Seaside – An Opportunity to Help Youth

Where to bike in Seaside?  On Friday, July 23, the hottest route in town will be all routes leading to the City Center, from 6-8:30 pm.  Why?  Folks will be flocking there to get a special Taste of Seaside, while benefiting the Seaside Police Activities League (PAL).

Seaside’s culturally diverse community will be reflected in the wide range of foods served, and local wineries will pour outstanding wines from regional vineyards.   Who’s participating?   See the most current list at the end of this post.

PAL provides athletic, recreational, and educational activities for youth in order to enrich lives and help prevent juvenile crime.  Police officers, volunteers, and police personnel serve as coaches, mentors, instructors, and role models  in PAL.

Officer Anthony Snell of the Seaside Police Department, a frequent cyclist.

(Photo courtesy of Tina Rosa.)

To learn more about the Police Activities League/PAL and how you can help, download their brochure:  SeasidePALbrochure-REVISED9-25-08

Compare ticket prices for this event to similar fundraisers, and you’ll say, “Wow, very reasonable!”  The tickets are $25 and are available for purchase at the Seaside Police Department; contact Tina Rosa (831) 760-0967 – trosa@ci.seaside.ca.us ; or Patty Perez (831) 760-0968 – pperez@ci.seaside.ca.us .  Check out the poster for this event at the Seaside PD website.

Besides a wide array of delicious food and wine, there will be music and the opportunity to participate in a silent auction and raffle.

The event’s sponsors are A to Z Rental, Embassy Suites, and the Orosco Group, with Intrensik Designs and Union Bank serving as supporting sponsors.

Bike-there tips

Bicycle to this event if you are able, as it’s an easy route from the coastal bike/multi-use path.

Bike-and-ride:  If you can’t do the entire route from your starting place to City Center and back, remember that bicycling doesn’t need to be all-or-nothing!  Check out the bike-and-ride options.

Biking at night:  The event ends at 8:30 pm, so if you want to stay til the party’s over and bike the return trip in the dark, remember that appropriate headlamp and rear reflector are required by California law.  Consider using night-visible apparel and accessories, too.  Refer to “Personal Bike Safety” on this site.

Biking and alcohol:  If planning to enjoy the wines at this event, simply remember to factor that into your trip home, whether by bicycle or motor vehicle.  Although not subject to a DUI if bicycling, one could still get a BUI!   More on that in the “Drinking and Personal Safety” section of “Wine-ding your way along Monterey County bikeways; that feature on wineries includes some of Taste of Seaside’s participating wineries!

How to get there by bicycle

City Center is located on Broadway Avenue, and if you’re traveling from the coastal bike/multi-use path, it’s just before you reach Fremont Blvd.

Here are directions from the Embassy Suites, an event sponsor.  (New to the area?  Embassy is the tall hotel at the Canyon Del Rey and Del Monte Avenue intersection.)

Option #1 : Head north on Del Monte Avenue (bikingup Del Monte in the direction of Starbucks, which will be on your left). You’ll soon pass Sports Center Bicycles on your right. Continue up Del Monte until you get to Broadway. Make a right on Broadway and continue all the way to the City Center, which is on your right-hand side, just before the traffic signal at Fremont Blvd.

Option #2: From Embassy Suites, if you’d like to skip a stretch of Del Monte and be a bit adventurous, cross Canyon Del Rey and cut through where the old railroad tracks used to be, then come out at Contra Costa. (Can’t make it out on the MoCo bikeways TAMC map?  Ask a local in the vicinity, or call the neighborhood bike shop, Sports Center Bicycles.) At Contra Costa, turn right onto Del Monte, then a prompt left onto Broadway. Then continue all the way to the City Center, which is on your right-hand side, just before the traffic signal at Fremont Blvd.

Taste of Seaside restaurants and wineries include…

Restaurants and wineries who will be serving food and pouring wine at this  event are as follows (list is current as of 7/19/10).  If you are unable to make this 7/23 event, consider making a donation to PAL anyway, and support these businesses on another date.

• ACME Coffee
• Angelina’s
• Baywood Cellars*
• Breakfast Club*
• Chef Rachel
• Coeur D’Olives
• Del Monte Cafe
• Fishwife*
• Hahn Winery
• Harumi
• Kahn’s Kabob House
• Me-n-Ed’s Pizzeria
• Orient Express
• Phat Burger
• Pho King
• Saigon Noodle
• Scheid Vineyards*
• The Chocolate Dipper
• Turtle Bay*
• Ventana Vineyards

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*These Taste of Seaside/PAL supporters are also early leaders in the HER Helmet Thursdays project, so you will find bike-there tips for their locations in the HER Helmet Thursdays detailed listings.