On Saturday, October 18, Monterey Bay Region members (and Ed Hunt of GGR) met at the Crossroads shopping center at the mouth of Carmel Valley in beautiful weather to go on a short tour ending at Lugano’s Swiss Bistro for an Oktoberfest luncheon.
We gathered into three groups of 5 or 6 cars each, and headed east on Carmel Valley Road through scenic Carmel Valley to Laureles Grade. The Grade is a twisty road up and over the 1,263 foot top of the grade with views of Carmel Valley on the ascent and the Salinas Valley on the descent to Highway 68 on the other side.
The road ends at Highway 68, which we took west to Olmstead Road, which in turn led us to Aguajito Road, leading us into the heart of Monterey. Here we took Munras Road to Jefferson St., leading us up the hill to Veterans Park and Skyline Drive, which has tree-filtered views of Monterey and the Bay. Skyline led us to Mar Vista Drive, which led us to Via Zaragoza and then to Highway 1, which we took back to Carmel Valley Road and the Barnyard shopping center where Lugano’s Swiss Bistro awaited.
Here we had a choice of schnitzel, bratwurst, salmon or a casserole, with fondue as an appetizer and strudel for dessert. Side dishes included spatzli, red cabbage, saurkraut and more. Glasses of beer were an option.
Steve Ponsi left the tour in the middle to pick up his canine companion and met us at Lugano’s where he had a doggie training school to attend. All had a good time and Tony Prock even wore his lederhosen to celebrate.
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