Gardens by the Sea I: The Cottage Gardens of Depot Hill
I would love to share one of my favorite neighborhood walks. My family has a house on Depot Hill, above the village of Capitola. This neighborhood of cottages, some from the 19th century, is perched above the Monterey Bay. Surfers lay on their boards and sea kelp drifts in the calm water below the cliffs. The bay extends in a great arc southwards to the Monterey peninsula. The Monterey mountains are a purple silhouette against the sky and at night the bay is ringed by glittering lights.
After lunch in the garden we always take a walk, first to the cliffs. There is almost no automobile traffic as there are just a few dead end roads on the hill. Perfect for strolling in the middle of the street.
Grand Avenue which runs along the cliffs has no traffic at all as parts of it have tumbled into the bay below! The cliffs are are always eroding, but for now Grand Avenue is a pedestrian walkway, with benches placed along the few blocks to enjoy the view.
This border is graced by sculptures fashioned from driftwood dragged up the cliffs from the rocky shore below.
Turning left we come across this colorful garden.
This cottage was once the minister’s house for the church next door.
On Cliff Avenue, a trumpet vine (Campsis radicans) creates a spectaular display.
One of my favorite houses, I have always appreciated its tidy and old-fashioned quality.
The village seen here from Cliff Avenue was a great place to watch fireworks being set off from the pier. Depot Hill with its quiet streets, cottages with front porches, and flowering gardens with picket fences has such a nostalgic air; a kind of perpetual summerland, where every day is the Fourth of July.
Thank you for taking this stroll with me.
