17 Mile Drive (Oct 1)
One of the main things on our bucket list was to go on the historic 17 Mile Drive. Many think this is just a tourist thing but it is historical. “By 1840 the area now called Pebble Beach was a rancho left to widow, Carmen Garcia Barreto Maderiaga Maria, by her late husband. She sold the 4000 acre property for $500 in 1846. Ownership passed several times until 1862 when the property was purchased at auction for 12 cents an acre by David Jacks. In 1880, Jacks sold the land to the Pacific Improvement Company (PIC), a consortium of The Big Four railroad barons: Charles Crocker,Mark Hopkins, Collis Huntington and Leland Stanford. By 1892, the PIC laid out a scenic road that they called the 17-Mile Drive, meandering along the beaches and among the forested areas between Monterey and Carmel.[6] Within short order, the area became a tourist destination with the building of the Hotel Del Monte.” So we drove on the roads that were laid out in 1892!
The drive was very interesting and very crowded. Seems everyone wanted to do this on a Saturday! The drive was nice and views incredible.
