Stepping into History

How often do you get to wander back into history, nibble on historic recipes and holiday treats, and meet local authors and artists? Well, if you live in Monterey: at least once a year at the State Parks' Christmas in the Adobes event! Last year was the first time we attended and the boys wanted to go again. What a fantastic opportunity for enrichment and family fun.

We saw Riley's classmate Lina perform "chinches" (spelling?), a dance inspired by the squishing and sliding through bed bug juice at the Custom House...

 We ran into Linda Yamane, the Ohlone master basket weaver we met last year, at the Pacific House and she let Dylan try on her goose feather headress...

We ate Scottish oatcakes at California's First Theatre and snagged the recipe...we drank horchata at Casa Serrano...

We met Randall Reinstedt, local historian and prolific author, and the boys picked up two of his books that we didn't already own; Robert McNamara, Riley's mandolin teacher, was performing at the Larkin House; the boys made button yo-yos and devoured gingerbread at the Cooper-Molera Adobe; and we ended the adventure by eating clam chowder overlooking the harbor. 

Amazing evening...but I have to say that my favorite part of the evening was when we were walking back to the car, Dylan asked me, "Mom, what did you learn tonight?" That's how we always end all of our adventures - reflecting on something that was new to us - but it was first time that he initiated the conversation.

I learned that the First Theatre was originally a boarding house. The docent there explained to us how hinged clapboards swung down from the ceiling to create individual rooms and the poorer guests climbed the ladder-stairs to the top floor where they could stay (and eat in the morning) for twenty-five cents. The boys are excited to attend a performance there when they reopen in 5 years. Me, too!