How do you make history interesting for children? Most of kids do not dwell in the past these days, they are more interested in the future, influenced by endless flood of futuristic movies and video games. However, I believe that history is important. After all, if you do not know your past, you are doomed to repeat it. And we can make history interesting for kids if we can present it as relevant and fun.
Monterey Bay in general and the town of Monterey in particular played an important part in the history of California and I believe every kid growing in Northern and Central coast of California should go on a historical adventure to this beautiful coastal town.
Many people associate Monterey with marine life attractions: the famous aquarium, whale watching tours, etc. I have a separate post on my blog that covers Monterey family vacation itinerary focusing on these attraction But this itinerary is specifically about Monterey State Historic Park and the self-guided historic Monterey walking tour with many exciting FREE attractions, which earns this itinerary “Adventures under $10” designation.
Monterey State Historic Park Stop # 1
Start your Time Travel in Historic Monterey from Monterey’s State Historic Park’s Pacific House Museum. The entrance is FREE but you may leave a donation if you’d like. The museum has several exhibit halls which talk about Monterey Bay inhabitants through the years. The first hall is devoted to the wildlife, Native American Tribes and the interactions between the two. There are lots of fun hands on exhibits here: kids can feel a sea otter’s pelt, hear the roar of a grizzly and try learning the language of the local Indians.
The next hall in Pacific House Museum talks about raising cattle and cowboys in Monterey Bay area. Kids can study various products made from cow hide.
The third hall is about Mexican missionaries and their legacy. It shows a great educational video, which covers a time line from the arrival of first settlers to California becoming a U.S. state. The hall following this one displays a variety of artifacts from the Mexican Period of California.
Finally, on the second floor of the museum there is a fantastic collection of Native American’s arts and crafts including woven baskets, beaded jewelry and clothes, etc.
Monterey State Historic Park Stop #2
Throughout the Pacific House museum there are pointers to other interesting places you need to see in Monterey State Historic Park. For instance, but for this museum I would have never known that Robert Lewis Stevenson, the famous author of the “Treasure Island” lived in Monterey and there is a Stevenson house in town that you can visit.
Monterey State Historic Park Stop #3
Also in the Pacific House Museum we learnt that there are a lot of FREE secret gardens that are absolutely must see in Monterey State Historic Park. These gardens were built in 1920s-40s as romanticized versions of the gardens that may have been in place during the Mexican Period in California. Many of those gardens are next to the historic adobes in town. The first garden is right behind the Pacific House Museum so you can go out the back door and enjoy all the beauty. It is called “The Memory Garden”.
Monterey State Historic Park Stop #4+
Walk a little further towards Pacific Street to see even more beautiful gardens hidden in between the buildings and further more along the Pacific Street itself where the historic houses of Monterey State Historic Park are located (Casa Serrano, Casa Soberanes, Larkin House, etc.)
Monterey State Historic Park Stop #5
Your final stop of this Historic Monterey walking tour will be right across from the Pacific House Museum, on the other side of the Custom House Plaza where the Custom House Museum is located. Monterey was Mexico’s primary port of entry on the Alta California coast and the Custom House operated at the heart of it. Ships from as far as Russia and China brought here their goods. It was here that Commodore John Drake Sloat raised the American flag in July 1846, claiming over 600,000 square miles of territory for the United States. This building is recognized as the oldest government building in California. The entrance to the museum is FREE.
Once you are hungry you can have a nice meal at the Fisherman’s Wharf which is located in the Historic Monterey area. There are many dining options there for any budget, especially if you love seafood, as much as we do :-).
As a bonus, to make this historic tour fun for kids I created Historic Monetery scavenger hunt game. You can subscribe to my newsletter at the end of this post and receive the game right away FREE of charge!
You can easily add this historic adventure to any of the following itineraries:
The Tale of Two Towns: Carmel Valley and Carmel-by-the-Sea itinerary
If you found this information about Historic Monterey walking tour useful, please do me a little favor and share this information with others, for there’s a good chance that it will help them with their travel plans. 🙂 Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram where I post many more cool photos and videos about our trips than I could include in a blog post, and organize some nice giveaways!
