Travel for Pennies

Monterey, California has an awful lot to offer any visitor, with a wide variety of attractions, and a wealth of things to do. It’s very famous for its seaside life that attracts a kind of mythic quality. There are some days of glorious sunny beach weather, and other days where there is all the aura and the mystery that the sea can bring, and it’s not been lost on a number of famous artists and writers. John Steinbeck might be the most famous resident, and it’s interesting to note that he eventually had to leave because his complex reputation made it difficult to live anywhere he was recognized.

One of its other famous sons, and no less complicated, is Frank Zappa , who was born on the east coast, but lived here for a time. Following any of these footsteps is worth a trip here, and there are plenty of fabulous hotels to make the stay a pleasant one. It’s difficult not to have a pleasant time here, and it’s even a bit hard to imagine Zappa being gloomy here. Of course, he was always a bit gloomy everywhere, or at the very least somewhat sardonic. Perhaps the sea air is a kind of balm, offering a kind of clarity to look at the world with a critical eye.

Frank Zappas ‘s time here was relatively short, having moved here with his military father, and staying for a few very formative years, before moving further south. Considering the breadth and depth of his musical canon, it’s worth wondering over his high school band years, where classical music was the music of the day, and thinking of how these notes were slowly seeping into his mind. This same mind would later proved to the world a remarkable dexterity, and a sponge-like quality that accompanies genius. Sitting on the wharf in Monterey, puzzling over how we get from one place to another, the lure of the sea continues to call, and inspire.

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