5 Stars Plus!!!!! Tom was informative, interesting, knowledgeable, and entertaining on our tour…read more He made the information personal and within a few minutes we felt like we were old friends sharing information (with Tom being the expert of course). We happened to be the only ones on our tour so he was able to personalize it for us and answer all of our questions. As a former History teacher I thought I knew about California history - but he had great inside information that brought the time period to life and gave us the "back story" to some of our state's most important milestones. Thanks again, Tom! Hope to join you on the Cannery Row tour soon!!!!!

For some, too many personal stories by guide when others wanted more facts and history.read more

Lots of fun! The tour guide was charming and gave us a lot of interesting information about old…read moreMonterey and some of its eerie happenings. It wasn't really "scary" but we learned a lot and it was fun. One note - it was confusing trying to figure out where to meet. I do think that they should mention that you meet at Colton Hall when they give you the address, instead of just giving you the street address. My son and I had to wander around the neighborhood for a little while to figure out where to go. Luckily, we heeded their advice to get there 15 minutes early so we were still able to be on time.

Great tour! Local history with quirky paranormal endings.Had a great time! Ari, our tour guide,…read morewas personable, friendly, and very knowledgeable!

A super quick and free museum. It'll only take 5-10 minutes to view this spot and there were like 3…read moredifferent rooms. Pretty cool historical stuff and worth checking out if you're already in the area but don't go out of your way to come here.

It's a History to Me…read more Part of the Monterey State Historic Park, the Pacific House was constructed in 1847 and was meant to be used as storage for the US Navy during the occupation of Monterey. It has since served as a courthouse, pub, newspaper office-and even a church! These days, the two-story adobe building houses quite an impressive collection of Native American artifacts and other relics of a bygone era. The Good: *It's free! *If you're a lover of Native American artifacts, then this is a must-see. *If you're a history buff, then this place is def a must-visit, as well. The Meh: *Place can be a bit cramped if you're an ogre such as myself. The Ugly: *Parking to get here is a bit tricky. There is some free street parking, but you're limited on time (please read the signage), which is OK as you can really see the whole State Park in probably less than 2hrs. Unless, of course, you want to convince your visit to the nearby wharf, in which case you might want to think about paying at an actual lot. TLDR: Fantastic place for lovers of history of all kinds. Highly recommended.

Yessssss! How fun! Believe in ghosts or not... you need to do this!…read moreGary has so much history and interesting stories to tell. It's so fascinating! He's obviously done this for a long time. Very capable of answering lots and lots of questions and very clearly knows the history of Monterey. It was actually amazing! You are picked up at the dustbowl brewery which is the old train station in Monterey. Much of the tour is done inside the bus, which is modern and clean. Then, when you get to a number of different destinations, you get out and you can walk around and explore. It's very well organized. I think it was about two hours. I was surprised I was able to get reservations on the same day, but we did. I would totally do this again and highly recommend it!

Be advised that this tour is no longer being offered. We found this out about an hour after it was…read moresupposed to begin last Saturday, July 20th, 2024. Though Skip was very apologetic and did refund our money, this really ruined things as we arranged our plans around this tour since it's only offered on Saturdays. We could have done a number of other things in the area, like visit the aquarium, Cannery Row, or Carmel by the Sea. Instead, after waiting outside in the cold for a tour that would never happen, we just drove by the other areas as it was too late to enjoy anything. This option to purchase tickets should be removed online.

The goats have moved on to greener pastures and I'm ecstatic with the results! There is not a…read moresingle square inch of green less than 6 feet off the ground anywhere. We thought this would take a week but it took 3 days - those goats take their work seriously. The good: -Billie and the goats and dogs (and emu) are all delightful. Billie was extremely accommodating and hard working. The goats and dogs are absolute sweethearts and all come running when they see you for pets. -Poison oak is now extinct on my property. -The ground is fertilized and there is nothing to clean up other than sticks. The bad: -Noise. The "baaa"-ing was one thing, but the guard dogs were pretty brutal through the night. We had some coyotes hanging around so there was lots of barking. So that's it, thanks for following. I'm really happy to finally be able to present this and I'm actively brainstorming on how we can get a goat co-op going in our neighborhood.

Lost Emu Farms run by Billie was one of the best decisions we had made. She came out to the…read moreproperty promptly on time to meet with us for an estimate. Her assessment was spot on and we decided to go with her services. She was kind, compassionate, extremely thorough and just plain fun to be around. The result of her services left our property so much safer and useable. We are so grateful for Billie and will have to have her back sooner than later! Thank you again!!! To anyone in the market for her services, we have recommended her to all of our close friends, if appropriate for your needs, you will be beyond satisfied! Best value ever!!!

My wife and I had an amazing lunch on Thursday for our anniversary. The food is always terrific and…read morechanges monthly. Our server told us about the free monthly tours which included all three floors of the house and one was this Saturday, today. The tour was great and there was so much information on John Steinbeck and the history of the Salinas area. Our tour guide was John and he did a terrific job and had so many personal stories that he added into the conversation. Probably from over 12 years experience and knowledge of Steinbeck. Highly recommend and chicken mushroom crepe is hard to beat. Thank you and we can't wait to be back!

The food and service were fabulous. All persons working are volunteers--I would volunteer if I…read morelived in the area. I had called on our way in, and a special sign was waiting for me upon arrival. My cauliflower soup was delicious and I was so glad I decided to try it. The salad with the fresh local greens, apples and Brie Cheese was wonderful, and the chicken was fresh and perfectly prepared. Planning on my next visit when I am in the area.

best matcha ever!!!!! was able to order as soon as i walked in, cashier answered all my questions…read more got my drink super fast, my friends and i all got drinks and the wait was only like 5 minutes. such a cute coffee shop. will definitely be back!!!

The 17 mile bike ride was amazing and definitely worth the $75 per person! As someone who hasn't…read moreridden a bike in 10 years Leslie made it so fun and relaxing with small and quirky fun facts! I love every moment of the ride. I plan to bring my family here to experience this wonderful experience.

Amazing e-bike rental spot in a great location with really nice staff. Came here on our costal CA…read moreroadtrip and rented a few e-bikes for 4 hours. Shop is located in a quiet area. Plenty of street parking. Plenty of bikes. We got set up and ready to go quick. There are helmets if you don't bring your own and sacks on the bikes to carry your belongings. The staff gave us a map, answered some questions, and gave suggestions on where to go. We started with the 17 mile loop, which took a little over 2 hours. The scenery is absolutely stunning and there are plenty of spots to get off, take in the view, or spend some time on the beach. If you're gonna go into the sand I suggest wearing appropriate footwear. Water moccasins or Tevas. There isn't too much traffic along the trail so you're not constantly competing with cars. Stopped in the Pebble Beach pro shop to grab some souvenirs. There's plenty of things to see and you can either take your time or blast through it all. Overall fantastic shop. I'd 100% rent from them again.

The man who set us up with the e- bikes clearly explained how they work and made sure they fit us…read more The bikes were in great shape and we enjoyed riding to 17 mile drive. We would rent from you again!

It was an ok tour. Tim is definitely knowledgable and passionate about this area. Five stars for…read morethat. There is so much history in Monterey and it was cool to hear it from a local historian. Honestly, for the free short version, you can walk and read all the posted info signs yourself. They are all along Cannery Row! Tim however provides more detail and props to help paint the picture. Thanks Tim for the info! My family and I were happy to learn something new! We purchased a groupon and it was an excellent deal. The souvenir that comes with the tour is an original wrapper from a sardine company and you also get a large business card.

I'm a Groupon addict and so when I saw a deal for Monterey Walking Tours you would think that I…read morewould skim right passed it since I've lived in Monterey on and off for over 30 years. But no not me, I read the fine print and it says you can ask to do a tour of Monterey's Old Japantown aka "Nihon-Machi"... this piqued my interest in so many levels it wasn't funny. I grabbed my sister who was born in Japan and speaks Spanish and Portuguese but not so much in the Japanese department and we frolicked alongside Tim-san after meeting up in front of the JACL Hall next to the Monterey Tennis Center. One look and I realized that I had met Tim-san before at a JACL pancake breakfast where Tim-san was educating us about the small exhibit/mini museum they recently created in the basement of the JACL Hall. I also purchased his book which is packed with photos and stories about the local Japanese many of them whom I've met over the years living in this community. Tim-san is full of knowledge and is passionate about what he does. I read about most of the information he shared but he added a lot of new facts that I didn't know about like how the young Japanese men would play baseball (next to the tennis courts) and some of them would learn Italian before English. Even though I slept only a few hours the night before I didn't yawn once and both of us were so into it we asked a bunch of questions and he was totally engaging during the whole walking tour. When he started talking about Pop Ernest and his brilliant "new" abalone recipe that helped market abalone worldwide which also helped keep the abalone fishing industry alive for a while longer my sister and I started drooling and all we could think about was a freshly pounded abalone, dipped in egg wash and rolled in crackers (I'd personally use gluten free panko) and then pan fried in olive oil with a hint of salt and pepper. I highly recommend a Historic Monterey Walking Tour led by Tim Thomas to anyone, visitors and locals alike. I couldn't figure out why he'd carry a shoulder pack during our walk but when he started busting out vintage scuba diving glasses worn by the divers we got excited and trigger happy. He also carried some other interesting facts and photos he's picked up over the years but I won't ruin the surprises for you so go find out firsthand. Check out his website to see what other types of tours he offers. There is a lot to learn from Tim-san and we are so grateful for our mini morning educational walking adventure today. Arigatogozaimashita!