This weekend's top picks: March 19-20
Posted on: Friday, March 19, 2010 11:12 AM by Nicole Gustas
Friday Experience nature firsthand at Pinnacles National Monument today with two events. First, take a guided nature hike on the Balconies Trail. The 1.5 round-trip hike ends with a bring-your-own picnic dinner at the Chaparral parking area. Call 831-389-4486 x265 for more information. Then see some intense star action in the Chapparal parking lot. The Star Party, from 7:30 to 10pm, includes a sky top and many peeks through a telescope. Call 831-389-4486 x243 for more information. Enter Pinnacles via the West Entrance for both events. Time flies when you're relaxing! It's been a decade since The Spa at Bernardus Lodge in Carmel Valley first opened. They celebrate their 10 year anniversary tonight with a reception that includes mini hand and feet treatments, massages, facials, skincare evaluation, spatinis, hors d'oeuvres, and naturally some newly released Bernardus wines. The event begins at 6:30pm at 415 West Carmel Valley Road. $25 per person; call 831-658-3560 to reserve. Scope out the stars tonight with "Astronomical Adventures" at Garland Ranch Regional Park. As visitors look at the stars with binoculars, telescopes and the unaided eye, docent Jim Eagle will explain exactly what they're seeing. Garland Ranch Regional Park Visitors Center, 7:30-9:30pm. $11 per person or $36 for a family of 6, discounts available for Monterey Peninsula district residents. Reserve online under "Star Gazing". The Next Blues Band has been playing the blues in Monterey County since the late 1980s, and have appeared at the county's top blues events Monterey Bay Blues Festival and Seaside's Blues in the Park. Catch them up close tonight at Bullwackers at 653 Cannery Row. 8:30pm-midnight, no cover. If Ladytron teamed up with My Bloody Valentine for an album...well, let's face it, with MBV's track record the album wouldn't come out until 2030. But if it did, it would probably sound like Los Angeles band Pioneer Ships. They team up with fourth wave ska band Fishbear, who tweak the ska sound with a dash of klezmer, and local artist Michael Glines. 638 Wave Street Monterey, 9pm, $5. Saturday Kids and their parents can learn all about the Gabilan Watershed today at Watershed Day at the National Steinbeck Center in Salinas. Learn about the ecology of Salinas, Prunedale and Castroville with hands-on art and science activities. 10am-4pm, One Main Street, Salinas. Activities included in the admission fee. Monterey's new The Inn at Del Monte Beach becomes party central today for the fundraiser "Patrick's Day." The party, on the Inn at Del Monte Beach's rooftop overlooking Monterey Bay, includes six DJs, appetizers, and lots more. All proceeds from the event will help the DuRant family with medical and other bills relating to Patrick DuRant's terminal testicular cancer. 110 Del Monte Avenue, Monterey. Doors open at 3:30pm; the party starts at 4 and runs until midnight. $50 per ticket; reserve online. Learn about owls with "Owls of Central California" at Garland Ranch Regional Park Museum. During daylight, you'll get a full education in all things owl. Once it gets dark, participants will explore the area listening for the noises that all eight species make. 4pm-9pm, ages 13+, $22 per person. Reserve online under "Teen to Adult Explorations." Enjoy British food, British beer and British style at the PacRep Theatre Company's "British Invasion" fundraiser at the Monterey Marriott. 350 Calle Principal, 6-10pm. Tickets are $100 each and can be booked online. Taste outstanding wines from Silver Oak and Twomey wineries tonight at the La Playa Hotel's Wine Dinner. The wines will be paired with a five-course meal created by Executive Chef Bunyan Fortune. Nora Comee of Silver Oak will speak. Starts at 6:30pm at Camino Real and Eighth Avenue in Carmel-by-the-Sea. $125 per person plus tax and gratuity; call 831-624-6476 to reserve. The award for most interesting show of the evening goes to Jose's in Monterey. Moody acoustic locals 1 < 12 (don't call them 11) play alongside Seaside singer/songwriter Bernadette Conant and Dakota Belle Witt's alter ego, mermaid spoken word artist and ukulelest (no, really) Sirene Von Calypso. The surrealism begins at 9pm at 638 Wave Street in Monterey. $5 Upbeat jam band 7 Come 11's unique sound is centered on the Hammond organ, with funky beats and a bit of a roots twist. They play Fernwood on Highway One in Big Sur tonight. 9pm, no cover.