Salinas

A Day Trip to Salinas

We needed to be in Salinas today and I thought we could make a photo adventure out of it by visiting the Amtrak station.

We don't get to Salinas often and I was very surprised at how many good photo opportunities are there. The light has much of the same glow as the Monterey coastline and there are many signs and buildings with brilliant colors and sytles. There's a local artist who creates large cut out murals of Salinas life, worthy of a photo essay in itself.

Salinas Amtrak Station

I wanted to take some pictures around the Amtrak station and catch the #11 Coast Starlight on it's stop between Seattle and Los Angeles. There's a mural that runs around the top of the walls in the station depicting life in the 1940s when the station was built. It shows the rich farmland of the valley, cowboys at the Salinas Rodeo, the Army at Fort Ord, and the train running along the coast.

Salinas Amtrak Station - January 27- 2018

Freestanding Mural in front of historic rail cars at Salinas Amtrak station.

Old Town

We walked through Old Town and I was impressed at how friendly and nice the area was. The shop owners seemed very happy and welcoming, the streets were clean and there was none of the graffiti that mars public places. It was nice to see a town where people were not afraid to show their pride in their home town. One of the antique stores we went through was worthy of museum status; well laid out displays of local finds.

We had a nice lunch at Dudley's , where there's an amazing mural of what the area must have looked like 100 years ago. Nice restaurant, good food, reasonable prices, friendly service. A place locals come for lunch.

Dudley's in Old Town Salinas gets the approval from Luann

Photo of the Day - Salinas DONUT

Salinas DONUT - January 26, 2018