Detour #322: Of Cars and Men – John Steinbeck’s California, USA

Take a drive around Monterey and Salinas to discover stories of Steinbeck and contemporary car culture.

Great American novelist John Steinbeck was a Depression-era petrolhead. Among a multitude of motor cars he owned two Ford Model Ts, a Chevrolet and a rare Marmon – a supercar of the 30s. It was "a beautiful thing with a deep purring roar and a top speed of nearly a hundred miles an hour,” he recalled in a 1954 essay for Holiday Magazine, titled Jalopies I Cursed and Loved. 

Photo Wikimedia Commons - Los Angeles Daily News

Later in 1962’s Travels with Charley he would curse the American Interstate, writing: "When we get these thruways across the whole country, as we will and must, it will be possible to drive from New York to California without seeing a single thing." 

With that in mind this route around Steinbeck’s native northern California will eschew the speed of the multi-lane as much as possible in favour of a slower-paced journey that traces key locations in Steinbeck’s life and the car culture of Monterey and beyond.

Cannery Row is much changed from when Steinbeck wrote his novel of the same name. Back in 1945 the Monterey harbourside was full of fish processing plants where billions of sardines were packed into cans or ground into fertiliser. Today tourism is the trade with swish hotels, restaurants and an amazing aquarium.

Although Highway 1, known here as the Cabrillo Highway, has more lanes than Steinbeck would have liked, it does still offer something to see as you pass Monterey State Beach, the Dunes of Sand City and Ford Ord Dunes State Park. You cross the Salinas River with a distant view to the wildlife refuge and the many thousand migratory birds which visit this rare wetlands every year.

Turning inland onto the Nashua Road you enter the Salinas Valley or The Salad Bowl of America and its rich farmlands that feed the state with fields of greens, strawberries and tomatoes. Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men and East of Eden were both set here.

Jink left on Copper Road to join up with Highway 183 Castroville Road and you’ll soon reach Salinas were Steinbeck was born in 1902. Pay a visit to the National Steinbeck Center before sitting down for lunch at The Steinbeck House, the author’s home until he left for Stanford University in 1919.

Leaving Salinas behind on the 68 Monterey Salinas Highway you’ll pass the Fort Ord Monument that marks the site of a training ground for more than 1.5 million troops. Now we get to the car stuff, with only a short detour needed to get to WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca – one of the most challenging race circuits in the world with its wild Corkscrew corner sending many a driver spinning off into the gravel. Check the calendar and you’ll find historics, Superbikes, Endurance Racing and everything in between. Time your visit well and you can even take to the track yourself.

Back on the 68 you keep going until you rejoin the Cabrillo Highway towards Carmel and then it’s on to the most enjoyable part of the entire route – 17 Mile Drive. It twists through the Carmel woods back towards the coast, giving fleeting views of the ocean on its way to Pebble Beach.

If the name is familiar that’s because it’s home to the annual Concours d’Elegance where car connoisseurs gather to show off the world’s finest automobiles. In fact, the entire area is taken over during August’s Car Week. Great if you love classic and exotic cars, less so if you want to have the winding roads to yourself.

Forest Lake Road, Lopez, Forest Lodge Road and David Avenue will take you back into Monterey past the fancy country clubs and golf courses of a region far more affluent that Steinbeck could have imagined when he grew up here.

Words Nik Berg Twitter/X | Instagram
Photography Shutterstock

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ROADBOOK

CLASS: Cars and Culture

NAME: Steinbeck’s California

ROUTE: Monterey to Monterey

COUNTRY: USA

Distance: 54 Miles

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