NATIONAL STEINBECK CENTEROne Main Street
Salinas, CA 93901
Open every day from 10am-5pm
The Center is closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day.
One of the "must see" things to do on the Monterey Peninsula is to visit the beautiful
National Steinbeck Center in Salinas.
Cannery Row in Monterey is also a place where
Steinbeck left his mark and is another must see stop while you're here.
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John Steinbeck, most known for writing the books, "Grapes Of Wrath", "East of Eden" and "Of Mice and Men", was born in Salinas, California. He was an author of twenty-seven books, including sixteen novels, six non-fiction books and five collections of short stories; Steinbeck received the
Nobel Prize in Literature in 1962. The Steinbeck Center is the only museum in the U.S. dedicated to a single author.
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We wanted to see the museum specifically because Steinbeck took off in a truck with a camper shell in 1960 to see the U.S. Steinbeck nicknamed his truck Rocinante after
Don Quixote's "noble steed". According to Steinbeck's son Thom, Steinbeck went on the trip because he knew he was dying and wanted to see the country one last time.
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John Steinbeck died in New York City on December 20, 1968 of heart disease He was 66. His body was cremated and an urn containing his ashes was interred at the Hamilton family gravesite at Garden of Memories Memorial Park in Salinas by those of his parents and maternal grandparents. His third wife, Elaine, was buried in the plot in 2004.
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Directions:
Take a left on highway 68 as you depart Laguna Seca RV park. Highway 68 will turn into Main Street and you just keep going straight through Old Town Salinas. The road ends at the stately Steinbeck Center and is easy to spot blocks away. Parking is available on the street or in a parking garage to the left. Just follow the signs.