around town helped negotiate numerous bipartisan bills that seek to improve our infrastructure, safety nets and the global climate. So maybe bipartisanship isn’t dead. When not inside the Beltway, Panetta is regulary out and about his district. He’s got charm, a great smile, and you can tell that he cares. BEST LOCAL BLOG BEST LOCAL WEBSITE Monterey County Weekly 668 Williams Ave., Seaside (831) 394-5656, mcweekly.com Just like the 2020 presidential election, the Monterey County Weekly winning for Best Local Blog and Best Local Website did not involve election interference, voter suppression or fraud. The only ones crazy enough to falsely claim these shenanigans currently have their hands full in the courts of Georgia, New York and Washington, D.C. John Steinbeck— just like us—started as a journalist, reporting on migrant workers for the San Francisco News, and reporting on World War II for the New York Herald Tribune. Thank you for trusting us as your go-to for community information, from entertainment to breaking news. BEST CLERGY Dr. Bill Little Center for Spiritual Awakening 522 Central Ave., Pacific Grove (831) 372-1942, centerforspiritualawakening.org To a God unknown? Hardly. Dr. Bill Little is a frequent flier in the Best Of Readers’ Poll. Unique to Dr. Little’s tenure among the winners of this poll is the fact that he has won in two rather disparate categories—Best Professor and Best Clergy. Dr. Little has led the Center for Spiritual Awakening since 1976, and offers talks on a diverse range of topics. But all of them are designed to help answer the biggest questions of all: What will awaken you spiritually? BEST BUSINESS SIGN Other Brother Beer Co. 877 Broadway Ave., Seaside (831) 747-1106, otherbrotherbeer.com Doc would often leave his lab on Cannery Row and head to Alvarado Street for a beer. This was, of course, many decades before Other Brother Beer Co. opened in Seaside under a painted sign reminiscent of the 1930s—suggesting establishment and longevity, yet with a modern appeal. It does not intrude, it’s simply part of the place. The sign leaves no doubt that Other Brother belongs to the neighborhood and that people gravitate to the brewpub. BEST NEON SIGN Dust Bowl Brewing 290 Figueroa St., Monterey (831) 641-7002, dustbowlbrewing.com It was on May 8, 1948 when Ed Ricketts—Steinbeck’s best friend—died while driving across the train tracks at Drake Avenue in Monterey after a Del Monte Express passenger train smashed into his vehicle. He was only 50. That rail line, which started service in 1889, took its last ride in 1971, and in the 1980s, the City of Monterey converted the tracks into the Rec Trail, a regional treasure. The former depot of the Monterey stop now houses a Dust Bowl Brewing taproom, and its neon sign shines out toward Del Monte Avenue, announcing its presence to the passersby and visitors as a gathering place for locals and tourists alike in a spot that holds a place in Monterey history. Beyond that, Steinbeck’s most celebrated novel, Grapes of Wrath, followed Okies from the Dust Bowl to California, where they tried to make a new life. Dust Bowl Brewing followed them. mcweekly.com/bestof BEST OF MONTEREY COUNTY® 2023 19 Thank you to the readers of the Monterey County Weekly! ’23
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