Naval Postgraduate School - Monterey, CA

Facade of the Naval Postgraduate School Administration Building, built in 1926

If one were to run, bike, walk, or drive north from Cannery Row on the seaside pathways or roads of Monterey, the Naval Postgraduate School would eventually become visible to your right (east of the ocean). While the hotel was originally erected in 1880, a series of major fires and natural disasters (the first structure burned in 1887, was rebuilt and then badly damaged in the infamous 1906 California earthquake, and then the hotel burned again in 1924) would reduce the structure to rubble. Famous guests included Theodore and Eleanor Roosevelt, Charlie Chaplin, Ernest Hemingway, Salvador Dali (who threw a massive party in the ballroom...), Clark Gable, Walt Disney, Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, and Charles Lindbergh (among others). In short, at the time, the Hotel Del Monte was the "place to be."

The recently restored "Roman Bath" in front of the main building

In 1942, the Department of Navy leased the hotel and remaining grounds (the original property was around 20,000 acres, including the famous 17 mile drive and what is now the Pebble Beach golf course) to rehouse its burgeoning Postgraduate school and aviator pre-flight school (originally located on the Naval Academy grounds in Annapolis, MD). Today, the facility continues to serve as the only Postgraduate (awarding Masters and Doctoral degrees) facility for the United States Military - all branches of service (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard) in addition to other Dept. of Homeland Security forces (State Dept., FBI, CIA, etc.) are in attendance as well as foreign diplomatic military students studying engineering, aerospace, mathematics, physics, and other such STEM fields.

Ballroom...

View of the Bay from the roof...

Our tour guide John Sanders is the Special Collections Manager (archivist) for the property (the Dudley Knox Library) and he really brought a passion and intensity to his presentations that transmitted his love and pride for the property... I hope I can continue to bring his level of enthusiasm to my own classrooms for years to come...

A fantastic photo of Jon blinking. Nice. 

The Del /monte Hotel Cookbook Steinbeck connection!: