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Christmas in the Adobesby Ruth Ann Angus
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This time there was also a special exhibition of Carmel artist Kay Villalobos' "Auspicious Spirits." As soon as I walked into the gallery I knew I had to take some photos of this woman's work, which is accomplished by her instructing assistants in the complete construction of the art pieces because she is wheelchair ridden from an accident in 1997 that left her paralyzed from her shoulders to her toes.
Villalobos constructs elaborately adorned mannequins, chairs, and altars using paint, glass, feathers, beads, fur, glass stones, and collage pieces. She has the ideas in her head. She says the injury didn't still her mind, just her body. The quality of the pieces shows that her artistic mind is certainly well and moving. A sign I didn't see at first stated, "No Photographs," but by that time I had taken several. Thanks to digital photography, one can accomplish this without having to resort to using flash and thus, remain undetected.
Back on the bus, we relaxed during the ride to Monterey until arriving at our hotel located a few blocks above the waterfront. We had two hours before the start of the night's events at the Monterey Adobes.
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Outside in a large plaza musicians entertain, demonstrating unusual instruments used by the early settlers of the region. In the Custom House, the oldest government building in California, costumed dancers do the fandango to period music. At California's First Theater, a wooden and adobe building built by British sailor Jack Swan in the 1840s, actors pass out refreshments while telling stories of the days when the theater thrived.
Most of the other adobes offered refreshments and had a variety of gift items for sale. The Joseph Boston Store in the Casa Del Oro adobe was one of these. This store was a general mercantile store that opened for business during the California gold rush in 1849. Casa Del Oro means house of gold in Spanish. The items for sale this night are very much the same as what could have been purchased in the mid-nineteenth century. Next to the store in the herb garden is a shop with contemporary garden items.
We stopped in at the Merritt House, an adobe home that originally belonged to Joseph Merritt, the first judge of Monterey County that now is a quaint bed and breakfast.
The Lara-Soto Adobe from the 1840s was owned by John Steinbeck during the time he wrote "The Pearl." It now is owned by the Monterey Institute of International Studies.
We enjoyed all the decorations, refreshments and entertainment in all of the houses where history literally came alive with the help of the docents from groups like the Monterey History and Art Association, Cannery Row Foundation, State Parks, the City of Monterey, the Monterey Civic Club, and the Casa Abrego Club.
We wound up our walk at the Monterey Maritime and History Museum to view the exhibits of those seafaring folks of ages past. Then it was time to get back on the bus and get a good night's sleep at Casa Munras Hotel. The hotel is the site where Don Esteban Munras, the last Spanish diplomat to California, built his home in 1824.
Our events for our last day started with a drive along the scenic coastal area of Point Pinos where waves were crashing against the rocks of the shoreline and flocks of Heermann's gulls roosted. Then it was on to the famous 17-mile drive to enjoy the beautiful ocean vistas and see the Lone Cypress and Pebble Beach.
Naturally we couldn't leave the Monterey area without spending an afternoon at the Monterey Aquarium, but that place begs for its own article!
Our historical Christmas was over and we had pleasant memories as we snoozed on the bus ride home.
Mexican Christmas Tree