Monterey County Fairgrounds RV Park. Friday 28th March 2008
We had a good night here at Monterey Fairgrounds RV Park it is a great quiet spot & a country feel about it even though it was 5 minutes from the city centre - especially when you smell the horse pooh each morning as the owners or stable hands clean out the stables & then on the other side there is a Golf Course with a sign that states 'You take responsibility for yourself & RV's if you camp here due to the golf balls'. Also there was a huge net protecting the RV Park from the golfers. The course looked very green & was hilly with plenty of golfers around.
Just watching the morning news & President Bush is hosting Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd & Rudd has declared he is going to withdraw the 500 Australian troops from Iraq as soon as possible.
We took our time this morning & left around 10 am & headed out to 17 Mile Drive Pebble Beach which is a 17 mile drive through the Del Monte Forest & along the coast of Monterey Peninsula & there are 5 gate century box entrances which cover all entrys to Pebble Beach & the charge to enter is $9-25 per vehicle. I will go on to explain this 17 Mile Drive exclusive residential area.
The secured residential area including the beachs were put in force by Clint Eastwood, the actor, who lived in Pebble Beach & who was on the National Parks Board at the time, but was sacked only last week by Arnold Schwarzenegger, the actor turned Governor of California. This was a very controversial issue at the time but I don't think it will be changed now & the security people at the century boxs are paid with the proceeds of entry, therefore, the poor people pay the rich people to have their secure residential area.
The Pebble Beach Company's purpose was to continue to preserve the unique beauty of the coast & forest which is described as 'the greatest meeting of land & water in the world'. Is this why they charge $9-25 per vehicle??
For the $9-25 entry, you are given a map of the area plus a brochure of the Pebble Beach Wine & Food Event which is being held at the moment. The drive takes you through some beautiful areas of the forest & ocean views & there area 21 points of interest to check out along the way including picnic spots.
This exclusive area has 5 Golf Courses - one in particular is called Pebble Beach Golf Links & has spectacular homes along the golf course & a massive Club House with restaurants, balconies, Pro shop & other clothes shops which we could not afford to even step through the front door, we just 'window shopped & left our nose prints on the windows''. The cost for one game of golf is $475- & the cart fee is $30 per player & then you have a caddy fee for $65- per bag. Nobody walks the golf course you have to hire the buggy, NOW THATS NOT - GOLF THAT EXTORSION!!!!
The US Golf Open is held at Pebble Beach & Jack Nickels, Tiger Woods, Greg Norman, John Hay to name a few have played here & Pebble Beach will host the US Open in 2010.
The Stately Lodge!! is known for their award winning world class service & luxurious amenities & was built in 1919 & there are a number of other Lodges in the area. The cheapest cost for one night is $565- per person for a one bedroom Garden View & $3000- for the Presidential Suite. For this amount you receive personal attention & privacy & you can use The Spa & the pampering treatments available. 'SHIT THIS SOUNDS LIKE OUR 'TENT ON WHEELS'!!!!
The Equestrian Centre was hosting a Dressage & Show Jumping Competition which looked like the 'Grand Prix' of horse riding. You should have seen the equipment they had with them it amazed us.
Each group had a Gazebo to sit under which was not just a normal plastic gazebo it was like something out of 'Lawrence of Arabia' & had the name of their stables out the front. The majority had antique leather chairs, lounges & wooden tables with big bowls of fresh apples - was this for the rider or the horse?? They had their winning ribbons hanging off the Gazebos.
There were framed pictures on the back wall of the Gazebos of horses of course & one even had a running fountain. They had layers of turf around the Gazebos & then tall wooden stools standing on a square piece of turf with fancy drinking tub full of water for the horses to drink & to top off the atmosphere - little white picket fences were in front of the gazebos plus potted pot plants. All these areas were 'hand turfed' by poor little Mexican men who were probably paid a 'pittance for their efforts'.
The Gazebo's were in the front of their line of stables & each stable had a fancy 'tack box' that was located on its own piece of turf beside the stable door & the Mexican stable hands were running around getting the horses ready while the riders were sitting back in the leather chairs 'pruning themselves & talking horse shit'.
They had golf buggy to transport themselves around & in the back of the buggys were pillows with these stinking little 'designer dogs' sitting on top - we felt like kicking the dogs & then the owners to wake up to themselves!!! The darling little kids had electric scooters to cruise around on - the poor little things couldn't let their legs do the walking.
There were plastic bag holders provided with a sign saying 'doggy pooh bags' but the horses were poohing everywhere & no one was worried about this they were more concerned about the dog pooh. The only person who was concerned was Wayne as he stepped 'out of the horse pooh' in his new ostrich skin boots while taking photos!!! I was hysterical laughing.
You can go on guided horseback trail rides & have riding lessons.
There are a number of picnic spots & lookouts along the way & natures reserves with beautiful cypress & pine trees. One historical spot is called The Lone Cypress & is one of California's most enduring landmarks. The Lone Cypress has prevailed on its rocky perch overlooking the Pacific Ocean for over 250 years.
Pebble Beach was hosting their First Annual Food & Wine event with top chefs & top wines from around the world, which looked extremely posh & exclusive. We tried to sneak in under the fence but could not so just walked around the area - it looked pretty boring anyway.
We had lunch at The Pebble Beach Lodge & lashed out with our choice of the menu $16- for Club Sandwich for me & Wayne had a Club Hamburger & the waiter asked Wayne how he wanted his hamburger paddy cooked? Wayne said 'medium to well done please Cobber'. We have never had a waiter ask how you want the hamburger cooked before! This was the cheapest meal & it was actually really tasty & we thoroughly enjoyed it. We sat on the front balcony overlooking the golf course & ocean it reminded us of Narooma Golf Course on the South Coast of New South Wales where the course is also located on the beach & one green at Narooma you have to hit across the blow hole & I bet American has not got a Golf Course like this!
At lunch we sat next to two women & we could not help but hear their life storys as their wine kept flowing & then another woman phoned & turned up & they were all over each other. One of the women wrote for a Food & Wine Magazine & the other had an uncle as a Chef who was competing at the event & the other woman wrote for the magazine also & they were all here 'hob knobbing it' for the Wine & Food event & gee they were pains in the arse & pissed by the end of lunch & their 'prim & proper ways' which they looked like at to start, were slowly changing & their voices were getting louder & in the end they appeared to be 'common as muck'.
After lunch we went for long walk along the walkways around the course & ended up at another Beach Club which had a pool & spa on the edge of the beach & workers were running around like mad setting up for an event tonight sponsored by the Lexus car company.
We then walked back to our comfort zone our 'tent on wheels' & drove back to the Monterey Fairgrounds for the night.
It was worth the $9-25 to have a good 'sticky beck' at how the rich & famous people live & really they can have their way of life, I would not like to live in such huge mansions or walk around dripping in gold & stilettos, I would probably fall over & break my ankle & the gold necklace would break & the tomato sauce would drip down my brand new dress oh well everyone to their own!!
