Weird outdoor & roadside things to do in Monterey
Looking for weird outdoor & roadside oddities in Monterey? These 5 are the genuinely strange ones — Giant Artichoke, The Phoenix Shop (Nepenthe), Deetjen's Big Sur Inn and more — each hand-vetted and sourced, not pulled from a top-ten list. Great for an unusual date, a weird afternoon, or showing a visitor the side of Monterey they'd never find on their own.
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Giant Artichoke
Erected in 1963 beside the restaurant of the same name, this oversized concrete artichoke presides over the s…
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The Phoenix Shop (Nepenthe)
When a coastal live oak on the property died in the 1970s, sculptor Edmund Kara didn't clear the stump — he c…
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Deetjen's Big Sur Inn
Norwegian immigrant Helmuth Deetjen hand-built this cluster of single-wall redwood cottages starting in 1926,…
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Trident Room
A basement bar inside the 1926 Hotel Del Monte, which was the "Children's Playroom" during Prohibition, becam…
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La Playa Carmel
Built around 1905 as a stone mansion by painter Christian Jorgensen for his bride Angela (of the Ghirardelli…