In honor of Keep America Beautiful Month, I want to share a very special place with you—California’s Central Coast region. From Santa Cruz south to the wilderness of Big Sur and beyond, the golden beaches, rugged mountains, and stately redwood forests weave a unique magic. In the early part of the twentieth century, poet Robinson Jeffers wrote that upon cresting the hill from Monterey and looking out across the spectacular beauty of Carmel Bay, he and his wife knew they had found their “inevitable place”. I reached the same conclusion on my first visit. I can never go often enough or stay long enough.
America is filled with beautiful, special places from coast to coast. Think about the extraordinary natural areas in your own state. And it is up to each generation to protect them as a legacy for the next. These unspoiled gems are often fragile environments where man’s footprint can easily destroy nature’s handiwork, yet we all want to be able to see and enjoy them. That can lead to a delicate balancing act; I know it has on the Central Coast where water is a precious resource and development has been strictly limited. The restrictions occasionally lead to conflict, but the end result is an opportunity for the public to experience the raw grandeur of nature.
These photos were taken from the terrace of the restaurant of the Ventana Inn in Big Sur when my husband and I had lunch there last month. Every detail of the day was perfect: the food, the weather, the view. There may be other places where the ocean mists obscure the joining of land and sea in such a mystical way, but I haven’t seen them. For me, this place is literally heaven on earth.
Where is your “inevitable place”? If you can’t answer that question, maybe you haven’t found it yet. Keep looking. Special places are all around; you just have to keep your eyes open. Happy hunting!
Alison
8 comments:
Hi Alison,
Loved the pictures, the scenery is certainly special.
Regards
Margaret
Beautiful, Alison, and a great post.
Thanks, ladies. I'm not sure what it is about this area that speaks to me so strongly. Maybe it's because I'm a landlocked midwesterner. But even the air is special. I'm glad it's still so unspoiled.
I love this area, too. We used to go to Santa Cruz all the time - my husband grew up surfing. I've also camped in the Big Sur area. Nothing quite like watching the sunset from those cliffs. Great photos.
I'm going to have to get to California. Absolutely gorgeous.
While I love the serentity of the beach, there's something special about mountains, too. When you find a place with both magically soothing elements, then I think you've got a winner. Lovely, lovely pics. Thanks for sharing.
Vonnie - that's what I love about the area, the combination of mountains and ocean.
We have some beautiful places in Canada too. I've been coast to coast and haven't seen half of the places I'd like to see yet. However, one of your photos reminded me of a favourite place in Italy. It was a pizzeria in the Tuscan hills. We knew there were farms and vineyards in the hills, but from our vantage point, all you could see were trees, hills and sky.
The pizza was great too.
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