Travel Trivia – 10 Surprising Facts about Pebble Beach Resorts

I have always been a trivia fan so when I come across something that references trivia facts, I am likely to read it!

When I got this one the other day about Pebble Beach, I couldn’t pass it up! I have to admit, I knew about half of them, but the other half, especially where the money came from for a former owner to purchase Pebble Beach was news to me!

So, here you go – 10 trivia facts about Pebble!

1. Every evening, rain or shine, a bagpiper performs at The Inn at Spanish Bay, providing a sunset serenade to golfers, diners and hotel guests.
2. The Spa at Pebble Beach is one of only 126 spas in the world to receive the coveted Forbes 5-Star Spa Award, making it one of the top spas on the planet.
3. Pebble Beach Resorts is an epicurean escape boasting 16 restaurants with cuisine inspired by global tastes, including Hawaiian, Italian, Mexican and California Coastal.
4. Located 20 minutes from the “Artichoke Capital of the World,” one of the best places to taste the region’s famous artichokes is at The Tap Room. Not to miss: the Original California Grilled Artichoke appetizer, served with lemon-garlic aioli and mint chimichurri, or the beloved artichoke soup made with Castroville-grown artichokes.
5. Famous painter, Salvador Dali, spent a great deal of the 1940s at Pebble Beach, with some of his best works available to view at the nearby Monterey History & Art Association.
6. Previous owner, Marvin Davis, who also owned Twentieth Century-Fox, used the profits from the Star Wars film to buy Pebble Beach Corporation in May 1979.
7. Pebble Beach Golf Links was designed for free. Jack Neville and Douglas Grant had no previous design experience when approached to build a golf course, so they built the course at no cost to maintain their prestigious amateur status.
8. Opened in 1881, the iconic 17-Mile Drive is one of only nine private toll roads in the U.S.
9. The first greenskeepers at Pebble Beach were sheep. To cut costs, sheep were allowed to roam freely, keeping their bellies full and the grass short.
10. Pebble Beach contains one of only two native Monterey Cypress Forests in the world. The other is across Carmel Bay at Point Lobos State Park.