The Evening in an Adobe

Monterey is an old, old town. I did not realize quite how old until I volunteered to teach others about the history of a specific adobe, the Larkin House.

In December I volunteered through the local officer spouses club to help the Monterey State Historic Park with their annual Christmas in the Adobes. All of the 19th century buildings were open for one night, decorated with luminarias, and filled with musicians and volunteers.

I stood beside the portraits of Thomas and Sarah Larkin and explained the history of the home. The Larkins were from Boston and designed their home in the colonial style so that it was the first two story home in California. Thomas Larkin was the U.S. consul to California which was still under Mexican rule. Adjacent to the home was a stone building that served as officer quarters. I did not realize that then-Lieutenant William Sherman was stationed there until there was a Civil War reenactor in uniform walking around as Sherman for the evening. All of the volunteers, including me, were in period dress.

I received a free ticket for volunteering, which I gave to Matt to explore the other adobes. We both enjoy history, so we had lots of fun and learned a lot about our new (but very old) town!