Get On, Clip In, Fall Off

Almost British Pubs

7 April 2004 - Monterey, CA

I'm on the last leg of the big road trip now, and by this time tomorrow I'll most likely have returned the car back in San Francisco and be settled back in at the hotel I stayed in when I arrived - it was so good I've decided to go back there.

The best conversation of the day was when I called into a branch of a well-known American hamburger chain for some lunch and to use the bog, er, shitter, er, toilet, er, "restroom". While I was fiddling around for the right change I apologised for not being used to the money, at which point she informed me that hey, everyone's not used to having money at the moment, and that maybe if they can get rid of Bush things will get a little better. Bush, I was informed in no uncertain terms, stinks. These seem to be sentiments which a growing number of Americans agree with, which is fine with me.

The scenery between Bakersfield and here was mostly agricultural, including such Western favourites as tumbleweeds (I discovered what happens when you hit one at 55mph - not very much, as it happens), baked roadkill and vultures dining on the aforementioned roadkill. Highway 58 is a hidden treasure between Bakersfield and the coast. It's almost deserted, with plenty of wiggly and windy bits to make the drive fun and some fine scenery. After that it was highway 1 north to Monterey, which is another fun road. Parts of it really hug the coast and are very twisty and windy as a result, which is great fun unless you get stuck behind someone who's not got much experience of twisty roads and slows down to 15mph for all the corners. I stopped off at the Hearst Castle visitors' centre - unfortunately the last tour of the day had already gone so I couldn't see it in close-up, but it's a pretty amazing spectacle even when only seen from afar, perched on the hillside. The gift shop didn't sell copies of Citizen Kane.

Monterey is a strangely familiar-feeling town. It's a nice place - I decided to go and see a film this evening (I'll forgive Kevin Smith just about anything after Clerks and Chasing Amy), so went to see Jersey Girl. The cinema was a real old-fashioned fleapit with frayed seats and very little faffing about before the film itself started - three trailers then straight into the main feature. This is a real breath of fresh air compared with what I'm used to - 10 minutes of adverts, a bunch of trailers and hmm, maybe if the main feature starts within 25 minutes of the advertised start time you'll be lucky.

After I got back, I noticed in the motel's directory that Monterey had at least two "British Pubs", so took a wander down the main drag to see if I could find them. There was actually another one tucked down a side street which makes three British-themed pubs in one relatively small town, and further down the street there was a grocery store which had a sign in the window saying they specialised in British goods. I had no idea what was going on here, but I couldn't resist checking out one of the pubs and other than the fact that it didn't close at 11, wasn't full of smoke, didn't have spilt beer all over the bar and you didn't have to pay for your drinks as you bought them it was pretty accurate. Well, sort of.

Tomorrow is the last day of this grand road trip, and I'm kind of sad. It's been fun, but it'll also be nice to not have to get up every morning, check out of a motel and check into a new one in the evening. It should be a nice leisurely drive back to the Bay Area through Silicon Valley.

Posted by mpk at April 8, 2004 8:53 AM | TrackBack