A new exhibit, Extraordinary Valor: The Lost History of the Buffalo Soldiers in Monterey, opened in June at the Presidio of Monterey Museum. This permanent exhibit honors the history of the Black soldiers of the 9th Cavalry during the Spanish American War at the turn of the 20th century.

Known as the Buffalo Soldiers, the 9th Cavalry, established during a time of racial segregation in the military, arrived in Monterey in November 1902. During their two-year stay, they trained new recruits as well as horses. During the summer of 1904, the 9th Cavalry rode to Yosemite National Park where they created the first marked National Park trail.

The exhibit consists of photographs, uniforms, a map, a sword, a facsimile of a newspaper article, and more. Come learn more about these remarkable men. Museum hours are Saturday and Sunday, 9am-4pm.

The Presidio of Monterey Museum is located at 76th Artillery Street & Corporal Ewing Road, Bldg. 113 in Lower Presidio Park. The Park can be found above Pacific Street at the Lighthouse Avenue curve as you drive from the Lighthouse District towards Downtown Monterey.

This post is adapted from Jordan Leininger's article entitled, "Presidio of Monterey Museum's New Exhibit - Extraordinary Valor: The Lost History of the Buffalo Soldiers in Monterey" which first appeared in the City of Monterey's City Focus Magazine, Summer 2023.

Pamir Rugs currently has this beautiful, vibrant, antique Chinese Art Deco rug for sale in our showroom at 237 Lighthouse Avenue in Monterey.

In addition to having a wide variety of new, antique, and custom-made rugs for sale, we also offer rug cleaning, repairing, and appraising. With over 30 years of experience in this business, our interior designers can help you pick the best quality rug for your home.

It’s a good day when you walk into Fashion Trade Boutique with an album you just bought at Recycled Records and you find the matching band shirt. It's Lighthouse District kismet!

Fashion Trade has around 100 band t-shirts in stock. Come in and see if we have your favorite at 554 Lighthouse Avenue in Monterey. (And be sure to visit Recycled Records at 604 Lighthouse Avenue, too.)

This week, Cypress Boutique is having a Summer Sale! Get 20%-60% off clothing and accessories through Sunday, August 6. This is your chance to find the cutest styles at the best prices, including hats, shoes, shorts, shirts, skirts, and dresses.

Cypress Boutique, located at 800 Lighthouse Avenue, Ste C in Monterey, carries clothing and accessories for women and men.

Plato's Closet, located at 402 Lighthouse Ave in Monterey, is offering back to school savings. Shop your favorite brands all under one roof and get some great deals for the start of the year.

Now through August 14, when you spend $75, get $30 in coupons to spend September 15-30 at Plato's Closet on any purchase of $60 or more. There is no limit to the number of coupons that can be earned per transaction.

Cella presents a new exhibit by artist Bernard Trainor opening July 26 at the restaurant, located at 525 Polk Street in Downtown Old Monterey. We invite you to make a reservation to dine at Cella and enjoy Trainor's extraordinary work.

Trainor's new installation, titled EMERGE, is an expression of the seasons and the dynamic change happening outside Cella's protective walls. The interplay between inside and outside creates a beautiful tension.

Bernard Trainor arrived in Northern California from Australia twenty-five years ago. He is the founding principal of Ground Studio, a landscape architecture practice with studios in Monterey, Santa Barbara, and Napa. He approaches his art and design through a very personal lens, interpreting wild and built landscapes into abstract forms on large canvas and board.

Esthetician Shelley Bennett has developed new skincare products, now available for pick-up at her spa at 588 Houston Street in Downtown Old Monterey. Please call 831-324-4611 to place an order.

The 2-in-1 Cleansing & Hydrating Oil is made with organic hemp, jojoba, and sunflower oils. This product smells and feels like some much needed sunshine.

The new 1.5% Retinol Fluid is gentle and effective for anti-aging, brightening and smoothing out the skin. You’ll not believe the results!

And the soft and silky feel of Shelley Bennett's lip tints, which now come in an expanded number of shades, are perfect for anytime use. Formulated with coconut, jojoba, and peppermint oils, the buildable colors come in Nude, Pink, Red, and Plum.

After receiving her esthetics credentials, Shelley Bennett worked for many luxury spas including The Spa at Pebble Beach, The Four Seasons Beverly Wilshire in Beverly Hills, and Le Merigot Hotel and Spa in Santa Monica. She trained at Hotel George V in Paris, France.

The owner of Slowfiber, Jaki Caterbury, has recently returned from a trip to England and she brought back with her some beautiful new sustainable fabrics from Merchant & Mills. You can check them out on the Slowfiber website or visit the shop at 517A Hartnell Street in Downtown Old Monterey.

Sustainable cloth and fabric is more than the fiber content or production process. Merchant & Mills ensures that the textile mills they work with prioritize ethical business practices and that their employees have a safe and positive working environment.

Do you have extra frames at home? Here's your chance to clean out your closet and support Youth Arts Collective's art shows!

Every year, YAC gets more and more pieces with each show that we open. If you have extra frames that are looking for a new home, we are accepting donations of frames to help us best display all of the YACster artwork.

Please email Jesse Juarez if you have frames of the following sizes that you'd like to donate, and we can coordinate a drop off time: 8 x 10, 9 x 12, 11 x 14.

If you don't have frames but you would still like to support YAC, our 2023 Summer Show, and the YACsters, we accept financial donations here.

Thank you for your support! Youth Arts Collective, a nonprofit, after school art studio and mentorship program for high school and college artists, is located at 472 Calle Principal in Downtown Old Monterey.

Have you seen the beautifully lit star in the patio garden at Pearl Hour? "Star Light" was built in 1984 by Kevin Hartley, the owner of Monterey’s legendary gay bar, After Dark, located here at 214 Lighthouse Avenue in Monterey, 1975-1999.

Back in the day, the star shone down on everyone from its place on the roof above the doors that go from the upper patio to the inside bar. But the star went dormant during the two ownership changes between After Dark and Pearl Hour. It returned in 2019, when Zeeek lovingly resurrected this beautiful light source and fastened it to the cement wall in preparation for Pearl Hour's first New Year’s Eve party. It has remained there to this day.

In the evenings, when the sky is dark and the patio garden is dimly lit, look at the purple wall, have someone take a close up picture of your face and you’ll see… there are stars in your eyes.

New information: soon after we posted this information from Pearl Hour, the NMBA webmaster received a message from Sal Carbone, former owner of Carbone's Bar, located where Pearl Hour is now.

Sal claims the star was made by DeMaria, who owned the bar back when it was called Stars. Sal found the star on the roof of the back bar when he opened Carbone's, put it back together, plugged it in, and hung it on the roof of the bar for all the airline pilots and flight attendants (who were Carbone's regulars) to see when they flew over New Monterey.

Have you tried the breakfast enchiladas at Mission 19 Taqueria? This and all our Mexican breakfast dishes are served all day, every day at 598 Lighthouse Avenue in Monterey. We're open Sunday - Thursday, 11am-8pm, and Friday -Saturday, 11am-9pm.

The Pearl Works, located at 288 Pearl Street in Downtown Old Monterey, is seeking local artists to submit pieces for their next art show, Symbiosis. This show will be a juried exhibition of emerging artists from around Monterey, Santa Cruz, and San Benito Counties whose various forms of art address the theme of symbiosis: mutually beneficial relationships between two groups or organisms.

This interdisciplinary selection of 2D visual art will create a conversation about the reciprocal relationships necessary for community development. Growth is only achieved through cooperation, support, and partnership.

Get more information and submit your art here by Saturday, August 5, 2023.