Monterey - Cannery Row
Monterey's Cannery Row was made famous by John Steinbeck's book of the same name in 1945. Cannery Row has evolved over the years from its origins as a fish packing area replete with bordellos and low budget hotels. Today visitors will find a relatively upmarket row of chain shops, some boutiques, plenty of restaurants and a great place for a stroll. A visit to Cannery Row can easily be combined with a visit to the Monterey Bay Aquarium and Fisherman's Wharf.
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Must-see attractions nearby:
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Historical plaques are posted throughout the area and they provide interesting insights into significant events and buildings. If you are done shopping and dining, the beaches are front and center and the golden sand awaits your towel. While down on Cannery Row, make sure you check out the sea otters as they splash about in the ocean with their furry antics.
Other buildings in Cannery Row which are worth seeing are: No. 851: Kalisa's Lak Ida Café built in 1929, a brothel from 1936 (immortalized by Steinbeck), a coffee-house since the mid-fifties.
No. 835: opened in 1918 as a Chinese Wing Chong grocery shop (Won Yee, who lives on the top floor, appears as Lee Chong in Steinbeck's "Cannery Row"; the novel begins with a description of the shop). Today keepsakes of the author are to be found here.
No. 800: The Pacific Biological Laboratory, near Steinbeck Western Biological Laboratory, where the author spent much time from 1930-35.
No. 799: The site of Flora Wood's "Lone Star Café", which Steinbeck called Dora Flood's "Lone Star Café/Bear Flag Restaurant", another brothel from 1923-41. The present concrete building houses an antiques warehouse.
No. 711: Once this was the storehouse for the Monterey Canning Co.; now there are shops and a fish restaurant.
Nos. 650 and 654: On this site were situated Monterey's second Chinese restaurant and the hotels of Messrs. Wu and Sam, replaced years ago by the elegant Spindrift Inn.
No. 400: Where once stood a magnificent villa, almost completely destroyed by fire in 1924, and later a fish-canning factory, there now stands the luxury hotel Monterey Plaza.
No. 242: Here too, where the Enterprise Canning Factory once packed sardines, stands one of Monterey's many luxury hotels, the Monterey Bay Inn.
Other buildings in Cannery Row which are worth seeing are: No. 851: Kalisa's Lak Ida Café built in 1929, a brothel from 1936 (immortalized by Steinbeck), a coffee-house since the mid-fifties.
No. 835: opened in 1918 as a Chinese Wing Chong grocery shop (Won Yee, who lives on the top floor, appears as Lee Chong in Steinbeck's "Cannery Row"; the novel begins with a description of the shop). Today keepsakes of the author are to be found here.
No. 800: The Pacific Biological Laboratory, near Steinbeck Western Biological Laboratory, where the author spent much time from 1930-35.
No. 799: The site of Flora Wood's "Lone Star Café", which Steinbeck called Dora Flood's "Lone Star Café/Bear Flag Restaurant", another brothel from 1923-41. The present concrete building houses an antiques warehouse.
No. 711: Once this was the storehouse for the Monterey Canning Co.; now there are shops and a fish restaurant.
Nos. 650 and 654: On this site were situated Monterey's second Chinese restaurant and the hotels of Messrs. Wu and Sam, replaced years ago by the elegant Spindrift Inn.
No. 400: Where once stood a magnificent villa, almost completely destroyed by fire in 1924, and later a fish-canning factory, there now stands the luxury hotel Monterey Plaza.
No. 242: Here too, where the Enterprise Canning Factory once packed sardines, stands one of Monterey's many luxury hotels, the Monterey Bay Inn.
