CHA CHA CHA CHING!

Our arrival to the Peninsula coincided with the major dip our nation's economy suffered back during the middle of the first decade of the 21st century.  You could feel the pinch here in Monterey and knew you were going to be awake for the entire nightmare.  Attendance was down at our local tourist attraction, there were fewer cars on the road - albeit they were still driving slower than frozen honey, and you could get tickets at the Jazz Festival's window a few minutes before the main arena's showtime.  That has changed.  Apparently, when everyone was busy stooping over to pick up that stray penny, the economy took a swing for the bleachers.  

As many of you who know me know, I spend every other Sunday at my volunteer job at the local tourist hotspot.  Lately, the crowds have been overwhelmingly, well, crowded.  Stroller parking is a premium, and entire families are posing under the life-size model of an orca, trying to get that perfect Christmas Card Photo to share with all their friends.  And that isn't the only place that seems to be booming...  Downtown has added another bar (because that is what Alvarado Street needs) - which isn't technically a bar, but a brewery.. where you can buy beer... and alcohol... and pick up women at the, oh wait, yes.. bar.  Not only that, but Golden State Theatre (spelled the old-fashioned way) has taken on new owners who are determined to bring a sense of culture and adventure to the  locals and tourists alike.  We recently went to hear a Beatles tribute band (not good) and got passes to their National Geographic Series (much better!) set for the summer months.   There are now long lines at the grocery store, the drug store, Trader Joes, and Starbucks.  Well, for the record, Starbucks never had a short line...   Last weekend was the reggae festival at the fairgrounds.  Sold out.  Crazy busy on the streets.  People walking up to the bus as it was stopped at a red light, begging to be let on (regulations say no).  

Traffic.  Yes. We have traffic.  Being a transplant from Los Angeles, I used to scoff at the locals' idea of traffic.  Three cars at a stoplight was considered traffic.  But now there is serious traffic.  On these one-way, two-lane streets, it has become common to sit through two or three revolutions of a red light, waiting your turn.  Everyone is still slower than frozen honey, but at least now they have an excuse.  I still do my environmental part and ride the bus - but these days I'm not alone and it is taking nearly twice as long to get home.

And Summer, although by the calendar it's not here yet, has unofficially arrived.  Do you know how I know? The trolley is running.  You can hear its bell clanging as it goes down the middle of downtown, headed for its loop back and forth to the Aquarium.  And you know how I know the economy is on the mend here in Monterey?  That trolley is loaded with people.  In the middle of the week.  I can only imagine what it is going to be like on any given weekend during the summer.  I think I'll just walk thank you.