SeeCalifornia.com

What do you do when you turn 245? In Monterey, Calif.  the city celebrates its birthday with La Merienda, the Spanish term for afternoon picnic or mid-day meal.  On June 6, 2015 the public is invited to a colorful fiesta barbecue, lively music, festive dance and a 75 pound birthday cake decorated with fresh roses. The cake is carried in young men (cake-bearers), and is sliced with the sword of Colonel Roger S. Fitch, the first President of the Monterey History and Art Association. This annual festival celebrates the founding of the town of Monterey on June 3, 1770 when Padre Junípero Serra, father of the California missions, and Captain Gaspar de Portola, a Spanish military leader, joined forces to establish the pueblo of Monterey, California’s first Capitol. Though proud of their role in the formation of the state of California we know today, many seem content to celebrate the past rather than contemplate how different Monterey would be if the state capitol had remained there instead of eventually settling in Sacramento.