OUTSIDE: Beach Comb

“Cannery Row in Monterey in California is a poem, a stink, a grating noise, a quality of light, a tone, a habit, a nostalgia, a dream,” John Steinbeck’s book Cannery Row opens. While the stink is long gone, traded for tidy tourist attractions of today – trinket shops, restaurants and a network of inviting waterfront access points – the vibe of nature-meets-industry remains. Especially at low tide, beaches along Cannery Row open up to pedestrians, with rocky (and slippery – use caution) stretches passable beneath buildings. You can start at the southern end, at McAbee Beach, on the sand, and from there wend your way a quarter-mile north to the Monterey Bay Aquarium – but this is not a straight path. To get from point A to B, you’ll need to go up and down stairs, through and around businesses, and even on walkways over the bustle of the paved Cannery Row below you. Choose your own adventure. The great thing about a walking tour along this stretch is that you’re never far from amenities, so you can stop in for a beverage or a meal anywhere along the way. Take a pause at the monument in Steinbeck Plaza (at the top of one of the staircases that connects the commercial strip to the beach below) to honor the characters in the novel who immortalized the Cannery Row of another era, accessible today, perhaps, by a walk in their footsteps. [SR]