Pacific Grove:

Lovers Point T his city is probably best known for the thousands of monarch butterflies that migrate to the area each winter, giving the town its unofficial title, "Butterfly Town, U.S.A."

Each year the butterflies migrate from Canada and the state of Washington to a special grove of trees in Pacific Grove. They arrive in late October and leave in March.

Pacific Grove was founded in 1875 by California Methodists, who established a conference center in the heart of the city. It is a residential, incorporated community with a population of about 16,000.

The city is home to a large number of beautiful Victorian homes, most dating back to the town's Methodist history in the 1880s. A stroll through neighborhoods in the downtown area reveals early homes displaying plaques engraved with the names of original owners and construction dates.

Pacific Grove's municipal flower beds along the water's edge are world famed and great favorites for tourists and well known photographers.

The Museum of Natural History has unusual and interesting exhibits of butterflies, marine and bird life, plants, shells, Indian artifacts and historical presentations.

Scientists from all over the world come to study the marine life on the beaches of Pacific Grove. Stanford University maintains the Hopkins Marine Laboratories on a two-mile stretch of beach, going as deep as 60 feet. The beach front gives scientists from the Hopkins Marine life Refuge an opportunity to study the unusual wild life of the Monterey Bay.