Comforted by Asilomar’s natural history

Usually I find solace in traveling. It’s the going, not the place, and sometimes it doesn’t much matter where I end up as long as I can escape my unquiet spirit and world. But at Asilomar, a conference center on the Monterey Peninsula, it’s the place that matters.

Asilomar was designed by maverick architect Julia Morgan in the early part of the last century. It has been owned by the state parks system since 1956 and is operated by Delaware North Cos. Parks & Resorts, which also manages Yosemite’s Ahwahnee Hotel. Designed in the California Arts and Crafts style, it embodies the movement’s harmony with nature, with stately Monterey pines and elegantly sculpted Monterey cypresses scattered among the rooms and conference buildings, and tawny dunes rolling toward a cerulean sea.

The primary guests are conference groups, but the center is also a good, often overlooked spot for leisure travelers. Its simplicity, reasonable prices and location draw me again and again. But its serenity is what I end up treasuring most.

I have been there three times in the last two years, most recently in early May, when Carol Scialli, a friend from Marin County, met me for an antiques road show of sorts.

I left L.A. at 1:30 on a Friday afternoon, trying to outrun a storm as I drove up Interstate 5. Clouds and raindrops caught up with me as I reached the California 46 cutoff to U.S. 101. Five and a half hours and about 350 miles after departing, I reached the tall stone columns that marked the entrance to Asilomar, 107 acres sandwiched between the Inn at Spanish Bay luxury resort to the south and the Victorian homes of Pacific Grove to the north. The grounds were encased in a melancholic coastal fog, the mist throwing halos around the angular street lamps.

I pulled up to a string of rooms called Long View, unclenched my fingers from the steering wheel and lugged my bag inside. My room ($106.46 plus tax per night) was clean and sparely furnished, with a dresser, night tables next to the two queen-size beds and no telephone or television. The toiletries were typical for a park, functional but not froufrou.

Carol was already there, reading on a bed with a glass of wine in hand. A mellow jazz riff was playing on a portable stereo she had brought. As I turned to put down my bag, I looked out the window toward the sodden pines. A fawn looked back unafraid, and I relaxed at the quiet greeting.

I wanted to avoid more driving that evening, and that left us with two choices for dinner. I knew from previous visits to avoid the institutional meals at Asilomar’s dining hall. So that left the cozy Fishwife at the edge of the grounds.

The happy buzz of a crowded restaurant met us at the door, and we were shown to a table near the bar. We ordered two martinis and crab cake appetizers. We followed that with grilled oysters, which were the first of several well-prepared seafood meals that weekend.

A Morgan gallery

Saturday morning we had cafeteria breakfasts (included in the nightly rate) in Crocker Dining Hall, designed by Morgan and expanded in 1961 by architect John C. Warnecke. Picture windows that looked out on dunes made it seem as though we were sunk into the landscape. We got a better look at Morgan’s work on a stroll past the native-stone, shake and redwood buildings.

From 1913 to 1928, the architect designed Asilomar for the YWCA while also working on William Randolph Hearst’s enchanted hill to the south, San Simeon. Of the 16 buildings she designed here, 13 still stand, and they constitute her largest collection of California Arts and Crafts designs. In the late ‘50s and ‘60s, Warnecke added buildings -- including Long View, where we stayed -- that blend with Morgan’s.

I was more interested in Morgan’s creations, so we peeked into Pirates’ Den, where male YWCA workers were housed; relaxed in the leather chairs by the stone fireplace at the administration building; and studied the soaring arched windows of Merrill Hall, which was cordoned off for repairs. On previous visits I had admired the exposed beams and trusses and the exquisitely crafted woodwork inside.

The simple, artful lines of Asilomar’s buildings are a contrast to the century-old gingerbread cottages of Pacific Grove, where we took a short walk.

“Some of these look like little cakes, fancy birthday cakes,” Carol remarked as we passed homes decorated with intricate trim and pocket gardens.

We ducked more raindrops at Holman Antique Plaza on Lighthouse Avenue. The 1924-built former department store was packed with collectibles and antiques, including a Spanish Colonial chest and Indian figurines of gods and goddesses. Paintings were stacked against walls; the floors were chock-full of tables, chairs and rugs; and display cases glittered with jewelry. My head ached from the possibilities as we left for a few more thrift and antique shops and lunch at the Red House Cafe.

The Red House is more a cottage, with tables tucked into corners and on the porch. All three times I’ve been here, a line has run out the front door. The place’s popularity is justified. The salads and sandwiches (mine, warm eggplant) are well done. (This year the restaurant began serving dinner as well as breakfast and lunch.)

The sun was shining when we emerged, so we returned to Asilomar and walked across the grounds to the adjacent state beach.

Most other guests we passed traveled in groups and wore badges or name tags. About 70% of the clientele is here for conferences, which makes Asilomar the state park department’s second-biggest moneymaker. (Old Town San Diego is No. 1.) On a typical weekend, the center’s 314 guest rooms attract 400 to 600 people. But while we were there, the place seemed noisy or felt crowded only at mealtimes.

We followed half a mile of boardwalk through restored dunes leading to Asilomar State Beach. Along the way we saw surfers scanning for the next good wave, children squealing as the water rushed into tide pools, and dogs kicking up sand as they charged at sea gulls and terns. (Dogs are allowed on a leash.)

By 5 p.m. I was tired of walking, so I acquiesced to Carol’s request to drive south to the Mission Ranch in Carmel to look at the farmhouse-turned-inn owned by Clint Eastwood. She wanted to have drinks at the restaurant and hoped to see the star. We did. He walked right past as we sipped Chardonnay at the bar. But the scene stealer was the ranch’s setting on the Carmel River. It was breathtaking in the amber light of the fading sun.

Our dinner at Max’s Grill, a new restaurant in Pacific Grove, was almost as impressive. Among chef Max Muramatsu’s offerings that night were sand dabs meuniere, light and tasty, and broiled New York steak, just the way Carol wanted it.

Sunday morning we had one more stop: Moss Landing, a fishing village about 15 miles north on Monterey Bay. I first went there last year on the advice of my boss, who knew about an antiques street market held every year on the last Sunday in July. (This year’s market is July 27.)

The rest of the time, Moss Landing has a quirky collection of shops, stacked every which way with antiques, collectibles and other bits of nostalgia housed in railroad cars, weather-worn houses and warehouses. You need a strong shopping constitution to troll through it all. Carol was charmed by the stores and their wares, and we easily whiled away the morning looking in the nooks and crannies of half a dozen shops. I noted three new stores since my visit a year ago, including Nido, a home furnishings store that seemed displaced from L.A.’s Beverly Boulevard -- a sign that Moss Landing may be losing its endearing eccentricity.

I consoled myself at one of the town’s institutions: Phil’s Fish Market & Eatery, a cavernous working-class place hidden among warehouses. I am fond of the locally harvested black mussels in a steaming broth of wine, onions and tomatoes, but people come from miles around for cioppino. I’ll have to try it next time.

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Budget for two

Expenses for this trip:

Asilomar

Two nights, with tax $262.88

Dinner

Fishwife $70.13

Lunch

Red House Cafe $30.15

Drinks

Mission Ranch $15.50

Dinner,

Max’s Grill $65.50

Lunch,

Phil’s Fish Market $17.05

Gas $50.32

Final tab $511.53

CONTACT:

Asilomar Conference Grounds, 800 Asilomar Blvd., Pacific Grove, CA 93950; (888) 733-9005 or (831) 642-4242, www.visitasilomar.com.

Vani Rangachar is an assistant editor in the Travel section.