Pacific Grove

From fluttering butterflies to black-plumed cormorants soaring high above the sea, beauty is always in the air in picturesque Pacific Grove. With its cool, pine grove and mist-blessed bluffs, this pristine seaside nook is the perfect place to unwind, rewind or revel in the rhythm of waves splashing against the shore.

With a microclimate magnanimous to monarchs, every year the town hosts hundreds of thousands of migrating orange-and -black-winged wonders that carpet the ground, gather at visitors’ feet and cluster high in the trees of Butterfly Grove, forming spectacular natural canopies.

Beneath sunshine and blue skies, diversions abound. At the romantic vista known as Lover’s Point, visitors watch wet-suited surfers test the waters as poets rhyme and reason amid the wisps of fog. Photo opportunities await at Point Pinos Light Station — the oldest continuously operating beacon on the West Coast. Or enjoy a repast with a past at the Old Bath House, a picturesque restaurant in an old Victorian building that serves up wild-boar sausage and a pulse-pounding view.

Road scholars rock the pedal and go along the three-mile stretch of Ocean View Boulevard, with the same array of rocky promontories, cliff-hugging cypress trees and jagged shoreline as Pebble Beach’s 17-Mile Drive. Galleries and shops suit every taste and style, from apparel to art to period antiques.

Revel in the splendor of the sea as you stroll along the three-mile-long Monterey Peninsula Trail; roller-bladers, striders and bikers alike populate the curving, paved path framed with vibrant pink ice plant. Those who prefer birdies to butterflies spend the afternoon pursuing par at the Pacific Grove Municipal Golf Course. With breathtaking vistas at every hole, you’ll long to linger on the links until the sun slips out of sight.