POINT PINOS LIGHTHOUSE, PACIFIC GROVE, CA: Emily Fish, Socialite Keeper

Point Pinos Lighthouse, Pacific Grove, CA

The Point Pinos lighthouse in Pacific Grove, California, (near Monterey) opened for business on February 1, 1855 and has been a guiding light for ships along the Central Pacific coast ever since. It is the oldest continuously operating lighthouse in the Western United States. On a sunny Saturday in late August, Art and I made a day trip from Oakland to visit the lighthouse. (It had been closed to visitors during the pandemic and recently opened to the public.) Walking on the grounds is free. Tickets for inside tours of the lighthouse led by volunteer docents are available in the gift shop. .

Sometime after 1899, Light Keeper Emily Fish stands near the front entrance, and her servant is to the right in the kitchen garden. Photo courtesy of Pat Hathaway Collection.

I was particularly interested in visiting the Point Pinos Lighthouse because its most famous light keeper (from 1893 to 1914) was Emily Fish, the mother of Juliet Fish Nichols, the subject of my recent picture book biography for children, KEEPER OF THE LIGHT: Juliet Fish Nichols Fights the San Francisco Fog. Juliet was the light keeper at Angel Island in San Francisco Bay from 1902 to 1914. Emily and Juliet were an unusual mother/daughter light keeper duo, but with different personalities. Juliet led a quiet life at her lighthouse isolated at the bottom of a cliff on an island, whereas Emily was known as the “Socialite Keeper” due to her love of entertaining at her lighthouse.

Emily's bedroom on the second floor of the Point Pinos lighthouse.

Unlike the lighthouse at Point Knox on Angel Island, which was torn down, the Point Pinos lighthouse has been maintained both as a functioning lighthouse (now with a state-of-the-art beacon at the top) and as a historical monument. It is maintained by local volunteers. Most of the building is furnished in the style of the early 20^th century, as it would have been when Emily Fish lived there. (Emily’s belongings were lost after she retired.)

An information panel in the parlor gives a brief description of Emily: "In 1893, Mrs. Malancthon W. Fish (Emily), recently widowed, arrived to take over the job of keeper at Point Pinos. She brought her Chinese servant and a taste for the finer things in life.…Lawns, flowers, hedges, trees and fountains appeared. Fashionable furniture filled the rooms and visitors from near and far would join her for tea. She was a tough boss, going through over thirty assistants in twenty years. Retiring at 71, she and her faithful servant moved to a house in Pacific Grove, where they lived until Emily’s death in 1931."

View across Monterey Bay toward Santa Cruz from the second floor of the lighthouse.

Like keepers at other light houses, Emily recorded the weather and activities at her lighthouse in her log. Sample pages from her log are on display by the second floor window of the lighthouse, which looks out toward the sea. The lighthouse sits on a knoll that provides a good view of the water but is safely away from dangerous waves during a storm.

Sample log entry: Five ladies and a boy were cut off by high tide on the Point. Two of the party called for aid. I sent a stout plank, a rope and the laborer to get them off safely at sunset. Otherwise they would have had to remain until midnight for the low tide. July 31, 1899, Emily Fish, Keeper

Rooms at the back of the lighthouse include the kitchen and bathroom, furnished in an early 20th century style. The only room in the house not in keeping with Emily's time is upstairs over the parlor. It is devoted to WW II mementos, including a newspaper report of the sighting of Japanese submarines off the coast.

Foghorn on display in the parlor.

We were lucky to have a sunny day and clear skies on the day of our visit to the lighthouse. On foggy nights an automated horn blew to warn ships away from the rocky coast. In addition, buoys anchored in the ocean had bells that also served as warnings. 

Ocean buoy.

The buoy on display outside the lighthouse is similar to the red one located in the ocean to the north of Point Pinos. It marks the southern entrance to Monterey Bay. Normally it would have a bell and a light. Buoys warn of danger and serve as navigational tools.

Stairway to light tower. View into room with WW II mementos.

The light on top of the Point Pinos lighthouse still sends its bright beams across the bay--now from a LED lamp. It is completely automated and there is no need for a lightkeeper. The light is maintained by the Coast Guard. Visitors can peek up the narrow stairway of the light tower, but the top is closed to visitors.

Blog post on TIT about Angel Island:

ANGEL ISLAND IN SAN FRANCISCO BAY: A Trip Through Time, Sept 2017

My book KEEPER OF THE LIGHT: Juliet Fish Nichols Fights the San Francisco Fog is available on Amazon.

For more about Emily Fish's daughter, Juliet Nichols, her log, Angel Island, the Point Knox Lighthouse, 1906 San Francisco earthquake, and more go to https://carolinearnoldart.blogspot.com/p/extra-material-for-keeper-of-light.html .

 

BALI, A TROPICAL PARADISE: Guest Post by Tom Scheaffer

Bali, Indonesia

My brother Tom spent three weeks in Bali in January and has generously shared some of his photos and impressions from his trip. A short video is at the end of this post. He writes:

The hotel we are staying at, Uma Dawa, used to be a museum where an artist lived. It’s peaceful and Bali style--and feels very tropical. 

The hotel has a nice pool and there are few people. We are just a five minute walk from the main hotel so it’s very convenient. It’s quite warm here, but if you stay in the shade it’s good.

I am sitting on my front porch looking out onto the jungle view. It has rained a little bit but otherwise the weather has been good. 

The Balinese culture has a real sense of beauty, and everything they make is artistically done.

We all move to the next location in two days, and that hotel will be by the ocean.

Tom made a short video of his three weeks in Bali. Enjoy!

This is Tom’s second trip to Bali. He was there in 2017. You can read about his previous trip at these two posts: SUDAJI FALLS and ULUWATU TEMPLE.

VICTORIA FALLS, ZIMBABWE: Guest Post by Karen Minkowski

Young male giraffes, Zambezi National Park, Zimbabwe.

My friend Karen Minkowski, a frequent contributor to The Intrepid Tourist and definitely an intrepid traveler, is currently in Africa, a place that she has visited often. She spent the month of December in and around Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. She begins her report: 

Since late November I’ve been living in Victoria Falls, a small tourist city just across the Zambezi River from Zambia. Two national parks, Zambezi NP on the west, Victoria Falls NP to the east, surround most of the city. Fences only partially separate Park lands from commercial/residential areas, so walking on the edge requires alertness. Baboons and warthogs move through the commercial and residential areas, mostly unharassed, though people understandably chase baboons from their vegetable gardens. Baboons will go after women – not men - carrying shopping bags. A large male baboon followed me once, too close. I was trying to figure out where to take refuge until a human male noticed and offered to walk me to my gate. Elephants and buffalo often wander through town at night. Recently, lions were sighted in town, attracted by buffalo. Elephants and lions very occasionally kill humans, usually when someone is chasing an elephant raiding a garden or is trying to protect their livestock from a lion attack. Overall, Victoria Falls is quite wildlife tolerant – tourism is a huge source of foreign exchange and employment.

Giant kingfisher.

A full report of Karen's recent activities, including excursions into nearby Zambezi National Park, filled with a description of her activities and her wonderful photographs, is HEREas a PDF.  There are incredible close-ups of birds--Karen is a devoted bird-watcher with patience to catch the birds at their best--and other wildlife. Karen's text makes you feel as if you are a vicarious visitor too. Enjoy!

A white-backed vulture tries to grab some meat from a marabou stork.

White-backed vultures and a marabou stork.

Chameleon

 

ALICE IN WONDERLAND TOPIARY at the Hampshire Gardens in England, Guest Post by Anita Withrington

I thank my friend Anita Withrington for sharing her photos of the Alice In Wonderland tea party topiary at the Hampshire Gardens in what was once the ancient Beaulieu Abbey in England. 

Complete with the Queen, Mad Hatter, White Rabbit, March Hare, and a comfortable chair surrounding the tea table covered with herbs, it is a whimsical and charming feature of the Hampshire gardens.

Beaulieu Abbey is also home to the National Motor Museum, which Anita and her husband also visited. Anita writes, "I expected to be bored but found it really fascinating. The James bond car with video running in the background, and this charming little car with a round windscreen and an umbrella stand on the side--a definite must-see in England.