprise, is finding the error of its ways and has decided to pitch in and help pay for a trolley-like bus to ferry tourists over from Cannery Row in the summer months.  The bus will provide a free little tour of PG’s charms as found along Ocean View Boulevard, Sunset Boulevard, and Lighthouse Avenue.  Imagine the surprise and delight tourists will feel when they are told that – what! – a wholly unexpected town has materialized from out of the fog, and it’s cute!  It has a sort of magical ring to it.  Discovery is always one of the best features of travel anyway.  Why not discover an entire metropolis that seemed to have not even existed the moment before?  I like the idea. 

As a matter of fact, it’s in keeping with the history of the city.  A little bit fussy, out of touch with the messes of the world, hunkered down most of the time when the weather turns up blustering and gray, like today.  You kind of get the idea that if Pacific Grove were set down in the middle of Los Angeles, it would be mowed down so fast that it would be reduced to smoking ashes in a matter of minutes.  That’s charm for you.