Just south of Santa Cruz County lies Monterey County. The city of Monterey is nestled at the southernmost side of Monterey Bay - a spectacular marine habitat made accessible via the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Other not-to-miss attractions include races at Laguna Seca, shopping and dining along the historic centers of Fisherman's Wharf and Cannery Row, and miles of beaches and coastline. In September, the city hosts the Monterey Jazz Festival. Around 30,000 residents call Monterey home, but the area is visited each year by many times that number.

A few miles south is the picturesque village known as Carmel-by-the-Sea. Reminiscent of a village along the Mediterranean, it's easy to fall in love with Carmel?s heady concentration of culture and beauty. Windswept Monterey Cypress trees silhouetted against the rocky shore of the Pacific Ocean, world-class galleries, symphonies and chamber music, plus the annual Shakespeare Festival, all conspire to inspire the artist, romantic and poet within us.

About a dozen miles inland is Carmel Valley, where the Carmel River meanders through ranches and vineyards, golf courses and Garland Ranch Regional Park. Here the weather is warmer than that along the coast, and the population far more widely dispersed. The fortunate fifteen thousand residents share the small town ambiance with visitors drawn to its stunning pastoral scenery and great wineries.