Cement boats, giant artichokes, another old jail, and two-story outhouses.

Really, what more could one ask for?

Monterey County is one of my favorite places in California. Santa Barbara being the other. But when it comes to the coastal views, Monterey County wins hands down.

Big Sur, Carmel, and Monterey have some of the most beautiful coastline in the country.

Point Lobos State Park, near Carmel

Highway One on the way to Big Sur

Seals at Old Fisherman's Wharf in Monterey

Enough of the pretty stuff. Here’s the weird, wacky, and wonderful around the area…

Cement boats float. Who knew? But since this one is beached we can’t really be sure, can we? The S.S. Palo Alto was once an oil tanker. Okaaay. Uh, how did that work out? 

A cement boat at Seacliff Beach in Aptos, CA. No shit.

That wasn’t the end of her life. After this beauty was purchased by an amusement company before the Great Depression, a fancy restaurant and dance hall were added and she was docked at Seacliff Beach in Aptos, CA. When the depression came, the amusement company folded. Now the S.S. Palo Alto is home to seabirds, and their poop.

The top of the cement boat, aka "the poop deck".

Castroville is the Artichoke Capitol of the World. To honor that monumental designation they erected a giant artichoke in town. (The red bows are probably left over from Christmas. At least I hope they plan to take them down rather than leave them up all year like some folks do with Christmas lights.)

The Giant Artichoke in Castroville, CA - The Artichoke Capital of the World.

In San Juan Bautista, California there’s a lovely old jail. Although I’m sure the inmates didn’t feel that way about it.

San Juan jail built in 1870.

The required jail uniform... we knew it would be striped.

And finally, what would a post from me be without a little toilet humor? How about a two-story toilet? Ya, I only bring you the best stuff. You’re welcome.

This two-story outhouse is in San Juan Bautista, inland from Monterey. It was built in the 1850′s as part of the Plaza Hotel. Families, single women and children roomed in the second story of the hotel, and single men roomed on the first floor. There was also a bar on the bottom floor, and only one outhouse at the time – a normal single-story outhouse.

The two-story outhouse in San Juan Bautista, for two to poo.

The prim and proper ladies of the day complained about having to go downstairs, passing by the tawdry bar in order to reach the outhouse. The hotel solved this problem by adding a second story to the outhouse. They also added the walkway you see connecting the top floor of the hotel with the second story of the outhouse.

If you look closely you can see two doors on the first story. The place is condemned so I couldn’t go in, but I got to look in the open door on the first story.

This is the inside of the open first-floor outhouse.

It is a fully contained “room” – there is no opening above it, or to the side. I couldn’t see how the “material” from the second story made it’s way to the ground, but then neither could those on the first-floor. A blessing for sure.

My new semi-temporary home on the Texas coast has views to rival Monterey and Carmel. It’s a very small, quaint little town outside of Corpus Christi, and the beaches are stunningly beautiful. There are islands all around. I’ve only been here two days, but so far I love the place. I promise to post pictures in the travel sequence (Southern California, Yuma, AZ, and other parts of Arizona are the next coming travel posts).