On Monday we saw more of this beautiful area from the car as it was more than breezy outside – it seems that the hurricane has drifted over from the states. Ruth and Lennie and Trudy and all our wonderful painters at Maravilla would be inspired by this incredible landscape!
We had dinner at our first ‘Pub’. The building was stone, the inside wood. Of all things, our waiter was from California!!! I had ribs, Lou had a rib eye steak – so what else is new?! Both very good. A special treat for me was the rhubarb part of my dessert – full of chunks – brought back memories of my childhood.
Wednesday 14th September 2011
Our last morning at Clevedon and we were sad to say farewell to so many people. We finished packing, sad our thank yous and goodbyes, then were driven by Doug, the general manager to our next stop, St Elphin’s Park in Derbyshire. This is the home of Tony and Carol, so we were excited to see it and we’d heard so much about the area.
We arrived late afternoon and met with Paul and Tessa from head office, as well as Bruce the manager at St Elphin’s Park and Alison, the Community Relations Manager. We were shown to our apartment and took a rest before dinner at the Peacock with Bruce and Alison.
Lou and Muriel
Tuesday 13th September 2011
Tony and Carol Gregory – from SRG Maravilla, Santa Barbara, California
On Monday we were hosted at breakfast by Brian and Jill from the management, we shared views on our different villages.
We then went with other residents to the Vandenberg Air Force Base for a tour of the facilities. It is a vast complex of 100,000 acres. It is the third largest air base in the US. It is concerned with missile launches. A very interesting and informative tour coupled with a very nice buffet in the officers mess. We travelled along the coast road affording stunning views of the ocean.
We were hosted at dinner by friends of Lou and Muriel - Lee and Rita Weinberg.
Wednesday 14th September
The time is going oh so quickly. Yesterday we moved from Santa Barbara to Park Lane, Monterey. We boarded the Amtrak train at Santa Barbara. A fabulous train. We sat on the upper deck and enjoyed the wonderful scenery with views of the ocean and mountains. It was a six and a half hour journey. We were met at Salinas railway station by Brian and Allison from Park Lane in one of their Cadillacs. Once on the move, we were treated to an excellent cheese board with fruit grapes, figs etc., and wine.
Once at Park Lane we were shown to our guest suite, a 5 star plus chalet. Due to our late arrival, we had room service which again was excellent.
This morning we were hosted at breakfast by two of the residents - Elaine and Larry Bache. There followed a visit to the world famous Monterey Aquarium with lunch at their restaurant.
Thursday 15th September
Today we went with other residents on the Park Lane bus on the 17 mile drive around Pebble Beach and Carmel area. We visited Pebble Beach golf club - world famous in the golfing world. I was able to have several practice putts on the putting green - probably the nearest I will get to playing that course. It is $489 per round plus extra for a cart and if required a caddie. We had a tour of the club house, I was in my element.
We then went to the Pebble Beach tennis club another exclusive venue. We were invited by Mrs Muriel Dobry - a resident at Park Lane, for lunch. A glorious location overlooking the ocean.
We then continued the drive along the coast road and stopped to take photographs of dolphins swimming very near to the beach.
Back at the complex, we had a tour of the facilities with the general manager Frank White. A very nice place.
We were invited to the wine happy hour followed by dinner with the 12 members of the residents council in a private dining room.
It has all been very successful regarding our visit here. We have made many friends who have asked for our e-mail address to keep in touch.
Carol and Tony
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